PiaoR

Topic: What did you do during the blackout?

My parents went back to China the day before the blackout, so I just stayed home

by myself during the blackout. I didn’t know about it for another ten minutes. That’s

when the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) running my personal computer, my cable

modem and my router started beeping to warn me the time was running out. I calmly

close the document I was working on, checked my eBay auctions and my E-mail one last

time and powered down my personal computer. Then, I patted myself on the back for

being prepared for once.

It was fine in the evening. After all that, I just cleaned up the house. But it was a

horrible night for me. There was no candle in my house because my parents liked to use

kerosene lamps. My parents brought several kerosene lamps from China to this country.

Sometimes, they used the kerosene lamps in their bedroom during the night. They told

me that when they used them, they would flashback to the day they were in China. When

they were young, they had no electricity, so people always used the kerosene lamps and

lanterns. That night I used the kerosene lamps. I had never used the kerosene lamps

before, but my parents had taught me how to use them. I thought I knew how to use them.

There were very inconvenient because they had to be filled, and the glass globes had to

be cleaned of the black soot that gathered on them when they were burning. The wick had

to be trimmed off nice and square so that you got a full burn, which gave the most light.

These lamps did not give off much light. I had to have one hanging over the corner of the

table. So, when I was trying to study or eating, it was hard to see.

During the night, I was afraid that someone would drop or knock a burning lamp

and spill the oil all over. This would have most likely caused a fire that would have
burned down our house. My parents told me that I had to be very careful about where the

lamps were set so that did not happen. That night, when I went upstairs to bed, I carried

the lamp and set it on a stand in the hallway so that a little light would get into each room.

Then I could see to get undressed and into bed. After about twenty minutes, I fell asleep.

Suddenly, I learned the first thump, and the silence, and another thump. A door creaked

somewhere. I rubbed my eyes, got off the bed, and groped with my feet for where I

thought my slippers lay. I touched nothing but smooth tile. Barefoot, I crept forward. The

house was very quiet, and suitably tomb like. I washed my face, tried walking bravely,

and then realized I missed my parents terribly.

There was nothing, just furniture lying around the way I always had. I got to the

living room and closed all the windows, bracing myself for kind of stuff you get when

you rent a VCD title, “Night of the Living Dead.” The aisle outside was empty, just stairs

following each other into thickening slabs and darkness.

After a while, I went back to my bedroom and used a mattress to cover my whole

body. I told myself there was nothing, but I still felt very uncomfortable. So, I called my

best friend Rosemary. I asked her if I could come over to her house. She said sure. I lived

several blocks away from her. I walked to her house. When I arrived, I knocked the door

and Rosemary opened the door for me. I saw many candles put around in her house.

Rosemary’s parents and brother were playing pokers in the living room. I said hi to them,

and then they asked me if I would like to join them. Yes, I said. We were just playing

poker until the light came back. Unfortunately, I lost fifty dollars. I still felt very happy

because I didn’t have to stay home by myself during the blackout at night.