Noreen woke in a slick of sweat, reached for the thermostat, and found the display dead.

She flicked the bedside lamp.

Nothing.

She went downstairs cursing the power company and found Craig passed out on the sofa in yesterday’s clothes, and shook him awake to complain about the outage.

Craig, hungover, pulled out his phone to check the utility map — and went pale.

It was not a blackout.