Flashlights & Stormy Nights

“Now, kids, listen to Katie and mind her,” said Justin’s parents.

Justin and his little sister, Ellie, nodded their heads.

Soon, Jessie’s parents dropped her off at Justin’s house then all the parents left for the evening, taking Jessie’s little brother, Mikey, with them.

Katie closed the door. “Alrighty!” she said. “Let’s eat!”

“Yeah!” They all raced into the kitchen and dove into the hot, cheesy pizza.

“Yum!” said Justin through his big bite of cheese. “Hey, Jessie, how come your mom didn’t let Mikey stay with us tonight?”

“He’s too little,” Jessie replied.

“I’s not too wittle,” Ellie exclaimed. “I’s awmost a big kid.”

“You sure are,” said Katie. “Keep eating your carrots so you’ll be big and strong.”

Ellie stuffed a baby carrot in her mouth— chomp, chomp, chomp. Everyone was laughing at her silliness when, suddenly, the lights flickered.

Jessie blinked. “What was that?”

“Hmm . . .” Katie looked out the window. “It’s stormy outside. The wind must be making the lights—go out?!” At that moment, everything went dark.

“Whoa! That’s creepy,” said Justin.

“I want my mommy,” Ellie whined.

Katie carefully walked back to the table, trying not to bump anything. “We’re all here, Ellie. You’re fine.”

“Justin, do you know where the flashlight is?” asked Katie.

“Yeah, I’ll go get it.” Justin slid off his chair and walked toward the kitchen cupboard. Bonk! “Ow!” he hollered.

“You okay?” asked Katie.

Justin bent down and rubbed his toe. “Yeah, I forgot about Mom’s plant pot in the corner.” Justin cautiously felt around then opened a kitchen drawer. “Got it!” He pushed the button, and a beam of light glowed into the room.

“Dere you are, Jussin!” Ellie clapped her hands. “I can see you now!”

Katie rummaged around until she found a couple of jar candles and placed them on the table. “We’ll have a candlelight dinner.” She carefully lit the candles, and they gave off a soft glow.

After everyone was finished eating, they cleared the table. “At least we just had paper plates and a pizza box,” said Justin. “That made it easy to clean up.”

“It sure did,” Jessie agreed. “But now the trash can is super full.” She peered at the kitchen can overflowing with paper plates and a crushed pizza box. “Eww! And it’s kinda stinky, too.”

“I’ll take care of it,” said Katie. “You guys can go find a game. We’ll play it here by the candles.”

“Okay!” Justin pointed the flashlight into the next room. “Come on, Jessie, let’s go.”

“Wait fo’ me!” Ellie grabbed Jessie’s hand, and the three kids tiptoed into the darkness, following the light.

Meanwhile, Katie grabbed the stinky trash bag in one hand and a candle in the other then went out the back door to find the garbage can.

Jessie, Ellie, and Justin found the shelf stacked with games in the family room. “I want dis one,” said Ellie, standing on her tippytoes and tugging on a red box.

“No, Ellie, not like that!” Justin shouted just as the box came loose. Ellie plopped to the floor as three other game boxes fell down around her.

Jessie gasped. “Ellie, are you all right?”

Justin pointed the flashlight at his sister. There she sat—a gazillion game pieces scattered around her. But in her hands, she clutched the red game box. “I got it, Jussin,” she said proudly, “all by myseff.”

Justin helped Ellie stand up. “Yeah, but look at the mess.”

“Maybe we can clean it up tomorrow when there’s light again,” Jessie suggested.

“Yeah, let’s go play my game now,” said Ellie, pulling on Justin’s hand. The kids stepped toward the hallway, being careful not to squish any game pieces on the floor. Suddenly, they heard a noise—knock, knock, knock-knock-knock!

Startled, they all stopped and huddled up around the flashlight. “Wha-what was that?” asked Jessie.

“I don’t know.” Justin shrugged. Knock-knock- knock!

“There it is again!” Jessie whispered.

Ellie scooted closer to Justin. “Jussin, I scared. I wish Katie was here with us,” she whimpered.

“Katie!” Justin and Jessie exclaimed. “That’s Katie knocking!”

The kids scrambled for the family room door, nearly dropping the flashlight, when Justin finally took charge. “Wait. Let me lead. I’ve got the light.” He pointed the flashlight in front of him and stepped forward. “Follow me,” he said. Ellie and Jessie lined up behind Justin and followed him back to the kitchen.

The knocking sound was very loud now. Justin crept toward the back door. “Katie? Is that you?”

“Yes! Justin, let me in,” Katie shouted.

Justin peeked out the window to see Katie standing on the back porch, shivering. Justin quickly opened the door. Katie bolted inside. “Thank you,” she said. “I was taking out the garbage when the door locked behind me! Brrrr!”

“Sorry it took so long. We had to follow the light back to the kitchen,” Jessie explained.

“You know,” said Katie, “this reminds me of what Pastor said in church about Jesus.”

“Oh yeah! Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world,’” Jessie remembered.

“Right. Pastor said the world is in darkness, and we can’t find the right way to go unless we follow Jesus.”

“You mean like we followed the flashlight?” Justin asked.

“Yes. And I’m glad you guys had a good flashlight. It showed you the way to find me!” Katie smiled.

“And . . .” Ellie interrupted, “it showed us da way to find my game! Come on, let’s play!”

Download Coloring Page