The Night the Living Room Became a Castle

Chapter 1: Fort

At half past seven, the house blinked.

Then it forgot to open its eyes.

The kitchen lights went out. The fridge stopped humming. Ellie’s tablet turned into a small, bright rectangle in a very big darkness.

Outside, rain rattled the windows.

“Ellie?” whispered Freddie.

“I’m here.”

“Is the whole world switched off?”

Before Ellie could answer, a torch beam slid across the ceiling.

“Only a little piece of it,” Mum said. “The storm has knocked out the power.”

Dad appeared behind her carrying so many blankets that he seemed to have become a walking laundry pile.