Noisy Neighbors

George stood at his back window counting the seconds between each lightning strike and the thunderous boom that followed. Three seconds, that was supposed to mean the lightening strike was three miles away. He loved storms. Especially ones like this, where he could almost feel the electricity in the air. The sound of his doorbell startled him out of his trance.
There at his door was his next door neighbor, Marie. She was soaking wet, wearing only a bright green sweatshirt to shelter her from the storm. She stepped through the threshold, not waiting to be invited in.
“Are your lights working?” George didn’t like Marie and her husband Jeff. He found them noisy and obnoxious, but he did his best to be a good neighbor.
“Yes Marie, as you can see the lights are on.” The quiet bachelor pointed to the hallway light.
“My lights and TV are not working. Could you be a doll and take a look. Jeff’s at work and I can’t get him on his phone. George grabbed his slicker and flashlight and followed Marie to her home. George went to the basement; the houses on this block were identical so he knew were the breaker panel was.
The breaker for the main feed was popped and in the off position. He threw the breaker and it snapped right back to off. He tried again, this time forcing the breaker into place and holding it. It worked the basement light came on. Then the bulb popped and the breaker panel starting to smoke, making it hard for George to catch his breath. By the time he got Marie and himself out of the house, it was engulfed in flames.
The fire department arrived too late. The house was gone, as were George’s noisy neighbors.