It was a clear bright night

A clear white moon. And Raya was afraid. She’d heard tell if times like this before but a complete blackout was something she’d thought relegated solely in the last millennium.

Raya had no idea how on earth she’d cope. What should she do? How should she operate? Where could she go from here?

Raya decided in an instant she had to close her eyes and sleep through it. So .... She did

When she awoke, she noted with dismay it was still dark. Weirder still was the fact that this had not even affected one member of the family!

Did they not see the gravitas of the situation?! They were laughing like nothing was even wrong! She decided to check the time. Her phone showed it to be 23:07.

It had only been about half an hour she’d slept. It wasn’t legally a sleep. It was a cat nap.

Raya had had enough of listening to her family crack wise.

She sauntered into the lounge and bellowed in all seriousness, “what is wrong with all of you?!”

Her mother, said with feigned indignation stated “cheer up love. This used to happen all the time ’till about ten years ago.”

Raya flew into a rage just as her phones battery warned her it was critically low on energy and needed recharging.

“How you can go on like everything is normal is totally beyond me. You’re all mad. Completely out your tree!”

“Don’t worry Bab” her mum said, “you can always do what we used to and read a book. Or try talking to us. That used to be a great past time.”

Raya wondered aloud how anyone got anything done which her aunt noted “a lot easier and a lot faster actually! With infinitely less accidents!”

Raya raged that this scenario was outrageous.

She could no longer tolerate this way of being. “I can’t live like this! How did you ever manage?”

Nobody said a word. How do you respond to such a diatribe.

Her dad who was a little taken aback by her outburst looked at her in silent wonder before she screamed “My phone is dying and there’s no wi-fi!”