I am terrified of storms, I hate them. I don’t know why but they just scare the crap out of me. One time I was sleeping out on the couch and I was in a good sleep, until it started to storm. A loud crackle of lightning and then a boom of thunder hit and I jumped off the couch and ran through the hallway and into my parent’s room where I met my sister there too. I should really say I flew because that’s how fast I ran. Anyways, I hate storms, but I love the part when the lights go out. It sort of feels like a mystery of why it happened and I feel like I’m in the olden days. I love it. Whenever the lights go out in our house, my sister and I would grab our stuffed animals and just lay on floor right in front of the fire in the living room. As we would lie, we would wait for our parents to finish lighting the candles and then come join us too. Then we would play little games, tell stories or jokes, or just talk while we lay there. At that point I would be able to smell the candle’s scent and it would relax me completely. I love scented candles. My mom always has candles out and scents that go with the season, cranberry for Christmas, something flowery for spring, and pumpkin for the fall. Our house always smells of something good and tasty! We would just lay there enjoying the family time until we fell asleep or the lights came back on.

So I enjoy the good times the lights going out bring, except for this one. It was a really cold night and we were in an ice storm. A lot of folks on our street had pipes that froze up, and fires that kept going out because of the cold and wind. When my family was laying in the living my dad was telling us a very funny story when he was interrupted by a knock on the door. The kind person my dad is got up and opened it. On the other side appeared an old man who is known as our crazy neighbor. This guy is crazy! He gets so uptight about everything. When my sister and I were younger we weren’t allowed to play outside past 5 O’ Clock because he said we were too loud and he couldn’t sleep. Come on, who tells 8 and 5 year olds they can’t play outside. Another time he complained when my dad mowed onto his yard, because he made it too short. So understand me when I say my neighbor is crazy.

Well my dad let him in he told us that he was very cold at his house because he didn’t have a fireplace and since the electricity was out he had no heat and it was getting very cold to not have heat. He saw that we did have a fireplace from the smoke leaving our chimney and he figured he could stay here for the night. He never really asked, he just allowed himself. But like I said the kind man my dad is had no problem with it at all and gave him a seat as my mom gave him a blanket. Well now that he was staying here I knew the fun was over, so I just laid down on the floor and the next thing I knew I fell asleep. That didn’t last long though because at two I woke up to the old man snoring. It was an obnoxious snore though, one that you just couldn’t ignore. I threw a pillow at him and that seemed to help. I was able to get back to sleep.

That didn’t last long because I was up again at three to him snoring again! I threw the pillow at him again, but it didn’t work this time. I went over to him and plugged his nose. The snoring stopped, he jolted a bit. Then it came back. Ugh!! I thought. This really stinks. I’m not going to give up just yet. I saw a glass cup full of water sitting on the table close to him. I picked it up, very carefully, and pinched a bit between my fingers. I sprinkled it on his face. He shook, but still continued to snore. I did it again, but with a little bit more water. This time he gave a gruesome shook, it worked. I walked back to my spot on the floor and just as I started to lie down and enjoy the peace, HE STARTED SNORING AGAIN!! Oh my goodness!! I thought to myself. How would I get some sleep? I still wasn’t going to give up. Think, think, think!! OH!! I know. I’ll just wake him up somehow. All right well water didn’t work and neither did plugging his nose. So, maybe if I give him a shove. I pushed him a bit, nothing. I pushed him a little bit harder, nothing. I gave him a, not too hard I thought, of a shove. I guess it was too hard because the crazy old man fell right out of the chair and landed on my spot on the floor. Plus, HE DIDN’T WAKE UP, and HE KEPT SNORING!! Great, so he doesn’t stop snoring and now I won’t have any blankets or pillows, let alone a spot to sleep. This really stinks. I QUIT!! I looked at the microwave and saw that it was quarter to four. Wait a second. The power is back. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? The power has probably been back for a long time now. I should’ve just gone back in my own bed then having to listen to this old guy. I walked into my bed and laid down with my remaining blankets and pillows I had. I closed my eyes and felt so relaxed knowing that there was peace and quiet throughout. Until, he started snoring again!!