Ice Storm!

The ice
storm hits
Indiana!














We see it
coming...

We must
be ready!

So I leave
husband
and kitty...

I go to
New Castle
to wait out
the storm.

I sleep
at Jeffery Street
fitfully....


and I wake up....

...to ice!

My basketball hoop
is frozen...

My back yard
is solid ice...

Poor Marshall
is shivering...

Koda
checks out
the frozen turf...

- What can
we do
with this?

- You're on
your own,
Koda!

I've got
to get
to work!

I toss
my suitcase
in the trunk....

...don't know
if I'll make
it home
after work...


The roads
are pure ice.

I see one car
slowly
creep
down Jeffery Street.

I'll have
to try...


I'm alone
on the road...

...except
when I'm jostled
by a plow...


Normally
15 minutes...

My drive
takes 45...

I park
next to
frozen cars...

...sliding
down the halls
of the hospital...

...I check
the latest
news....

I'd better
stay here
tonight!

Luckily
the hospital
has a spare room
for visiting doctors -

- in Phillips Hall
across the
parking lot.

I spend
the day
at my scope...

...listening
to reports
of freezing
rain...

...frozen
pipes...

...wind
chills...

I hear
the danger
tonight
will be power loss

from
shattered
power lines!

I'm glad I'll be
near the hospital
tonight.

It's Feb 1.

I'm still
following
the Egypt crisis.

Last I heard
KC was
on a plane
for Greece...


I hope
she's okay.

After work
I settle in
to
Phillips Hall...

I try to
look out
my window.

All I see
is ice.

Wait!

There it is!

I can see
my own power cable

feeding energy

to Phillips Hall...

....and covered
with sleet.



Will it
last
the night?

Chuck,
the security director,
tells me
I can park
my Prius...

...under the
entrance roof
for the night.

I wander
the empty
halls....

....eat
in a silent
cafeteria...

I remember
the lonely nights
in the Chicago hospital
years ago
when my nephew
lay near death.

Up
the back
stairway...

...across
a frozen
parking lot...

The sleet
whips
the trees...

They
crinkle
against
the brave
streetlight.

What happens
if I lose power
tonight?

It could be
a long
treacherous
walk
to the hospital
on the dark ice.

I clutch
frozen
railings.

What
if I fall?

Warm
light
inside...

Up in my room
I look out
at a blue
frozen
world...



I suddenly realize
I have
no flashlight!

If I lose power

If the room
chills from
no heat...

How would I
find my way
from Phillips Hall
to the hospital
in the dark?

I carefully
fold clothes
on a chair
where I
could feel them
if it's dark.

I plug in
my phone.

It could be
a source of light
in a dark world.











I turn out
the light
and
I go to sleep...


....wondering
what will
happen.