I’m used to them now, I told myself, but my hand trembled as it touched the match to the wick. These blackouts have been happening for weeks- I’ve got plenty of candles and flashlights, plenty of food- it’ll only last for a few hours…my thoughts rambled, inventing various excuses to drive to my parent’s house, my boyfriend’s flat- but I was strong. I would stick it out. I looked around at the mass of candles I had lit. Five, ten, fifteen- I laughed to myself and blew all but two out.

All the candles lit at once, suddenly throwing the room into relief, creating shadows and flickers of color-

I screamed, and a cool darkness weighed on me like a velvet cloth, comforting and stifling at once. It bore down until I stopped struggling, and my mind was free…