Natalie stops typing and listens to the sirens outside. They were police cars, and they were getting louder! Quickly, she turns off the room light and looks out the window. She can’t see anything, the thick night and heavy rain denies her desire to know what’s going on.

She sighs and sits back down in her black leather chair. Her eyes dart from the bright laptop screen to the black window. Then suddenly a flash of light appears and then thunder. She jumps and the laptop falls off the table. She curses and picks up the smashed laptop. “It’s going to be expensive to fix,” she mutters and drops it on the desk, a few pieces flying. “I didn’t even get to save my work…”

She begins to eye a piece of paper next to the smashed laptop. Unable to hold back any longer, she picks it up and reads it.

REPORT DUE DATE : July 30, 2008 August 23, 2008

She slams the paper on the desk and sulks off to bed.