They were all expecting the bell to ring any second now, but to their surprise, the lights went out instead. Mr. Jay got up and locked the door. He looked out the windows, which were blindingly white and full of snow. It looked like a blizzard had come up without anyone even noticing, so busy over their drawings had they been.
“Just stay in your seats,” Mr. Jay said, “on the off chance it’s something serious. If not, someone will be around to tell us—ah, the back-up generator just came on.” With that, the lights came back on, got stronger and stronger, and then blew out with a loud popping noise. At the same time the loudspeaker buzzed, crackled, and the principal’s voice intoned, “Not to worry, the power’s out and the storm is bad. We may all be staying here tonight. We’ll decide that la
