The Porch Light Committee

Wilhelmina had run the Maple Court porch light committee for nine years, a job that consisted of one task: remembering to turn the porch light on. The committee was her and a cat named Gerald.

This Saturday she had the morning off. No pickups, no phone calls, no one needing to borrow a ladder. She had set her plan the night before, in order: coffee, blanket, nothing.

The coffee came from the Keurig K-Elite on her counter, which she had named "Dennis" because it was always ready before she was. One button, one mug, one small hum. She carried the mug to the porch, where the maples had finally turned the color they had been promising all month.

The blanket was a PHF waffle weave blanket, thin enough to carry around and warm enough to feel like an announcement. She tucked it around her knees, and Gerald, who has never once been invited, appeared on top of it.

A neighbor jogged by and waved. Wilhelmina waved back with the hand that was not holding the mug. Another neighbor walked a dog the size of a loaf of bread. She waved at that too.

By ten o'clock she realized the committee had accomplished something rare: the light had stayed off, the leaves had stayed up, and nothing needed her. She stayed exactly where she was until lunch.

Back in the real world: the Keurig K-Elite is a single-serve K-Cup coffee maker, and the PHF blanket is a lightweight cotton waffle weave throw. The story is fiction; prices were what I saw on Amazon on Oct 8 and can change.