Imagination's last hope: The quest to save the unseen world

Chapter 9

Rachel could barely open her eyes. She got home at three o'clock and slept only a few hours. The worst of all was that the power was off. She struggled to get to her bed and almost fell over the boxes in front of her closet.

She made herself a big cup of coffee, hoping it would keep her awake the rest of the day. Rachel thought she looked like a zombie until Caleb came down for breakfast.

He plotted down onto the chair and dropped his schoolbag next to him. He poured himself a big cup of coffee, which was weird since he hated coffee. Usually, he drinks hot chocolate with a bunch of marshmallows in it.

He had black bags under his eyes and didn't even brush his hair. He gave a big yawn. It looked like he hadn't slept for days.

"What happened to you?" Rachel asked.

"There's a power outage, which means the Wi-Fi is off." Her mum said as she walked past the table. She sat down next to Rachel. "I'm only going to have a quick bite. I have to get to the office early this morning."

"You guys don't understand how much this sucks. I can't do anything. I can't even play any offline games." Caleb said.

He went on as if this was the end of the world. He'd never been without power or Wi-Fi a day and wasn't taking this well.

"I think this is a good thing. Now you can leave your smelly room and see what the outside world looks like." Rachel said.

"Rachel, there's no need to be so rude," Mum said.

"Thank you," Caleb said, pleased that Mum defended him.

"But I do agree with Rachel. You really should get out of the house a bit more." Mum said. She took her plate and got up from the table. "I have to go now. Enjoy your day at school."

Caleb rolled his eyes and took a sip of his coffee. He didn't even pull a weird face like he usually did when he drank coffee.

Rachel thought back about what Finnigan and Hootwiggle had said about children being addicted to their devices. That was precisely the case with Caleb. His video games had been taken away, and now he's turned into a zombie.

"I'm outside a lot, and if you just try playing a game, you would realise how fun it is."

"You should try reading a book. It might keep your brain from rotting."

Caleb rolled his eyes. He got himself a big bowl of cereal but didn't eat it. He played with his food the whole time and eventually said:" I'm not hungry; I'm going to the car."

He got up and threw his bag over his shoulder, almost falling over his feet.

"Boys," Rachel said. Luckily, Caleb didn't hear her.

"Is he sick or something?" Angela asked. She was sitting in the front seat of the car.

Angela was their neighbour and in the same class as Rachel. Her mum drove them to school each morning and back each afternoon.

"I agree with Angie, he doesn't look well." Mrs Smith, Angelas's mum, said.

Caleb never fell asleep on the way to school. He was always playing a game or watching a YouTube video. But now, he was fast asleep.

"He can't do anything on his phone or PlayStation due to the power outage. Once the power turns back on, he'll be his old and boring self." Rachel said.

Rachel had to wake Caleb up when they got to school. He didn't even say goodbye to Mrs Smith or to Angela. Rachel apologised for his bad manners and walked to class with Angela.

Rachel fell asleep once or twice in class. She couldn't remember exactly how many times. Luckily, some of her classmates woke her up before she got in trouble.

"Why are you so tired today?" Charlotte asked. Charlotte sat behind her in math and science class. Charlotte was really smart, so it suited Rachel. She always asked Charlotte to help her with homework.

"I just had lots of homework to do last night." Rachel lied and went on with her work.

"Just try and stay awake. Mrs Jenkins almost caught you and isn't in a good mood."

Rachel didn't really care about if she got in trouble. She was too busy thinking about Caleb and what the guardians told her last night.

"How was school?" Mrs Smith asked Caleb as he got into the car.

"It was awful. I still don't have any signal, nor do my friends."

"Maybe this is a good thing, Caleb." Mrs Smith tried convincing him that this isn't as bad as he thinks, but he didn't listen. He was on his phone trying to get a signal the whole ride home.

The power was still off back home. Caleb rushed upstairs and slammed his door shut. Rachel shook her head and ignored him.

Rachel thought that being without power for a day might be just what he needed.

Her homework from yesterday wasn't finished yet, and she got more today. Luckily, none of the teachers asked for the assignment.

She sat at her desk, got all her pens and books out, and then got to work.

Rachel had been sitting at her desk for a few hours, making good progress, when she heard a door slammed. She instantly knew it was Caleb throwing a tantrum.

He was walking up the stairs. He looked exactly like a zombie. Bags under his eyes, pale, dragging his feet, and his breath smelled horrible.

"What's wrong?" Rachel asked, even though she knew it was because of the power being off.

"Nothing is working. When is this stupid power going to be back on?"

Before Rachel could answer him, he was back in his room again.

She knew something was up with him. He never acted like this.

Caleb was definitely addicted to his video games.