Is This a Nightmare

Awakened by a tapping noise, all the lights are out, the light switch isn't working, so you start to doubt. Doubt that you're alone, alone in this house, the noise is getting louder, it can't just be a mouse. You decide to go outside, to turn the power on, is this really happening, a dream, it could be one. A nightmare is more like it, the thought runs through your head, until a quiet voice calls out, "would you rather be dead?"