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After some time I find myself still standing in the same place next to the same car still looking
before me at the memorial when a storm starts. What's interesting about this storm is that the rain is
unusually warm, and there is no thunder, only lightning. I suppose it happens sometimes. After so
long the warm rain becomes extremely cold and I wake up and find myself in the shower being hit
by cold water.

I turn the shower off, grab the towel and then go to turn on the light, but when I flick the switch on,
nothing happens. No light. I also realize that there is rain hitting my window and I wonder if the
power went out. I open the bathroom door and peer outside into the rest of the apartment and notice
that every thing that runs off of electricity is off. The power did in fact go out. Not too soon after I
hear thunder. I open the door to my apartment and look out to the second floor hallway, no lights
are on. Son of a bitch.

I go to my bedroom and put clothes on and then lay on my bed and attempt to figure out what I'm
going to do with no computer or television. After a few minutes I get up to check if my flashlight
still works. It doesn't, and when it gets dark in a blackout, it really gets dark. I decide to go to the
store and buy another one, and as I'm closing my door I catch a glimpse of Lynne's door and I
wonder if she would need one as well. I knock on her door, and David answers, this cool little kid.
"Mom, it's your friend."

She comes to the door and I ask her if she needs a source of light. Not in those words. She says no,
that they have candles and flashlights, but she says that she could use some batteries. On my way
out I see that the rain has begun to settle down and that I might not really need my umbrella, but I
take it with me anyway. I come to Chase Mart all the time for groceries, but in all my years coming
here I have never bought a single inedible item.

When I walk through the front doors, I see a new yet familiar face at the register. New as in I've
never seen her at the register, but familiar as in I have seen her somewhere before. I go to the
batteries, and I realize Lynne didn't tell me what kind she needed, so I buy one from each rack, and
then I go buy my flashlight.

As I'm walking towards the employee I realize that it's Julia, a girl from one of the drug session
things I used to go to. I refer to her as a girl, even though by now she is a woman, because of the
many years I have on her.

I hand her my items and when she looks at me I can tell she recognizes me even though we have
never spoken before. Unlike Jamal, she doesn't have that look that implies that she is still using
drugs. This one, she actually looks drug-free.

After the transaction is complete and as I'm walking away, she calls me a bastard. I turn around in
question, complete confusion, and she says she can't believe that I would just walk away after what
I did to her and pretend we didn't even know each other. That I must still be getting high and lost all
of my brain cells even though I've never used an illegal drug in my life. Then that's when I
remember what hides in between fact and fiction.