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How dreary the world was again As if to proveI kept an just as I began to eat It fell hard and heavy right frohts flickered I held

Lightning slashed through the darkness right nearroom s and that was folloith a boo trerowl, only to be followed by another flash and another crash of thunder This tihts flickered and went out I waited, ht back on, but they didn't

It was as if a curtain had been pulled down in all the roohtning, darkness ruled, turning each and every piece of furniture into a silhouette of itself, a shadow here and shadow there I rolled back into the kitchen to look for candles and, feeling about the panty shelves aardly I finally found some I melted some wax at the bottom of a dish the way I had seen Maht and fir room table but I had little or no appetite left

Because there was not enough light, I decided to leave the dishes for later I put anything that would spoil in the refrigerator, hoping that the electricity would soon coed I decided to call the electric company to at least see if they were aware of it but I was shocked to discover the phone was dead too

Truly shut off now from the outside world I felt myself start to tremble I tried to comfort myself, to cal I could do was return to ht, and there wasn'tIn fact, the hipping the torrents over the house, slapping the sides of the building and the s so hard, the glass rattled and shutters knocked I couldn't re hts

Suddenly I heard what sounded like a small explosion and realized that somehow, the rear door had blown open Perhaps I hadn't closed it tightly enough when ainst the wall and I rolled myself down the corridor as quickly as I could The door was being blown so hard, it would soon be ripped off its hinges, I thought and reached for the handle The rain seee of cold drops slapped ot hold of the door handle Then I had to struggle with the wind and hold onto the wheelchair at the sath and I was getting soaked to the skin Finally, I gave up and let go of the handle The door flew back and then came back at me and slammed the side of the chair I screamed It had nearly smashed my arm and hand Quickly, I retreated and then turned and wheeled myself away as fast as I could

For a moment or

two I just fought to catchmore from my own fear than the cold I carefully wheeled myself into the bedrooet a towel to dry ot into bed and there I lay, waiting, feeling ue I couldn't sleep Every time I closed my eyes, I heard h the open rear door, up the corridor and into the house My teeth chattered I closed htly as I could

Why did I convince Austin not to come? I should have been more selfish

The thunder see and feltas hard either Maybe it was over at last and the storm had moved on I waited and listened and hoped and then I was sure I heard the front door open and close

Austin I thought He did come Good I couldn't wait to throw my arms around him and hold hiether

Quickened footsteps could be heard I sat up in the darkness and looked toward the open door A flashlight's beam appeared and moments later Aunt Victoria appeared The disappointment nearly caused my heart to stop

"What is going on here!" she screaht into the house Why did you leave the backdoor open?"

She turned the flashlight on me and I coveredhim? Is he here?"

"No one's here," I cried 'Take that light off me,"