Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
DenKor: Movie Night?
"Okay, is everything ready?" Mathias asked.
"Yep!" Yong Soo chirped. "I have the popcorn, I have the drinks, I have the chocolates, I have the blanket, and the DVD is in the player."
"Sweet! So, let's get…"
Before he could finish his sentence, the lights went out. The two looked up towards the ceiling before Yong Soo turned his attention to the TV. A black screen waited for them.
"What?" Yong Soo cried. "No, no, no! That's a new TV! That can't be good for it!"
"Calm down," Mathias said. "I'm going to go look around. See if it's just us."
Yong Soo pouted as Mathias left, before he went to get some candles ready. He managed to light a few and placed them in strategic positions in the apartment. He also checked the electricity box to make sure that the power didn't just trip. The flashlight's beam showed that nothing was wrong.
He thought that Mathias would have been back by the time he'd finished, but that wasn't the case. So, Yong Soo tried to keep himself busy with his phone, only to see that the battery was close to dying, and he would need to keep it alive for as long as possible in case Mathias were to call. And so he waited. And waited.
It was three-quarters of an hour before Mathias returned. Even in the gloom of the candles, Yong Soo could see that something was wrong.
"The whole town is dark," Mathias said. "I went to the power station to find out what's going on. One of the transformers exploded. Apparently, someone didn't make sure that it had enough oil or something. No idea how long that's going to take to fix."
"So, what are we going to do now?" Yong Soo asked.
"Well, obviously movie night is out. But… well, we can't let all of these snacks go to waste. Do you know any good scary stories?"
Yong Soo grinned. He knew a few Korean urban legends that could freak Mathias out. And his friend Kiku told him a few Japanese stories as well.
This is a very familiar scene in South Africa. We've been having loadshedding for months, and it doesn't look as though it's going to improve anytime soon. They have a schedule set out, in different stages. Stage one loadshedding can give you two hours of no electricity, though some days there is nothing scheduled for stage one. Stage eight, on the other hand, can give you up to twelve hours of no power. We usually stay somewhere between stage two and six. Anyway, it's causing a lot of grief. A lot of businesses are losing money because of the power outages. Hair salons tend to be closed during that time. Small stores selling things in the fridges/freezers have to throw out a lot of products. Even bigger companies spend a lot of money on diesel for generators, unless they manage to get solar panels, which they would have to budget for. And then there are places with localised problems, such as our town. We constantly have faulty cables, and they patch it up with cables that have been recycled from somewhere else. Cable theft is still an issue. Illegal connections. And a few months back, there have been people holding the electricians at the power station hostage because they resented the fact that their area tended to get the power turned on last (though the fact that their area is also the guiltiest when it comes to illegal connections and not paying the bills tends to slip their minds).
And almost every time the power goes out, my dad has to go investigate. He's on friendly terms with the municipality's electricians.
There was also one time when one of the transformers actually exploded because it ran out of oil. And another time our neighbourhood lost power because a snake wandered into the substation, which caused the power to trip, which caused a fire, and the first thought that crossed my mind was 'Poor snake'.