Kenneth and the Queen

Kenneth and the Queen- Chapter 4

Kenneth and the Queen- Chapter 4

                Back in my room Reece was still sound asleep on my bed. Rain was now pounding on the roof and the thunder kept getting louder and heavier.

                I picked Reece up and carried her to her bedroom. I set her down on her twin sized bed then turned off the lights and walked out. When I finally got to lie down in my room all was quiet inside the house but the storm outside wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. Eventually, to my relief, I drifted into sleep.

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                “Kenneth.” A small voice whispered. I felt something jab my arm. “Kenneth?” The first thing that registered was the storm still raging overhead. The second thing was the time on my clock. I hadn’t been asleep long at all. The final thing was Reece rubbing her eyes sleepily and holding some kind of stuffed animal. “Can I sleep with you? I don’t like the thunder.” She explained.

                I sighed and moved over to make room for Reece. I patted the bed and she climbed up beside me. She normally would have gone to mom but mom probably didn’t want to brave the storm either. I didn’t blame her.

                I went back to sleep quickly and I assume Reece did too. It didn’t last long though. Reece rustled around and woke me up again. I looked to my clock for the time and didn’t see the red numbers like I usually did. I carefully got out of bed so as not to wake Reece and walked around the house flipping switches. Nothing came on and I knew the power had been knocked out somehow.

                “This is just great.” I muttered to myself. I heard a squeak from the hallway. Then Christine was in the doorway.

                “What’s great?” Christine asked. She walked into the kitchen where I was standing and stopped, waiting for an answer.

                “Power’s out.” I explained. She nodded in understanding and leaned against the counter. She kept biting her bottom lip like she was nervous about something. It was pretty dark so I started searching around for the flashlights and oil lamps we keep. I found a lamp first and lit it on the table in the center of the kitchen. It shed some light in the center of the room. Christine walked to the table and sat down in front of the lamp. It was like she was a moth, drawn to the light. That’s when it clicked. She didn’t like the dark. I didn’t want to bring it up unless I knew for sure though so I wanted to test it.                

                “Christine, can you blow out that lamp? I need to put a different one out.”

                “Um, I think this one is just fine, actually.” It was official.

                “Fine, I’ll do it then.” I walked over and blew out the flame. Christine hit my arm.

                “Why did you do that?!” she asked in a panicky voice. “Turn it back on!”

                I fixed it so that the light was flooding the table again. She exhaled. “You’re scared of the dark.” I pointed out.

                “Really? I would have never known. Thanks, for revealing my worst fear to me. You’re a real pal.”

                “Enough with the sarcasm, already.” I said.

                “Sorry. Sensitive subject.” She admitted. “When do you think the power will be back on?”

                “Morning if we’re lucky. Depends on how many complaints they get.” I said.