Snowbound in the Library

The old book slipped from my fingers, the sound echoing like a gunshot in the frozen silence

of the library. When I looked up, my heart stopped. Sitting across the room,

illuminated by the flickering emergency lights, was Alex. It had been three years

since our bitter breakup, and now, a freak winter power outage had trapped

us—and half the town—inside the only building with a backup generator. The tension was

thick, an icy wall between us that matched the storm outside. But as the hours

dragged on and more people filed in seeking warmth, we were forced into a truce.

We had to coordinate, handing out quilts and hot tea to neighbors. It was like slipping into a phantom habit;