Disclaimer: I own nothing, except my doubtful skills.
Story summary: Due to a hurricane, Adam's apartment building has no electricity. Adam never anticipated nor asked for this, but was prepared for such occasion anyway.
Blackout
It was the first blackout of that magnitude since 2018. Due the hurricane that struck Detroit, majority of the city was engulfed in total darkness. Adam watched the cutouts of buildings contrasting against the semidarkness of the evening sky. He took a sip of coffee, vaguely remembering those "happier times", when electricity wasn't so necessary and time was filled with trips to the countryside with his parents; playing in the dirt and hay with other kids, not giving TV a second glance. Now silence and lack of artificial stimuli was torturing him. He missed Eliza Cassan's voice - the white noise of his apartment.
Fumbling, Jensen got into rows of drawers in his kitchen. He dug out candles and tealights he got from his co-workers who didn't knew him well enough, but still felt obligated to gift him for various holidays.
With a conifer shaped candle placed on a saucer, he rummaged through his closet; he knew exactly what he was looking for: his secret stash of nostalgia - a cardboard box with paperback books, comics, board games, even a Discman and Game Boy Advance with few ROM cartridges. Adam lovingly traced his artificial fingers along battered spines of books he had read so many times; they almost fell apart in his hands.
For a better light, Jensen added few more candles to the mix, creating bizarre scenery on the small plate. A pink Easter bunny, sat under the half-melted conifer surrounded by a blue chicken, an all-natural beeswax dinosaur and anti-mosquito scented tealights.
He sat in the armchair, flipping a book open. In silence, he could hear muffled conversation of his neighbours. The female voice was concerned of the content of her fridge, which might spoil from lack of electricity. Jensen glanced in direction of his own kitchen, but easily shrugged the worries off. His fridge was empty anyway except of a half-full carton of milk and a bottle of ketchup - a small sacrifice for a true serenity.
There was only one thing he would miss in those dark times – his coffeemaker. Jensen was never a big fan of a mud coffee.