Camping In The Dark

 [Before I begin the story, I feel I ought to introduce the characters. This story is about the Simons Family, all fictional. The parents are George and Cordelia. They have three children, a sixteen-year-old daughter named Stephanie, and two, twin seven-year-old boys, Zayden and Hudson.]

         Stephanie shut the door of her room and flopped on to her room. Why must her family always be so loud. Her brothers, Zayden and Hudson were playing some game on the tv. Her mother was simultaneously cooking dinner and talking with her best friend. And her father was in their bedroom watching a football game.

         She scrolled through her phone for a few minutes before sitting at her desk. She still had some homework to finish before tomorrow, and she wanted to get it done before dinner so she could facetime her friend later.

         She opened up her laptop and began typing out her essay that she needed to finish before the deadline. She was just getting into her second paragraph when the power suddenly went out. She groaned. Of all times for a power outage.  Her laptop was unaffected, of course, but she knew that writing in the dark with only the light from the screen was bad for her eyes. She saved her writing and walked out of her room.

Zayden: No, I was just about to beat that level!

Hudson: Um, no. You mean we were about to finish the level.

Stephanie: Who cares about the stupid level of your game? Some of us have actually important things to get done.

         Her brothers stuck their tongues out at her and she had to resist the childish urge to do the same. Their mother, Cordelia, walked into the room and glanced at them all.

Mom: I have to call you back, Erica. The power just went out. But don’t forget to send me that banana bread recipe. I want to try that soon. Alright, Bye bye.

         She looked around the room again.

Mom: Where’s your father?

         He took that exact moment to come out of their room, carrying two flashlights and a headlight.

Dad: Whelp, it looks like the power is out. And it will probably be like this for a while.

Mom: Really George? I was just about to make dinner.

         Dad nodded and walked back into their room. A moment later, he returned with a rolled-up tent and a backpack.

Stephanie: What are you doing with that?

Dad: I am not going to do anything. We are going camping in our backyard.

Zayden and Hudson, in unison: Camping?!

         Stephanie rolled her eyes and turned to leave the room.

Stephanie: You can all go camping if you want to, but I will not be joining you. I have homework to do and I don’t like the outdoors.

Mom: Stephanie, come on. It could be fun. I don’t particularly like the outdoors either, but this is something we could do as a family. Besides, you can hardly do your homework in the dark.

Zayden: Yeah, come on, Steph. You gotta come.

         Stephanie raised an eyebrow at him, though he could probably not see it in the dark room. The last thing she wanted to do was go camping in the backyard, but she did not particularly want to do homework either.

Stephanie: Fine, I guess. Though I can’t promise that I will be out all night.

         They all turned and went to their various rooms. Mom and Dad to the kitchen to scrounge up some food that could be eaten without the benefit of a kitchen appliance. The boys into their shared room to gather toys and board games. And Stephanie to her room to provide all the blankets and pillows they would need.

         When they all met back up in the living room, they had gathered cracker, pepperoni, the makings of s’mores, a stack of pillows and blankets, and enough games to keep them entertained until morning.

         As they began bringing their supplies into the backyard, everyone began growing more excited for their camping adventure. Zayden and Hudson were put in charge of setting up the games, while Dad set up the tent and Stephanie and Mom prepared their dinner.

         After everything was set out, they all gathered on a blanket to eat their fare.

Zayden: I’m happy the power went out.

         Stephanie looked at him raised her brows.

Stephanie: Why are you happy for a power outage?

         Hudson was the one who answered. It was a common occurrence. Zayden would say something and Hudson would continue it, or vice versa.

Hudson: Because we get to spend time together.

         At his words, they all got lost in their own thoughts. The truth was, they rarely took the time to spend time together as a family. Their parents had work to do and friends to gossip with. Stephanie was in high school and had lots of homework and also had friends to spend time with, plus she had her first job. And the boys, well they just kind of did their own thing. Most of the time they were so lost in their own world that everyone just let them be.

         Stephanie turned and smiled at them.

Stephanie: I second that. We all get so busy some times that we just forget about spending time with each other. It’s funny how a power outage had to show us that.

Dad: You’re all right, and you know what. It is nice to have all my family gathered together in one place.

         At that moment, the power returned to the house and they all turned to look at it. They then glanced back at each other, all of them thinking the same thing. They could go back inside. Put away all the stuff and return to the things they had been doing before the power went out. But that would put them back in the same place as before.

         Stephanie turned back to her family and smiled. She found that though she had been hesitant to camp in their backyard, she did not want to go back inside. Sure, she still had homework that needed to be done and friends to talk to, but right know all she wanted to do was be with her family.

Stephanie: Who wants to play Monopoly?

         So that’s what they did. They played games until they all grew tired of it, and then they made s'mores over their firepit. And then, when they were all worn out, they went to sleep in the tent that Dad had built.