Author's Note - Prompt suggested by SongSisters.
K is for Kerosene
They called them the Diablo Winds. The dry air swirled and howled through the tinder-dry forest threatening to cause even the tiny sparks to explode into an inferno. To make the situation worse the high windspeed forced aircraft to shelter in the safety of their hangars to prevent them from being cartwheeled across the tarmac.
With the risk of deadly wildfires so high, the local power company cut the power to prevent a stray piece of wind-driven debris from causing the powerlines from arcing and lighting the surrounding area on fire. This meant that the many structures located in the mountains surrounding Piston Peaks National Park would be weathering the night without power.
The Air Attack Base was better equipped than most homes. They had an oversized generator that Maru had fired up as soon as it became clear that the power would be out for a couple of hours…but even a generator that size wasn't able to produce enough electricity to power all the hangars. Instead, it only powered the base's most critical infrastructure which was the tower because it was the base's nerve center, the mechanic's hangar so it would be ready to respond to any emergency that was sent Maru's way, and the kitchen in the main hangar because no one wanted to be forced to clean all of those chest freezers if their contents thawed out.
The aircraft took power cut in stride, with each one of them trying to catch up on sleep in the protective shelter of their hangars. The smaller vehicles, on the other tire, faced the darkness with nervous energy. As night fell it felt as though they were being cut off from the world because even the stars were being blocked out by the swirling clouds of dust carried by the vicious winds.
As the agitation continued to build, Dynamite looked over at Avalanche. The dozer gave a slight bob on his tires and the captain knew it was time. Without speaking a word Avalanche retrieved a rarely used box from one of the top shelves in the smokejumpers hangar, Drip went with Patch to brave the storm to go raid supplies from the kitchen, while Dynamite and Blackout struck out across the tarmac to retrieve Maru.
By the time they had returned Avalanche had pulled all of the sleeping mats into the middle of the hangar and prepped several of old-fashioned glass kerosene lanterns. He carefully backed away from the delicate objects giving Dynamite the room she needed to light the prepared wicks.
There was the splutter of a match…then a faint hiss as the as a warm light blossomed filling the space with dancing shadows. Everyone in the hangar just took a moment to enjoy the beauty of the flickering light as it painted their home with warmth. But then, Patch cleared her throat, and everyone got down to business.
"Alright." Patch said as she shuffled deck of cards in her tines. "We all know the rules don't get drunk enough that it will affect tomorrow's work, only place bets you can clear, and for slagging sake, Chief Ranger will never learn of the existence of this game. Understood?" Choir of 'yes, ma'ams' to which Patch nodded her approvals. "Very good. Now that that has been taken care of, let the games begin."
End Note - And this will be the last Q for Quarantine for the next month...but I hope that the nearly daily posts of stories for this year's Christmas Alphabet Advent Story will be enough to get you to forgive me for the long pause. That said, what are your prompt idea L so that we are ready to hit the ground running come January?
