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Six Sentence Story: Flash

Photo: A little boy stands outside of a blue split-level house
Linking up again with the Six Sentence Story blog hop. Go check out the other stories! This week's prompt: flash.

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Upon entering the split-level house for the first time, she thought it very odd that the stairs led up to the bedroom hallway, instead of the light-filled living room, but even the strange floor plan could not deter her and her husband from purchasing the otherwise-perfect-for-their-family home. 

They did want to do something to brighten the dim entryway, though, so she purchased 100-watt bulbs to replace the two 40-watt spot lights that hung on the track on the vaulted ceiling. He got out the tallest ladder he owned, she steadied it while nervously hoping he didn't fall, and he managed to replace the bulbs without incident. When he flipped the switch back on, they were rewarded with a bright, cheery light--that is, until the humming sound, flash, and explosion of glass. 

They escaped injury, but learned the valuable lesson of paying attention to the labels on light fixtures which indicate maximum recommended wattage. As for the entryway, they decided that bright and cheery was overrated, and dim mood lighting was a much better, or at least safer, choice. 

Comments

  1. Oof. Yes, i learned that the hard way as a child. Luckily, the bulb just burned out immediately and did not explode. Well told!

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I'm glad you were OK and didn't have an explosion!

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  2. ayyiee (the imagery of light bulbs, with their thinnest of all glass, showering down on up-turned faces)
    good Six

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    Replies
    1. Fortunately, we weren't directly underneath at the time the glass shattered.

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  3. - that moment before it all goes horribly wrong.....great story

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  4. Excellent Six! That would be me...hey, why so dark, let's get some light in here!!! Difficult way to learn that lesson :)

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    Replies
    1. At least the dimmer light made the floor-to-ceiling, there-is-no-way-we're-taking-all-that-down, wallpaper less noticeable! :-)

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  5. This story may not have been shared with some of your family back then.

    We recently replaced the internal workings of a lamp (the second one within a couple of months) and when we put in a new three way bulb it exploded within a couple of days when I turned on the lamp. Thanks for the shade and the fact I wasn't standing above it, I wasn't hurt.)

    When I clicked to read this SSS, I wasn't paying attention to the blog page, and thought, 'Wow, the house in that picture looks like the one where you used to live." I had a good laugh at myself once I realized I was reading your post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maybe not. ;-)
      I don't remember hearing your exploding lamp story until now, either. :-) Glad you were OK!

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  6. Good six. I'm one for mood lighting these days.

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    Replies
    1. Given the choice between dim or exploding, I'll take dim any time!

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  7. Nice take! Very original! Excellent six!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! "Original" comes from real life--I don't think I could have thought that one up myself!

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  8. Replies
    1. Yes, the moral of the story is: read the label! :-)

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  9. Oh wow! This story is a true warning! Thank You!

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    Replies
    1. You're welcome. We certainly learned our lesson!

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