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The Day the Lights Went Out

I woke up. I realized that my digital clock-radio hadn't gone off, and it must be around 9 or 10 in the morning. I glanced over at the clock, but it seemed to be dead, so I tried the radio, but nothing came through. I got up, looked for my pre-digital watch, and the time said that it was 10:30. Since I was off today, it wasn't that big of a deal, but it was disconcerting to say the least. I got dressed and went into the kitchen, and that was when I noticed that it was eerily quiet. I heard no buzzing of electricity, the refrigerator wasn't running, and my computer, which is usually on standby, was silent. Finding my cell phone, I realized that it too wasn't working, it was dead. I still had a land line, so I tried that; nothing but silence. Just to make sure I wasn't dreaming, I went to the sink and washed my face, at least the water was still working. I don't think the water pipes in my house are all that technologically advanced. I wonder what the outside world looks like?

Stepping outside, the only noises I hear are from the various dogs barking and the neighbors who are all outside wondering what to do. It was then that I looked up at the sky.... it was a weird shade of reddish-blue. I thought I'd try to start my car, since it was at least 15 years old and had only had a little bit of electronics in it, but I realized the starter was probably an electronic piece and the car probably wouldn't start. My next door neighbor, Dave, came over while I was mulling on what to do next. I asked him what he thought was going on, and he said, "I'm not sure. Somebody told me they saw a weird flash in the sky a little after 4 am, and then that's when everything electronic quit working. I had a 1964 Mustang, and it works fine, but my current car won't start at all. Do you think NASA or the government has anything to do with this?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," I responded, "we're only about 20 miles from Lackland Air Force Base, maybe we should go over there and find out."

"We can take my car, but it has only half a tank of gas in it. As far as I know, there are no manual gas pumps in this city any longer, so we'll have to be careful on where we go." responded Dave.

We walked to his car, when I saw a few teenagers sitting on the sidewalk, acting like the world had come to an end. I guess in their view it would have, they couldn't play their video games, couldn't text message on their cells, couldn't listen to music on their music players, I guess

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