To lilfluff‘s prompt: Prepping being useful in a non-apocalyptic crisis

The radio had been hollering about snow for days, and it had gone from hollering to hysteria in the last 24 hours.

Albert and Madeline checked their water supplies, brought in a few more loads of firewood, trimmed a few branches off the trees nearest the house. They made a thick casserole for dinner and watched a couple sitcoms.

Madeline’s mother called; she talked for a couple minutes and made sure everything was okay at home. Albert’s sister called; they gossiped for a couple minutes. The wind was starting to pick up when he got off the phone; they checked the front and back doors and closed the blinds.

They woke to a power outage and eighteen inches of snow. Albert built up the fire in the wood stove while Madeline shoveled the way to the road. They melted buckets of snow over the wood-burning stove – and boiled water for coffee.

Casserole reheated nicely over the stove, too, and then they sat back on the couch, warm in the glow of the fire. “Finally.” Madeline smiled over her coffee. “I thought the damn blizzard would never come.”

This entry was originally posted at http://aldersprig.dreamwidth.org/583249.html. You can comment here or there.