An Evening to Remember
Act I
Scene I
It was a cold, snowy evening. A Thursday evening.
Meg Griffin was in her bedroom in her pajamas wrapped in her warm blanket. She was doing some reading for her homework assignment.
She got up to fetch a snack. After about five minutes, she returned to her room with peanut buttered bread and a glass of milk. She ate her snack as she continued studying.
After a while, Meg got restless. It was almost midnight. Meg looked out her window. It had stopped snowing. She figured that she could use a little fresh air. She walked to the window, still wrapped in her blanket, and opened it. When she looked out, the skies were clear. A beautiful dark blue sky was decorated with the moon and starlight. Some stars twinkled as Meg stood at her window post daydreaming. Her breath could be seen against the wind chill.
Just then, Meg saw something in the adjacent window of the Swansons' house. She could see Kevin's silhouette. She tried to get a peek at what was happening, and upon closer inspection, she reared her head back. She realized that Kevin was dressing into his pajamas.
After he was done, he walked to the window. Meg hesitated to hide, fearing that she was caught spying on him. She sat nervously as Kevin greeted her with a warm smile.
"Hello," he said.
Meg blushed, and grinned as her hair flowed in the cold wind. She had forgotten how cold it was.
"Hi," she said.
Meg and Kevin sat silently at their windows, staring at the nighttime sky. All that could be heard was the whistling winds. Then, the wind gusts grew louder, and Kevin got chilly.
"Goodbye", he said to Meg as he shut his window. Meg barely had time to reply back.
"Bye", she replied. She closed her window, as light flurries began to fall.
Meg walked away from her window, and sighed contently. She went back to bed to continue her reading. She glanced at the window, and saw Kevin turn his lights out for the night. She finished the last of her milk, turned the lights out, and went fast asleep.
During the night, the light flurries grew into an extended snow shower. The wind gusts picked up hour after hour after hour.
Scene II
The next morning, a Friday morning, Meg woke up. She yawned and stretched, having slept pleasantly well last night. She looked out her window, and saw that it was half-covered with snow. The snow shower had simmered back down to flurries. She jumped out of bed, and looked outside. There was mist on the window, and Meg wanted to get a better look at what awaited her. She opened the window, and a light blanket of snow spilled on her floor.
It occurred to her just then that she had forgotten to put on her glasses. After she fetched her glasses, she was able to see more clearly. She went back to the window and took her blanket with her.
Outside, snow was everywhere. All of Spooner Street was painted white. In fact, there was so much snow that the snow plows had not even reached the neighborhood. Although it was still cold, somewhere below the freezing level, the wind had died down. Meg looked over at Kevin's window. He was still asleep, but she couldn't tell, because his window was covered with snow and mist too.
After closing her window, Meg wrapped herself up with her blanket again, and decided to get a quick breakfast. It wouldn't be too long before it was time for school.
As she ran down the stairs, Chris, already dressed, was watching the news.
"Good morning, Quahog," said Diane. "Quahog was hit with a snow storm last night, as you can tell, because Tom hasn't arrived yet."
Diane continued, "It is because of the snow that plows have been backed up, and cars have been stranded. Therefore, all area schools are closed for the day."
Chris jumped for joy. "YAYYYYYY!!!"
Meg sighed with relief, giving her more time to get some breakfast.
In the kitchen, Lois was preparing breakfast. She had just finished cooking eggs, toast, and sausage. Meg made herself a cup of chamomile tea.
On the news, Diane continued the newscast. "Also, happening in Quahog, two bodies were found unconscious under a bridge. Police blames the men's' injuries on some fallen icicles, but are investigating further whether it was accidental or a homicide."
Just then, Tom came in and took his seat while taking off her jacket.
"Hi, Diane", he said, "what did I miss?"
"Nothing important," Diane said.
"Let me tell you about this snow," Tom said, "I was in my car earlier this morning when it broke down near a bridge, so when I crossed the bridge, I almost lost my balance and tripped on the edge. Suddenly, two losers came from under the bridge and got nailed by these two icicles that I suppose were hanging from the overpass."
Tom started guffawing as Diane looked nervously at the camera. A brief silence befell the set.
Tom then stopped laughing and settled down. "So how was your morning?", he asked, still unaware that he was on the air.
After breakfast, Meg returned to her room. She was about to make her bed when she noticed Kevin wiping the snow off of his window. She rushed over and opened the window.
"Oh hi, Meg," greeted Kevin.
"Hi, Kevin" she said. "Snowy day, isn't it?"
"Yeah," replied Kevin, "especially since school's out for the day."
"I know", Meg said. After twiddling with her hair for a brief moment, she asked, "Hey, if you're not too busy, do you want to come over and hang out?"
Kevin smiled. "Sure thing, Meg. How about I come over for dinner?"
"That would be nice," Meg answered.
"Well, I got to get back to my chores," Kevin said. "See you later."
"Okay, bye" Meg said. She shut her window. Kevin shut his window.
Scene III
After she got washed and dressed, Meg went down to the basement, where Lois was doing laundry. Meg was missing her hat.
"Mom, have you seen my hat?" Meg asked.
"I just popped it in the washer," replied Lois. "It should be done later today."
"I need it for when Kevin comes over today." Meg stated.
"Oh, Kevin is visiting, well that's nice," Lois said. "Why don't you prepare him dinner? Make this a special day for him?"
Meg thought for a moment.
"That's a great idea!" Meg gasped. "Thanks, Mom."
She hugged Lois, and went back upstairs.
Meanwhile, Peter was in the opposite side of the basement, attempting to adjust the furnace.
He needed to take a closer look inside, and had with him a lighter.
Lois turned around and saw what Peter was doing. In her moment of distraction, she overfilled the washer with fabric softener.
"PETER DON'T!"
"Not now, Lois" said Peter. "I'm trying to make sure the furnace is working right."
"Yes" said Lois, "but not with a lighter. Use a flashlight instead."
Peter reached for the flashlight on a nearby table.
He turned it on, and took a peek inside.
Nothing seemed to be wrong.
But wait! One of the knobs was off-center.
Peter tweaked it back in place and turned it 40 degrees counterclockwise.
"That should do it", he said.
Peter closed the furnace door. "No more frosty nights for the Griffin family."
"I'm so proud of my handyman," Lois said, and gave him a kiss as Peter chuckled.
Peter left the basement. Lois finished the first load of laundry and left too.
So it seemed at the time that the furnace was fixed.
Or was it?