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Let me
in!”
    He could recognize that voice
anywhere. Bernie was back. But what did he want? Probably what
everyone else wanted: answers.

     
    Blackout
     
    Having not slept long, Mila awoke on
top of the covers in her darkened room. The blinds were closed. The
room was stuffy, and when she looked to see what time it was, the
alarm clock on her nightstand was off. Something felt strange and
out of the ordinary.
    The ceiling fan was off, as was the
air conditioner. As she raised her head from the soft pillow, she
wondered if she was still in some kind of dream. Sleeping during
the day was disorienting enough. Even worse with the sounds of
construction and lawn maintenance going on all day. Oddly enough,
things were quiet, both in and outside the house.
    She wanted to go back to
sleep but was curious about the power being out. There was no
storm. They ’d paid the power bill. She
looked around to see what time it was, but the alarm was off. She
slowly got up to check her cell phone charging on the dresser
across from the bed.
    With a stretch, she walked over to the
dresser tugging at her white nightgown which had bunched around her
legs. It was eerie how lifeless a room could be without
electricity, the air so still and quiet.
    She reached for her
phone-still plugged in. It s screen was
blank. The charging light wasn’t on. Thinking that she had maybe
turned it off, Mila pressed and held the power button. Nothing
happened. The phone had probably died, she thought, after the power
went out, with no electricity to charge it. It made sense to
her.
    She glanced at her three-piece,
queen-sized bed. The blankets were tossed around and hanging over
the side. As enticing as the thought was, she chose to investigate
further. Something wasn’t right, and she was going to find out what
had happened.
    She walked down the hall,
past both Josh and Kelly ’s rooms, and into
the living room. A subdued sunlight shone in through the thin
drapes covering the window. She approached the front door, where
the keypad for their home alarm system was. The digital screen was
blank, which was odd, because the system was supposed to have a
back-up power supply in the event of a power outage. She pressed
buttons on the keypad, just to see if anything would
happen.
    “ Unbelievable,” she said
under her breath.
    She unlocked the front
door and opened it, squinting as she looked outside. Their
neighbors across the street, the Rockwells, didn ’t look to be home. Their cars weren’t in the driveway, and
the garage door was shut. The barks of neighborhood dogs echoed in
the silence.
    She grabbed her keys and a jacket and
opened the as sunlight hit her face. She walked to the driveway,
blocking her eyes, to where her silver Kia Sportage was
parked.
    Her retired neighbor, Ken Blackwell,
stood at the end of his driveway looking around in his straw hat,
suspenders, and gloves. He was an old-fashioned man, who spent most
of his mornings in the backyard tending to his vegetable
garden.
    “ Morning, Mila,” he
said.
    “ Good morning, Ken,” Mila
said, startled.
    “ How’s that night shift
treatin’ you?” he asked.
    “ So far, so good,” she
replied. She stuck the key in the door and opened it.
    “ Goin’ somewhere?” he
asked.
    She turned around and
brushed her dark hair out of her face. “No. The power’s out, and I just wanted to check on
something.”
    “ Lost power here, too,”
Ken said. “Looks like the whole street is down.”
    She got in, put the key went into the
ignition, and after a careful turn, all she heard was a sputtering
click. She tried again. Nothing.
    “ I’m sure whatever it is,
it’s temporary,” Ken said in his usual calm tone.
    Distracted, Mila agreed with him and
walked to the end of the driveway.
    Houses on both sides of
the street were quiet with little activity. Three houses down, she
saw her neighbor, Allen, with his sleeves rolled up messing with
the engine of his Ford Taurus. She turned the other way and