Page 107 of Merry Christmas, You Filthy Animal
Since it’s colder in the loft area, I grab my blankets and bring them down to the living room, where I set them up on the couch to form a cocoon, wishing I had more blankets right about now.
I slip on a pair of leggings, then some sweats on top of those, double-sock my feet, and put on a long-sleeved shirt and a sweatshirt. I grab my winter hat and slip that over my head, and then put on my bootie slippers as well. I glance at Buzz. Worried about him, I cover his terrarium with a few towels, hoping that will keep him warm.
When that’s settled, I sit on the couch, wrap myself up, and then just stare out the window, watching large flakes of snow rapidly fall to the ground while the wind picks them up and moves them around at the same time, like some sort of snow tornado.
And because my heating source is turned off, I can feel the immediate effects of it. The heat is seeping from the cottage while the cold moves in.
It’s going to be a long, long night.
Max
Cole:Electricity turn off?
Max:Yup. But I have a fire going in the fireplace. Set up the air mattress down here and brought all the blankets. Generator is on hold. Yeti’s ready to charge anything I need. I’m comfortable.
Cole:Good.
Max:Is it bad over there?
Cole:Yeah, the lights are flickering, but I doubt we’ll lose electricity. We don’t tend to like you do.
Max:Which is why I’m prepared.
Cole:Storee wants to know if you’ve heard from Betty at all.
Max:No. Definitely don’t think I’m who she wants to talk to at the moment.
Cole:Not about that, about the storm.
Max:Oh... no... wait, fuck, I bet she lost power too. I wonder if she has any backup options. I haven’t been in her cottage, so I don’t know what she has going on in there. I doubt Dwight would leave her without the ability to keep the place warm if the power goes out.
Cole:Maybe you should check with her.
Max:Doubt she’ll respond.
Cole:Still check with her. Storee will send her contact information to you.
My phone beeps with another text message, and it’s from Storee.
I click on the contact and then pull up a text thread to type out a message.
Max:Hey, Betty. It’s Max. I know I’m the last person you want to hear from right now, but since the power went out, I wanted to check in on you and see if your power went out or if you need anything? The storm is pretty brutal, and this will continue through the night. Temps as low as negative five degrees.
I hit Send and then call Cole and put him on speaker.
“Hello?”
“I sent her a text,” I say. “Doubt she’ll respond.”
“I sent her a text too,” Storee says. They must have me on speakerphone as well. “But it’s not sayingdelivered. Does yours saydelivered?”
I glance down at the text and then answer, “No.”
“Let me try calling her,” Storee says.
I reach for another log and then poke the fire with the fire poker to get the log deeper into the embers.
“The phone went directly to voicemail. I think her phone is off,” Storee says.
