‘That’s all done then, they won’t be able to use their devices till the Easter holidays.’

‘Brilliant’ Ellie pictured them all round the table after dinner playing games, then watching a good quality drama together…’I’ll get on with dinner then. Have they noticed yet… where are the kids?’

‘Rory mumbled something about someone’s house, I told him not to be late for dinner, school tomorrow. Roxanne’s next door.’

‘Good, Steve and Mandy have signed up for the scheme so the girls are probably commiserating.’

David was quite a lot older than Ellie, which didn’t seem an issue when they were all babies and toddlers, but nowadays she wondered if he had lost the plot. His excellent career had meant he now had underlings to deal with technical matters and social media. It was indeed ironic that his company were very big in computer technology. David actually knew how the internet worked, but had no interest in playing with it, preferring the golf course. He had no idea what his children did with their phones and devices or why his wife needed an office with a desk top computer when she did not work. When his company won the contract for the new scheme he didn’t bother mentioning it at home.

‘Mum, I’m hungry.’

‘Another hour till dinner’s ready, go and play.’

Ellie looked at the expression on the face of her youngest, he was not hungry, just bored, usually he needed to be dragged from his computer game to the dinner table.

‘When is Dad going to switch the internet back on?’

‘At Easter, not Dad, it’s controlled by the government’s new scheme.’

Ellie checked the roast, ten minutes to spare, she picked up her phone and checked her WhatsApp messages, but there was no link. She looked at Messenger, Molly had been waiting for Ellie to take a turn at Words With Friends, but when she pressed PLAY nothing happened.

‘David, my phone isn’t working.’

‘Of course not Darling, that’s the whole point. We have to set a good example to the kids.’

‘But I’ve got 4G.’

‘Not in this house, or in our road, the majority of homes signed up so the whole road is shielded.’

‘But I’ll still be able to work from my computer?’

David sighed, he wondered if Ellie understood how anything worked.

‘No, but you don’t need to use it.’

‘What about my blogging.’

‘This is about protecting all the children’s minds, no one is worried about your little hobbies.’

Before Ellie could retort, the oven timer went.

‘So we are going to enjoy more family time. Your mother doesn’t miss her phone, what did she actually need it for? ‘

‘Keeping in touch with my friends?’

‘You can pop round for coffee, like my mother used to do. Actually we should all be more sociable, invite friends round for dinner.’

‘Like your boring golf friends Dad.’

‘Your mother has plenty of interesting friends, they must have kids you would get on with, or know already.’

‘How do you know Mum has interesting friends, I bet they are all boring.’

‘Not at all, isn’t she always telling us about their fascinating lives and their travels? And what about that Molly who is always beating your mother at word games and Albert, she’s always playing with him.’

The children all sniggered. ‘Luckily for you Dad she ‘s not in love with him because he’s a robot, Al, Albot.’

Ellie laughed with them, but did not mention that she had no idea who Molly was in real life, or even if she was real. She had popped up as ‘waiting to play’. Of course Ellie had real friends to play with on her phone. She hadn’t seen them for years, they had popped up on Facebook, old school companions with little in common except school history and liking Wordblitz. But it was fun.

She had not thought David listened to her prattling on, filling in conversation gaps when they were out shopping or driving somewhere. The interesting lives, now she thought about it, were all blogging friends. She felt she knew them well, even those who were only a ChatGPT cartoon or represented by a cat. They had all been through a lot together, world wide pandemics, parents or children or their own health problems. And most of them had a great sense of humour, or at least they were funnier than David.

The full impact of the new scheme was beginning to sink in. She could not slip up to her office or browse on her iPad to get away from Sycamore Avenue and whose house would she pop round to for coffee? Mummy friends had gone back to work, David was too boring for them to have regular cosy dinners out with other couples. In fact her life as portrayed on her blog was much more interesting. Fortunately David and the children never took an interest in her blog and certainly never read it. They had no idea she wrote about them in less than flattering terms. Other parents loved her blogs, glad they were not the only ones with dreadful children or relieved how normal their own were. She could hardly invite blogging friends round, luckily nobody knew where she lived, at least she did not think they could know.

Now they would be wondering if she was still alive, she had not thought to share a brief post saying she was taking a blogging break, implying exciting real life adventures.