Smoke And Steel

• Twenty Three - Last night •

Avery

The nice weather from earlier had disappeared and now it was a storm outside. Thunder had been rattling over the house for the past hour and rain shook the windows. We were halfway through the film when suddenly there was a huge crack outside. Both the lights and the TV flicked off at the same time.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said, hopping up off the couch. "Dad?" she called.

"I think one of the trees might've fallen on the power lines," her dad said as he came out of his study. His hair was all disheveled as if he'd been running his hands through it a lot, and the glasses on the end of his nose had fingerprints all over the lenses. All of the times that I'd seen him he looked somewhat like this.

"Was the wind really that strong?" I asked, surprised.

"Oh, Avery, you're here," he said, looking up at me. "Hello. And I don't know, some of these trees are pretty old so it might've been half dead already."

The three of us huddled around the window that looked out onto the road, trying to see what happened without actually having to brace the cold. We could see other people leaving their houses, and a big old pine tree suspended in mid-fall, held up by the tangled power lines. Plants were everywhere and a massive branch lay haphazardly across the road.

It looked as if a tornado had been through, tearing nature apart at its seams.

"I'll call the power company on my cell," Princess's dad said, returning to his study again.

"I'm going to look for a candle or two, care to join me?" Princess asked once he left.

"Sure."

We looked in cupboards and closets, on top of shelves and underneath blankets and we couldn't find a  candle anywhere.

"Here, let's go in my room for a sec." 

"I knew it. You totally got the neighbour to chop down that tree so you could have your wicked way with me in the dark," I said, grinning at her.

"Wow, Ave. You're so mature," she said, shaking her head at me. "I have a candle in here, but I was hoping we'd find another one before I had to use it."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because it smells too good to waste!" She said with a pout.

God, she looked cute.

"Would you rather sit in near darkness, or indulge in whatever scent your candle resonates?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"It's 'Pumpkin Ginger Bark', and I don't know, it's a tough choice."

"Pumpkin Ginger Bark? Please tell me you didn't actually spend your money on something that sounds like I've thrown a pumpkin pie at a tree?"

"I didn't, you meanie... I asked for it for Christmas last year."

"Oh god, what were the other options?" I teased. "Fresh Pizza Sticks? Beautiful Meatloaf?"

"No, oh my gosh, stop being an ass. It was 'Bunny Cake'."

"Okay, now you're seriously pulling my leg," I said, unable to believe that there would be a candle with that name.

"I'm seriously not," she defended. "Apparently it smelt like 'spun sugar and vanilla', or something like that."

"You Americans are weird," I said. 

"You've been here since you were like, ten," she said. "You're practically American yourself."