In the Dark

For the first time in my life, everything was black. Streetlights were off, subways were down, and in the frozen food aisle the freezers just went dark, stopped whirring.

I clutched my cart, the only reassurance that I was still standing, still alive. It anchored me to the ground, while fear ebbed its way into my heart. I was a few miles from my home with no coat, no phone, and now, with the metro down, no way of getting home. Ever so slowly I felt my way towards the cashiers, my hand passing over each freezer handle. Thump, thump, thump.

I tried squinting my eyes, but nothing changed. All I could see was the dark nothingness. In the back of my mind, I wondered how long the darkness would last.

Although I knew for a fact that there were other people in the market, I felt like I was the only one moving. I was trying to make my way to the other side of the store, where I knew they kept flashlights.

Suddenly, my cart bumped into something. There was a thump, a boy (presumably the one I knocked down) started crying, and, as if he broke a spell, all hell broke loose. I felt myself being pushed from all directions by people scrambling for the exit. Some were smart enough to turn on their phone flashlights, but the majority were just panicking.

The brief flashes of light made everything worse. They were tantalizingly close but never lasted.

By now the supermarket was mostly empty, and thanks to the cashiers there was a bit of light in front. I started running. Running for the flashlights, running out of fear, running to go home.

Out of nowhere, a cart turned the corner and knocked me to the ground. I groaned. Of all the days for karma to get retribution it chose today?

"Oh, shoot!" I heard. I looked up and through the dim light I saw a boy. And when I say boy, I mean a freaking Adonis. Seriously, he could be a model. For everything. He had dark brown hair, short and in a coif. His bambi-esque eyes were staring down at me in concern, his perfect mouth slightly parted. I was suddenly made aware of my outfit: running shorts, a t-shirt, and messy bun. And while when most people say messy bun they mean "spent twenty minutes on this bun" messy, mine was more like "tied it up on a moving subway through a throng of people" messy. I stared up in awe at his hand as he lifted it up and waved it in front of my face.

"Hello? Lady? Are you okay? Can you get up?"

"Uhhhhh." Great. Now he thinks I'm an imbecile. I tried again. "I-I uhhhh."

Now there's sharper concern on his face. He crouched down, grabbed my hand (he grabbed my hand!), and hoisted me up with seemingly no effort.

"Oh my God, do you have a concussion?" he turned on the flashlight on his phone. Oh, now he chooses to turn it on? Why couldn't he do that before he hit me? He moved it slowly back and forth in front of my face. "Follow the light with your eyes." I rolled my eyes.

"That's for drunkness, idiot!" I said.

"She speaks!" he threw his arms into the air as if in praise, almost hitting my face with his phone. I blushed.

Trying not to look him directly in the eyes I asked, "Why didn't you have your flashlight on already? Then you would actually be able to see where you're going."

He showed me his phone. "Ten percent left. Besides, why didn't you have your flashlight on? Then you wouldn't have run into my cart."

"I forgot my phone at home," I shrugged.

"Oh." He also looks down. There's an awkward pause.