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shoulder. If he had been a year younger, she would have put her arm around him and given him a hug. But lately, he was in that stage where he wouldn't even let his mom hug him unless she took him off-guard.
    "We are going to be fine," she said. "We have candles, a flashlight, food, and it's not even cold." Back home in Pennsylvania, this only happened during snowstorms. Not having to worry about freezing was a big plus here in Florida.
    "We may get bored, or even a little scared, but we are going to be okay." Winnie wanted to mention that they should be worried about their parents if they wanted to worry at all. They were the ones out in this horrible storm. But she didn't want to scare Alec anymore than he already was. She went on with her speech, talking about her parents, still at the grocery store, stocking up on food like everyone else. She even commented that they might need to spend the night there, making jokes about how much they would eat through the night.
    Alec laughed a little. Winnie felt satisfied knowing that she had at least calmed her brother for the moment. She grabbed a couple chips for herself and sat down next to him. The rain pelting against the windows sounded louder than ever, and the wind was banging things around outside. The only good thing that had happened in the last few minutes was the thunder had stopped.
    Both children knew they were in for an adventure they wished had never started. Winnie wracked her brain, trying to think of something productive to do. She walked to the phone and lifted up the receiver. There was a dial tone!
    "It works again!" she yelled joyfully.
    Her eyes lit up when she thought of her next idea.
    "Hey, maybe we should give someone a call and check on how the roads are around here." She watched Alec's face to see if the suggestion sounded reasonable to an eight-year-old.
    "Who would we call?" he asked, buying into her idea.
    They spent the next couple of minutes debating over whom would be the best agency or company in charge of roads in the area. If they had lived in the area longer, they most likely would have known that answer. But once again, being a newcomer had its disadvantages.
    Finally they decided to simply open up the phone book and just start glancing through the businesses, hoping some place would jump out at them.
    "I'll grab the phone while you find a number," Alec yelled, up and out of his chair in an excited fashion. Winnie flipped through the pages, wishing she knew whom to call. She decided to look under emergency numbers. Even if she couldn't get road information, perhaps they could call the electric company to find out when the lights may be coming back on.
    "Hand me the phone," she said, squinting to see the numbers in the dimly lit room. She found the number for a power company. "I don't know if this is the right number or not," she frowned, pushing the button on the receiver.
    The minute she did so, she felt her heart sink. "Oh, no!" Winnie groaned, pushing the button over and over again.
    "What's wrong?" Alec asked with concern.
    "The phone is dead again," she said, looking at him in dismay. With all the other problems, she should have assumed the line would be in and out. She hadn't anticipated this, though, and this new problem made her feel worse than ever.
    "Now what?" Alec asked, his eyes filling with tears. "Even if Mom and Dad want to call, they can't."
    Winnie simply sat there staring at the phone. She didn't know how to respond to her brother. She had spent so much energy trying to keep Alec upbeat that it was wearing her out.
    The frazzled girl put her head down on the table, hoping that a few minutes of silence would help her sort things out. She let the thoughts race through her mind. It took about a minute, but Winnie did feel herself relaxing a little. She began to think about the problems one at a time and tried her best to rank them, listing them from biggest worry to the least. But her thoughts were interrupted with a harsh jab