Strife±!* on #0363 477 000

"Miss! Miss! My phone won't work!" Conner yells across the classroom. He's like a scratched record. His repertoire of tactics is stellar… anything to snag a moment’s attention.

I choose to exercise selective deafness.

Waving his phone in the air, he ricochets from one lab bench to the next.

“Miss, nobody’s phone’s working! What’s wrong? What will we do?” he persists.

“Connor, how many times have I reminded you about not calling out?”

He shrugs dismissively, “I dunno Miss… nine or ten?”

I laugh. “That’s just this week!”

Like a dog with a favourite bone, Connor circles back.

“But Miss, why aren’t our phones working? What’s wrong?”

In a heartbeat, the rest of the class abandon any pretence of paying attention to the interrupted lesson. Even the my few model students chime in agreement. In unison, they whip their phones out of their pockets.

“Phones away, for the day,” I respond automatically. What a waste of breath! School policy seems to have flown out the window today. I’m rather surprised. Typically phones are kept out of sight. Few are foolhardy enough to risk having their phone confiscated for the day. What a terrible fate to befall them.

“Try yours, Miss! Check it and see… please Miss, please! I’m begging you,” he nags.

Curiosity wins out. Anything to silence him. With a huff, I whip my phone out. Hmm… it’s definitely dead. It’s morphed into an expensive paper weight. Darn! How inconvenient and annoying. I feel a twinge of sympathy for Connor.

*

My mind drifts back to my arrival at school, half an hour earlier...

Bus doors yawned open, disgorging a torrent of sleepy students. Some chattered, a few giggled while others stared moodily into space. The common denominator? Multicoloured mobile devices clasped in their hands.

Deftly weaving my way in and out of the clustered teenagers, I glanced at my watch... almost 8:30. As I was mid-stride through the entrance, a collective gasp went up before being swiftly smothered by a blanket of silence. Puzzled, I had stalled in my tracks. Curiosity almost killed the cat!

Casting a glance over my shoulder, my gaze swept the crowded area. Typical! Almost to a person, eyes were glued to screens. Absurd! Get a life! I had impatiently thought.

*
Soon afterwards, the school bell had rung out its clarion call to class, expecting reluctant compliance, as usual. Not so today. Barely a student stirred. They appeared transfixed by their palm sized technology. Rooted to the spot.

*

Teachers had hustled along to classes and were greeted by…. a paltry number of students. Crowded corridors were conspicuously bare. Where was everyone?

*

The wall phones got a workout with a flurry of calls to Admin and leadership We soon learnt that most of the student body were still milling about outside the school gates. Weird!

Deputies and Year Co-ordinators were dispatched like sheep dogs to round up our wayward flock of sheep.

*
“But Miss, what’s wrong with our phones? How will I ring my Mum? She’s supposed to pick me up early today!” Connor has barely drawn breath since entering the room, but what’s new?.

“It’s probably just a Telecomm tower malfunctioning and we’ve lost coverage,’ I surmise.

Millie pipes up, “But Miss, I need my phone to check my CGM levels for my diabetes!”

I’m quick to reassure her that she’ll be fine. She can still monitor her blood glucose levels with a finger prick. She scrunches up her nose.

“But that hurts, I want my phone working. It’s much better.”

Unfortunately, Magician isn’t in my job description.

At another bench, Annabelle — a shy, anxious girl— whispers to her friend, “Oh, I hope this doesn’t ruin my streak on the Finch App! I was on Day: 189!”

*

A knock at the door buys me a temporary reprieve.

It seems that one of our more elusive students is unaccounted for. Her classmates claim she came through the gates with them. What fun! I think to myself. Staff will definitely get their Steps Count up quickly, if they’re unable to coordinate their search with mobile phones.

*
The continuing ruckus snaps my attention back to the classroom.

“Miss, what will we do if our phones are dead? What will we do? We don’t have a home phone line!” Conner worries. “How will we order takeaways for dinner? We’ll starve!”

His mate jibes, “Well that won’t do you any harm… you need to lose some weight! Ow! I was joking…” he groans, rubbing his freshly pummelled arm.

*

Millie and Amy are murmuring about not being able to go on Instagram and TikTok when they get home. What a stressful turn their day has taken!

By now, Connor is usually desperately begging permission to go to the toilet.

“No toilet stop this lesson, Connor?” I quip.

He smirks, “Nah Miss… how would I let my mates know where to meet me?”

I pin him with a scowl, which naturally, he’s impervious to. Interestingly, there’s no sign of his Ear Pod sneakily concealed in his left ear today.

“No music today, Connor?” I quiz.

“I know Miss! How will I survive without my phone and music?” He flashes a cheeky smile.

It’s not First Break yet… already this day has been interminable!

*

Later, in the lunchroom, my work mates are in an uproar… far worse than the students. Perplexed, I hover at the kettle, trying to piece conversation snippets together like a kaleidoscope of puzzle pieces.

“It’s not just us…”

“It’s the whole world...”

“All the mobile phones have died!”

“Why? How can this possibly happen?”

“When will they be fixed?”

“I need my phone!”

“Don’t we all?”

*
Oh dear!

For once, Connor might be right… how on earth will we survive without our constant companions, our precious mobile phones?

*

Written for the challenge below: