We were working late and deep in thought. Both Perry and I were tap, tap, tap — typing away, eyes glued to computer monitors filled with work stuff we didn’t get completed during daylight work hours. And then…
Glass spattered the carpet and flames jumped high as the office filled with smoke. The candle I had lit on my desk had literally blown up!
Trying to extinguish the blaze by blowing on it didn’t work. Knowing that throwing water in the candle cauldron would make things worse, I yell at Perry, “BRING ME A COOKIE SHEET!” Now looking back, I know it seems a little silly that the one thing I wanted when faced with a fiery crisis was a cookie sheet. But what I wanted was the fire off my desk and out the window. Trust me, it really was a rational demand at the time. Probably.
I faintly heard the words ‘salt’ and ‘flour’ as solutions… but the only thing I had close (because Perry was trying to find me a cookie sheet) was that glass of water. I made a couple tiny splashes that seemed to help, so I made a few more. It wasn’t long until the major crisis was behind us, and the cookie sheet that finally arrived was no longer needed.