Ice Storm (Part 2): How Long Will It Be Cold and Dark?

Uzzi and I were worried.

We have long winter hair with a cashmere undercoat, so we were toasty warm inside our straw-bedded hut.

But when we were bottle kids we lived in our humans’ house, so we knew they’d get cold without heat. And what about baby Hutch? And Meegosh? We didn’t know what to think.

All around us trees continued to split and fall.

Boom!

Crash!

We huddled closer to one another and were grateful we were safe inside.

A few hours after dark came the biggest boom of all. Minutes later we heard Mom clump- clumping along on her Spikys, then she said some words I won’t repeat!

Mom has a little-bitty building that she calls her office, where she keeps her computer and she goes to writes. It has a nice wooden deck around it where Uzzi and I practice tap dancing and where we gathered yummy acorns last fall.

Next day when Mom and Dad pulled some limbs away and got inside, they found her keyboard impaled by a limb.

Dad said it was a sign from above and they both laughed. It’s hard to understand humans some times.

That day was a busy one for Mom and Dad. Our water tubs were frozen solid, so they heated water on their kitchen stove and poured it over the ice so we could drink. They also fed everyone inside their shelters hoping we’d stay inside.

It got very cold that night, only 11º. It stayed cold for several more nights, too.

Inside the house, Mom and Dad dressed little Hutch and Meegosh in two layers of kid coats and draped their crate with wool blankets to keep them warm.

Mom and Dad kept warm by dressing in layers and layers of clothes and piling lots of woolen blankets on their bed.

At night they read by flashlight and stuffed old Hank the Beagle under the covers. Hank liked that. He says he saved them from freezing. Mom and Dad thought their electricity would be back on soon but boy, were they wrong!

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