Every since they were very little girls, Kirsten and Keisha were inseparable. Kirsten, my daughter, was blonde-haired and blue-eyed and cute as the day is long. And now, in her teens, I was well-aware that she was every guy's wet dream. She was a cheerleader, and active in many school and social activities.

Keisha was our next-door neighbor. She was African-American, with a beautiful milk-chocolatey complexion and a truly beautiful face. We're talking full-on fashion model beautiful. Only one problem: She was painfully shy. No one really knew why that was. Maybe she'd grow out of it someday. Maybe not.

When they were very young, the girls would be over at each other's house almost every weekend for sleepovers. They had so much fun... never really fought. I think, mostly, they were just so different, that they were really entertained by each other, and just didn't need to fight. When Keisha was over at our house for a sleepover, Kirsten and I would continue our nightly ritual before bedtime. I'd lay down beside her and pretend to fall asleep. And then I'd start playing finger games with her... two or three of my fingers would pop up and be like a little animated character. No words were spoken, but I found a way to communicate with her. And there was lots of nose-stealing and tickling and leg and bottom pinching... that kind of stuff. And when Keisha was there, she played along and had a lot of fun.

That was quite a few years ago. Both girls were well into their teens now. Both had blossomed physically. I couldn't even look at how well my daughter had turned out. But I know that, if I was her age... well, never mind. And, Keisha was just amazing as well. Not only incredibly beautiful... but built. Curvy, but athletic. She still had that perfect complexion as well. They made quite a pair.

My wife and Kirsten had gone out of town for the weekend. They had travelled some 500 miles away to a family reunion. I would have gone, but there was a work party being thrown for an important client, and my attendance was mandatory. We had a 9-month-old baby now, and rather than tie the girls down with responsibility for him, we hired Keisha to come over and watch him while I was out for the night. I told her that I'd probably be late, and that if it did turn out to be late, I'd probably just have her sleep over so she didn't wake her family up at 4 in the morning or whatever. She and her parents agreed that would be fine.

I got home about 2:30, and Keisha was passed out on the sofa. I decided not to send her home, so I sat down beside her on the couch and shook her shoulder gently and said, "It's really late. You can sleep here, and you can just head home in the morning." She smiled weakly and I kissed her on the forehead and headed up to bed. I think she was back asleep before I made it out of the room.

I checked in on the baby, then headed for my room... where I dropped my pants and shirt, and climbed into bed wearing just an undershirt and boxers. It wasn't 10 minutes before I was sawing logs myself. At about 4am, a storm front rolled in... and though I loved thunder, and probably would have slept through it nearly undisturbed... Keisha wasn't so lucky. Storms scared her... and apparently a transformer was struck in the area, because the house fell quite dark.

About a minute later, Keisha was bending over me, saying: "Mr. C... I'm really scared and the power is out. Can I lay down beside you?"

I nodded groggily, and lifted the covers for her. She slipped out of her jeans and slid in beside me. I was on my side facing her, but the warmth of her body sliding up next to me, with her backside facing me, served to rouse me from my sleep a bit. I slid my arm down around her neck so she could lay on it for support, and wrapped my right arm around her waist. It was then that I noticed how much she was trembling. I hugged her a bit closer to me.

"It's OK, sweetheart. Everything will be fine. It's just a little storm."

She didn't answer... bur she was quiet. However, her trembling continued, and her breathing seemed a little labored. I felt bad for her... and then a thought popped into my head.