As the night goes on, the air becomes colder and the natural sun light goes dim as it sets in the sky. Soon I am left with only the flickering of a candle and my thoughts as my sole source of entertainment. It has been a long day that started as a living nightmare.

The previous day’s forecast called for a mix of rain and snow. I didn’t expect much from it, and prepared to go to school the next day. But after the storm rolled in overnight, I woke up to the trees covered in ice and the cancellation of school.

There were faint rumbles surrounding me. Tree branches were giving up to the fury of the storm and suddenly the electricity went out. A branch broke off a tree, cutting off a power line and leaving my entire street in the dark.

The threat of having to transport buckets of water out of the house the entire day started to arise. Without power, my sump pump shut off and my basement would soon flood. As much as my mom and I tried, we couldn’t get our backup generator to work and power the sump pump.

We were getting ready to slave the day away when my neighbors unexpectedly came over. They helped get our backup generator to operate. After the engine started to roar, my one neighbor went out to buy us more gas to power it.

These are the people that I live so close to but hardly talk to or notice. When they saw my mom and me struggling, they immediately offered aid. They set aside all that they were doing to deal with the storm to help us. With this simple act of kindness, I became more appreciative of the things I pass by every day.

The people around us seem to disappear when we focus on our phones and laptops. When the voices on the television, the buzz of the microwave, and the electrical currents that run through the houses came to a stop, I only expected the worst. But in the silence of my neighborhood, I could hear so much more.

There are so many things that we take for granted, including the luxury of having electricity and the company of everyone around.

With school work and the need to watch that new television series, we forget to actually live. We have been so nurtured in this industrial era that we can’t foresee a day without electricity.

The rest of my day was spent tending to firewood, cooking food without the microwave, toaster, or oven, completing what I could of my homework, and trying to cope in the cold. Doing all of these things, I realized that it is more rewarding to work harder for what I need.

So sitting here in the dark, I plan to be less attached to the commodity that has always seemed so necessary. Being forced to break away from everyday life changed my train of thought. I want to show others the kindness that was given to me, and I hope that you can do the same.

The darkness isn’t so bad. In it, I found peace.

Erica Kelble is a Multimedia Editor for The Patriot and jcpatriot.com.