The morning his mother dropped him off at his grandma’s he could hardly wait to show her.
He always looked forward to these days, but more so today. He had his new mobile phone with him and he was looking forward to showing her all the things it could do. He’d only had it a couple of weeks but soon found some really great games. He made himself comfortable in the big armchair, as usual, while she went back to the oven to remove the tray of Anzac biscuits she’d made. They had been her daughter’s favourites when she had been her grandson’s age. As soon as she was gone he slipped the phone out of his pocket. He switched it on; nothing happened. The screen was black! He began franticly pressing buttons. He pressed the power button, the home button, the mute and volume buttons. He pressed them all several times. The screen stayed black. He knew it was charged because he was there when his mother plugged it in and there again this morning when she unplugged it.
His grandma came back with a tray. A plate of biscuits and drinks. As she set it down she was surprised to find he had tears forming.
“Oh! Dear! Whatever’s the matter?”
“It’s my phone. I wanted to show you my phone, but it’s dead!”
“Oh! That’s a shame, dear, let me look at it.”
Wiping tears away, he handed it to her.
She sat looking at the dead screen. “Are you sure it’s charged?”
“Yes. I saw mum do it.” He sniffed. “I’ve pressed all the buttons?”
A faint smile crossed her face, unnoticed. “Let me see if grandma can fix it, eh?”
While she held the home and lock keys down at the same time for a few seconds, she thought back to a time when her daughter would show her so many things about computers, laptops and mobile phones. She remembered how her ignorance had showed and how she’d been teased about it. Of course, her daughter was a little older then than he is now. Nevertheless, something was being turned around. On the screen, the logo appeared and shortly after that the home screen sprang to life.
She revelled in the look of awe and amazement she received, as she handed it back.