After the power goes out, a man and his fifteen-year-old son Eric sit in the living room in the candlelight. Eric tries to turn the television on again and again, upset that he can’t watch anything without power. Eric responds tersely to his father when he tries to talk, and Eric says that maybe someone fell into a generator, completely serious. Eric’s father isn’t sure what to say but thinks about his late wife, and mentally tells her that the city was covered in snow three months ago during her funeral. Eric remembers that he asked his son if he was alright, but Eric exploded, and yelled that he didn’t want to talk about the situation anymore. When they returned home, Eric’s father heard Eric crying in his bedroom and couldn’t bring himself to knock on his door.  Now, Eric comments on how noisy a bird outside is and says that he wishes that he had a rifle. Eric’s father tells him a story about his mother: when she was a little girl, she kept a flashlight next to her bed and shone it into the stars until she went to sleep, in hopes that the light would reach a faraway planet someday and illuminate the other world. Eric’s father thinks to himself that he will begin to lose memories of his wife, but he will never forget that he once had her in his life. Eric’s father thinks back to the week prior, when he took Eric to see fireworks. Eric brings up an old memory of when he was younger and a sparkler almost burned him, and he is disappointed when his father tells him that he was not the one who put the small fire out and saved him, but a stranger. They talk a bit about what Eric is learning in his science class until Eric grows tired and says he no longer wants to talk.  The power briefly comes back, and Eric rejoices, only to be upset when the power goes away again. He punches himself, and his father isn’t sure what to say. Eventually, Eric decides to go to sleep, and wishes his father a good night. His father wants to ask him if he needs a candle to see, but can’t bring himself to say anything. He thinks again of his wife and tells her in his mind that he’s sure that her flashlight light is on the way to a planet now.