Blackout

There was a blackout this morning when I got up to get ready for work. It's nasty enough getting up at 5am, let alone doing it all in the dark.

I showered, dressed and had a coffee, all in darkness. I was too tired and lazy to look for a candle.

Still, I was impressed with my own industriousness. As one of my senses was rendered useless, the others kicked in. Heightened smell. Super-hearing. I could gauge the spaces in front of me, like a bat with sonar, my skin becoming sensitive to the slightest vibration.

My arm hairs prickled as a breeze, many miles down the coast swept in with the sea. I knew by instinct that it was a south easterly. And all this through a closed window.

Actually, it was less like this, and a lot more like me stumbling into walls, stepping on sharp toys and pouring coffee on the bench. And I thought I'd done a reasonable job doing my hair in the dark, but when I got to work I found that I kind of looked like Amy Winehouse.