Quote:
The power’s out! On a cold day like today this is the absolute last thing you needed. But, despite how beautiful that ice on the wires is, it does not make for a friendly day filled with warmth and electronics! But, there should be trucks coming out soon to fix the issues, how do you cope with the slowly creeping chill? Are you the type to snuggle up with someone you care about and huddle down to keep warm? Or are you the type to get the heck out until it’s warm enough to once more inhabit your dwelling?


Word count: 515 words


"D-dad, why is it so effing cold?"

"Caelum, language."

"Oh. Sorry. Why is it so fricking cold?"

Rigel rolled his eyes and patted the spot beside him on the couch. Caelum rubbed his arms plopped down into the seat with a huff.

"The electricity's out. Not just on our block, either. Might be the entire city."

Caelum's eyes widened. "Seriously?" His eyes darted out to the icicle-clad power lines beyond the window, and then back to his father. "It's, like, the dead of winter. People need heat. What's going on?"

Rigel shrugged a shoulder. "Not sure, son. Can't turn the television on, and I can't for the life of me find that old battery radio to listen in on a radio station."

Caelum clammed up and averted his eyes. It's not like he was going to explain to his father then and there that he accidentally broke it two years back, and absently chucked it under the predilection, "We don't use it anyway." Instead, he stuffed his hands under his pits and shivered. The only ideas that came to mind was a.) it truly was a power outage, b.) there was an electricity-eating youma, or c.) the Negaverse was using an electricity-eating youma. Either way, Caelum knew the only way to obtain an answer was to power-up and head for the streets, but he knew Rigel wouldn't be fond of the idea.

Still, there was always the chance. "Y'know, I can ask a neighbor or something," Caelum offered. "At least one of them has to have a radio or know something."

"But, Caelum, it's cold."

Caelum sighed. "It's probably colder out there then in here. Just"—the boy trotted away for a moment, and returned with the comforter from his bed—"give me some time. I'll find out something soon. So just stay warm." He chucked the comforter in his father's face. "Give me, like, fifteen minutes."

Rigel huffed and conceded. "You stay warm too, son," he said. "It's cold out there."

"Yea, yea, dad," Caelum replied, slipping on his red parka. "Like I said, no more than fifteen minutes."

As soon as he was outside, Caelum shouted his power-up phrase, and then took to the rooftops as Cadmus. Running was difficult; his butt wings didn't exactly fit well under the stretch of his parka. Even worse, it was dastardly cold; his pasty bum had always been weak to the elements, but it was never this bad.

Stopping atop the roof of a convenience store, Cadmus shielded his eyes from the blaring white winter sky and scanned it across the expanse of the city. It seemed Rigel wasn't wholly right; areas with power were pocked, but there was still electricity. What still confounded the boy as to why hadn't it been restored yet? Cadmus sighed and glanced over his shoulder in the direction of his home.

This is definitely going to take more than fifteen minutes, he reasoned, skidding down the incline of the roof and hopping over to the next with a stumble. Sorry about that, dad. I'll try and be home before dinner.