Lighting up the Night

A snowstorm puts Abby's power out. 300 words

Lighting Up the Night

Abby went to the window of her house. The whole neighborhood was dark. The storm was blowing and howling as it had been all day.
“Time to light up my night,” she whispered. She hefted the cast iron stand up to the picture window ledge. The large, sculptured candle it held was a German souvenir.
Using a long fireplace match, she lit the wick. The sight of the candle burning from both the top and softly from the inside of its body, made her smile. It grew as she watched all the neighbors began setting candles in their windows too. Some smiled and waved.
Since her landline and the power in general was out, Abby sat under a pile of blankets with her purr machine Lolly, cuddled under them with her. She began to sing “This Little Light of Mine” as loud as she could. She soon lost her voice and fell asleep.
She woke around six am with her furnace blasting welcome warm air, all the lights on and her refrigerator humming softly. Abby stretched and yawned. Moving carefully, she managed to get out of her blanket pile without disturbing her cat.
In spite of it, the cat beat her to the kitchen. Spooning out kibble with a dollop of wet food, Abby set about making coffee and toasting frozen waffles. By the time she sat down to eat, Lolly was on her lap.
“Well, ole purr-meow, how did you sleep?” she asked while stroking her between her eyes, which was the cat’s favorite spot for such things.
With a second cup of coffee in hand, Abby went back to her blanket cocoon. She stopped to see the huge candle she’d lit last night had gone out by itself. She was thankful for that too.