ON A THURSDAY MORNING in midwinter the Tucker family woke up to the eerie silence and deepening cold that signal a power outage. Mike Tucker stumbled to the window. Every house on the street of their affluent suburb was as dark as his own. He muttered softly as he lit the fireplace in the family room. The fire was soon roaring, but it heated only a small area directly in front of the hearth. The rest of the room remained chilled. Lisa Tucker rummaged through the kitchen cabinets, looking for breakfast for the couple and their three children, eight-month-old Dan, six-year-old Austin, and twelve-year-old Audrey.
Everything but a few boxes of cold cereal required some source of electricity to prepare. She looked longingly at the electric coffee grinder and automatic coffeemaker. They weren’t much good without the power to operate them. As the children awoke, they gravitated to the only warm spot in the house, directly in front of the fireplace. Baby Dan woke up hungry and wet. He had to settle for a cold bottle while his mom opened a box of disposable diapers and quickly changed him.
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