"Outage"

On the Edge
"Outage"
by John Updike

Rating: 7.7


Short story about Brad Morris, an older married man, in New England, during a power outage. The weatherperson on television had predicted a fierce autumn storm for New England. Brad Morris, who worked at home while his wife, Jane, managed a boutique in Boston, glanced out his windows.

“I think I do. He,” he said, “might call. Even she might, if the outage has made the news in Boston. You’ll be fine now. Listen. Lynne. The alarm has stopped beeping. It’s saying, ‘All is well. All is normal.’ It’s saying, ‘Get that man out of my house.’ ”
“No,” she weakly protested.
“It’s saying, ‘I’m in charge now.’ ” Brad turned his eyes from her nakedness, his wispy blonde’s. “It’s saying,” he told her, “ ‘This is how it is. This is reality.’ ”♦