I went back to the bedroom and threw on sweat pants, a tee shirt, and my sneakers. I stuck my cellphone in a pocket then glanced at the unmade bed hesitating. Last one out had to make the bed and Zoni would be pissed if I left it. I pulled up the sheets but decided to finish as soon as we got back. I grinned. Maybe I could convince her to climb back in with me for a few minutes since we had the morning free. I meandered back through the living room and noticed she’d not opened the curtain on our lone window in the room.
She loved it that our apartment was on an outer wall and that there was a side window through which there was a view of the park trees three blocks away and the tops of the uptown skyscrapers. When I’d mentioned that only the very tops were visible, she said, “Well, it may not be that great but it beats the view we get from our bedroom window!”
That was the red brick wall of the apartment building behind ours. I had to concede that she had a point.
Usually, the first thing she did in the morning was draw back the curtains and admire the view, but I supposed she had getting bacon on her mind and ducked out without doing it. I went over and pulled the curtains apart.
I blinked at the thick mist outside. With such a heavy fog, it would be hard to see. Now why would she go out in that, I wondered, bacon wasn’t that important.
Hoping she’d done her usual aisle cruise and was still at the store, I fished out my cellphone to tell her to wait for me.
“Call Zoni”, I said to the phone. It didn’t ring. I frowned and peered at it. “No signal indicated” was flashing at the top. That was unusual as I’d always been able to get good reception in the apartment. Annoyance edged its way into my mind and intermingled with a small finger of – not quite worry but more of a tinge of unease. I didn’t want her walking back in that murk alone.
I spun around and made my way out the door. I didn’t want to wait on the creaky, too-slow elevators so I dipped to the stairwell.
The lights flickered as I clattered down the three flights to the lobby. They steadied but as I reached the bottom and stepped out, they flickered again and then went all the way out enveloping the lobby in a gray gloom. I stopped and looked up. All the lights were out; even the little one between the two elevators was gone.
I stood there for a moment then shrugged and started across to the front door. Probably the rotten wiring in the building had struck again. The lights had taken a dive before. The landlord kept promising to get the problem fixed but was dragging his feet about it.
From behind me came footsteps and a voice. “Damn!”
I turned and Dave, one of our first floor neighbors, emerged from the hall. A frown had his bushy, gray-flecked eyebrows bunched together and resembling a brown and white wooly worm hanging over his eyes.
“Morning, Dave. Have we been visited by the lights-out fairy again?” I asked.
He peered at me over the top of his wire-rimmed glasses. “Hey, Tenn. Yeah, looks that way. They went out as I was coming down the hall.” He heaved a sigh and shook his head. “Well, it’s not the first time. They’ll likely pop back on soon.” He glanced toward the lobby window. “I was going out for a jog before it starts heating up but, uh, that fog looks pretty heavy. Believe I’ll wait ‘til it lifts. Wasn’t anything on the weather report about it but they aren’t always right, you know.”
“True, but that’s why I’m going out. Zoni went to the Quick Mart to pick up something and I don’t want her wandering around alone in this, so I’m going to meet her. We’ll be right back.”
I peered through the glass in the door. I couldn’t make out the lamp pole at the sidewalk but even through the fog, I should’ve been able to see the glow from its light and I didn’t. That would mean it was out and with the fog being so dense, it should’ve been on.
“Hey, Dave, I don’t think it’s only the building this time. Looks like the street lights are out, too.” I started through the door but then it struck me that somebody should call the power company. Letting the door swing back shut, I stopped and pulled out my cellphone. Still no signal. It was annoying, but I knew Dave’s apartment was equipped with an old-fashioned landline, so I said, “My phone’s not getting reception but landlines should be working. Call the power company. Someone going too fast in this mess could’ve hit a power pole somewhere.”
He nodded and pushed his glasses up his nose. “Okay.” He shook his head as he headed back towards his apartment, muttering, “Some folk just won’t slow down for nothing. Damned fools…”
Pushing through the door, I paused on the small porch for a moment, frowning. It was cooler than I’d thought it would be, though, with the fog blocking the sun, I supposed that was to be expected. One would think it would’ve been humid or damp but there was no hint of moisture in the air, and I guess fogs don’t always swirl but this one was sitting out there rock steady, as if someone had dropped a solid sheet of gray down on the world.
Feeling as though there were a film on my eyes, I blinked and gave in to the urge to rub them, which of course didn’t help. I glanced up. I could see a marginally lighter patch in the east where rays from the morning sun were losing their battle to break through. The rest of the sky was an overall even gray.
A sense of wrongness tugged at me and my anxiety level rose. Zoni wouldn’t have gone out in that. It must’ve been a fast mover that came up after she got to the Quick Mart. I considered that she may have tried to call and hadn’t been able to reach me, and was already on her way back. I needed to get moving.
I hustled down the steps and out into the haze, barely able to see two feet ahead. A little more and I would’ve needed a cane to find my way through. I got across the front parking lot and out to the sidewalk only knowing I’d reached it when the lamppost appeared in front of me. I veered in the direction of the store a block away. Glancing around, I couldn’t see much; the buildings were merely dark blobs. I’d have to be careful not to step off the sidewalk and into the street or actually run into and knock Zoni down if she was on her way back.
It was around six-twenty, about fifteen minutes since I awakened, and though most folk were probably still pulling themselves from bed or preparing for work, there were usually a few out for an early morning jog or walking the dog. But, if anyone else was out and about, I didn’t hear them and I definitely couldn’t see them. I didn’t hear any barking dogs, either, and normally there would be at least one out there yapping. It was dead quiet. Too quiet, even for that early in the morning. It was a bit strange that I also wasn’t hearing any traffic. I shrugged. Likely, it was due to the heavy fog. Not many would want to venture out into it and I thought perhaps it was muffling the usual morning noises.
I didn’t run into Zoni, but I almost fell off the curb when I got to the corner, barely managing to stop in time. I looked up towards the traffic light. Couldn’t see it but since I saw no red, orange, or green winking at me from above, I knew it was dead, too. I peered through the mist trying to make out the store across the street but it appeared the power outage extended into the next block and all I saw was a faint blur slightly darker than the fog.
I got to the building and pulled open the door. Inside was full of shadows, but I could see no one was at the front checkout counter. A trickle of worry inched into my mind. Shouldn’t anybody in the store be at the front? Perhaps commenting about the fog or complaining to each other about the power outage? Then, I shook my head. I was getting paranoid. The clerk had likely gone to the back to call the power company, and with it being early, there wouldn’t be many customers. Maybe they’d gone with him, and perhaps Zoni was in the ladies room.