A Powerless Friendship

Click, click, click. The noise of Carl’s mouse continued to sound, moving loudly and rapidly. A video game flashed beneath his eyes as he played. The rest of the family wasn’t much different, with the mother watching TV, and the father playing on his phone. Beep. Everything went black. The lights, the phones, the computers, the television. Immediately panic started to arise. 

“What happened?”

“I don’t know!”

“I was about to win my game!”

“There's more to worry about than your game!”

The voices were so scrambled, it was hard to even tell who was the one yelling. Eventually, the panic turned to silence. Carl slowly rose out of his seat, and walked over to the window. Because of the silence in the room, each step seemed to be amplified. He slowly peeked out of the window, hoping to see the bright city lights. Nothing. Absolutely no light to be found, except for the dim light of the stars and the moon. Carl was amazed at how the stars stood out, and a quick thought danced through his head. Stargazing. He ran, with more enthusiasm than before, over to the couch where his parents sat. “How about we go stargazing?” He suggested, excitement brimming his voice. His mother looked surprised, and considered his idea for a great deal of time. Finally, she smiled. “Your father once bought a telescope. I told him to get rid of it, but he insisted that we keep the telescope. I suppose it's a good thing that he did, or we wouldn’t be able to stargaze! Now, I suppose lets find the telescope!” After saying this, she glanced at Carl’s father, expecting something. He quickly caught on, and stared back. “I put the telescope in the storage locker downstairs.” Carl’s father told them, starting to place his feet solidly on the ground. The family locked hands, and headed out the door. In the hall, several families were running out, worried screams filling up the hallway. At this point, Carl jerked his head up in surprise. He had been too caught up in his stargazing idea, that he completely forgot about the blackout. His mother carefully weaved through the crowd of people in the narrow hallway, Carl and his father behind. They reached the section of the hallway with the elevator and the stairs. Carl turned towards the lifeless elevator, and reached over to push the button. No light came on. But, a small chuckle from his father did. “We need to use the stairs, Carl. If the lights don’t work, the elevator surely wouldn’t!” Carl’s father reasoned. Carl looked down at his feet, feeling slightly embarrassed. He ran to open up the staircase door for his parents, and realized that the staircase was pitch black. Leaving out a distressed sigh, he released the door after his parents were inside. It seemed dark and uninviting. The stairs blended in with the darkness, and so did almost everything else. Carl’s parents and him carefully felt for each stair with their foot, and Carl watched. He saw them fade into the darkness of the stairs as they went down, and it made him shiver. He followed each footstep of his parents until they were completely down. “It's good we live on the second floor, or this wouldn’t be easy.” Carl’s father commented, trying to raise the mood. A few almost indistinguishable from the darkness nods were done by Carl and his mother. Carl felt for the door. He felt a cold, round object in the hold of his hand, and attempted to turn it. The door finally opened, but not without some creaking. They walked on forward and Carl felt like a spy agent, trying to not be found in the dead of night. The family made their way over to the lockers, and used their bright yellow key to open up the otherwise dark locker. Once Carl saw what was inside, he let out a small shriek. He inspected each dark object, amazed at what he found. “This place is like a gold mine!” Carl shouted, surprise edging his voice. Before long, he placed his hands on the thing they were looking for; a telescope. The long metal cylinder seemed special to his fingers, which were the only part of his body that he could really use to observe at the moment. Smiling, Carl yanked the telescope out of the locker and shut it closed. “You never know when they are going to turn the lights back on! We better go quick!” He shouted impatiently, really just wanting to use his telescope as soon as possible. His mother laughed a bit, and then nodded. 

“So, where do you want to go stargazing?”

“Err, the park?”

“Which park is this park you're talking about?”

“The one with all the trees and the water fountain?”

“Alright, I suppose that could work.” 

After a swift negotiation, the family headed to their destination. Luckily, it wasn’t very far, and the park stood out because of its tall, steady beacon-like statue. They were there within minutes. As the family walked into the park, it seemed as if they weren’t the only ones with their idea. Tens of hundreds of people were kneeling down in the park, staring through a small hole in the cylinder. Carl couldn’t wait to do the same. Taking the telescope from his father, Carl knelt down and peeked through the tiny hole in the telescope. Incredible stars and constellations floated beneath his eye, and it was almost indescribable. Carl felt a particular calmness when looking up at the stars, one that was disturbed by a short, unhappy kid who felt the need to tap him on the shoulder. 

“Why’d you tap me?”

“Well… I didn’t bring a telescope… and I was hoping we could use yours together?”

“Well, I suppose you can use it. On one condition, though. If you see something interesting, tell me. Deal?”

“Deal.”

The boy was now smiling, a big smile, as he stared into the glass portal into darkness and stars. His eyes opened wide as he saw all the sights. But, he still wanted to talk. 

“What is your name? Mine is Oliver.”

“My name is Carl.”

“Do you like video games? I love them.”

Carl nodded. The rest of their chatting was inaudible, but as the narrator, it seemed great, as Carl soon came over to his parents asking if he could have a playdate with Oliver the next week.