Power Pack

"ZAP! CRACKLE! FZZZZT!"

Zane jumped back, nearly tripping over his sister as a tiny spark shot from the ancient-looking device on the desk.

"Whoa!" Zara squeaked, eyes wide. "Did you just break it?!"

"I barely touched it!" Zane protested, shaking his fingers, “All I did was plug the thing in.”

Zane wiped his hands on his jeans and stared at the ancient-looking device sitting on the desk in Grandpa Gizmo’s garage lab. “Alright, Zara,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “It’s time to bring this bad boy to life… Plugging it in seemed like the natural first step - but we got nothing but a bit of a jolt and a zap, crackle, fzzzt!”

Zara, perched on a stool next to him, poked the machine’s side with a screwdriver. “Are we sure this thing isn’t just an old microwave?” To no avail, Zara tightened several loose screws, praying the stronger connection would give the device the juice it needed to power up.

Zane rolled his eyes. “It’s not a microwave. It’s a... uh…” He hesitated, running a hand over the dusty metal. “Actually, what is this thing?”

It looked like a cross between a computer and a spaceship control panel—boxy, covered in switches, buttons, and a blinking grayish screen that flickered in and out. Wires ran from the back, but none of them seemed to go anywhere useful. The old machine sat there, flickering like it was trying to wake up from a hundred-year nap.

Earlier that day, Grandpa Gizmo had dropped it off as the twin’s 10th birthday gift with his usual mischievous grin.

"Alright, Power Pack," he had said, using his special nickname for them. Tussling Zane’s mop of brown hair, and giving a playful tug on Zara’s long braided pig-tail. "Now that you’ve hit the big double-digits… Let’s see if you can unlock the true power of this beauty!"

That was all the instruction he gave before zooming back into the house on his electric scooter, cackling like a mad scientist. Typical Gizmo.

Now, standing in Gizmo’s garage lab, surrounded by shelves of half-built inventions, blinking lights, and tangled wires, the siblings exchanged looks.

"Maybe it needs… more power?" Zara suggested, tapping the monitor like it was a touchscreen.

"Zara, this thing is older than Bluetooth. It doesn’t do tap and swipe.’"

Zara folded her arms. "Well, you try figuring it out, genius."

Zane inspected the tangle of cables behind the machine, then spotted a giant, red switch.

He took a deep breath and flipped it. A million dust particles rose in a dim gray cloud, and then - BZZZOWWW!

The screen flickered, filled with static, noise crackled like Gizmo’s old AM Radio tuner searching for radio waves from a distant planet… and then— nothing.

Zara snapped her fingers. “What if there’s a remote? Grandpa has, like, a million remotes for everything.”

Zane’s eyes lit up. “YES! He’s got that drawer full of them!”

They bolted to Grandpa’s infamous remote control drawer, yanked it open, and gasped.

It was a disaster. Remotes of every shape and size lay in a chaotic pile. Old game system remotes, garage door openers, even what looked like the controller for a toy helicopter.

“This… is going to take forever,” Zara groaned.

Zane grabbed the first one he saw. “We’ll just try ‘em all!” He pointed it at the machine and pressed a button. Nothing.

Zara grabbed another and mashed all the buttons at once. “Activate! On! Start!”

Still nothing.

Ten remotes later, Zane threw up his hands. “Ugh! Grandpa seriously needs to label these things.”

Zara slumped against the desk. “Alright. Now I’m out of ideas.”

They sat in silence for a moment, staring at the machine.

Zane stepped back and crossed his arms. “Alright. What if it’s voice-activated?”

Zara blinked. “Like, we just talk to it?”

“Think about it—Grandpa loves crazy tech. Maybe this thing listens for a special phrase!”

Zara shrugged. “Worth a try.” She leaned in and cleared her throat. “Uh… Machine? Turn on?”

Silence.

Zane rolled his eyes. “Wow, great effort. Real inspiring.”

“Oh, like you can do better?” Zara folded her arms.

Zane struck a dramatic pose. “By the power of Gizmo, I command you to activate!”

Nothing.

Zara giggled. “Maybe it only responds to smart people.”

Zane scowled. “Okay, new plan.”

Zara crossed her arms. “Maybe we’re thinking about this wrong. Grandpa always says power isn’t just about plugging something in.” Recalling the memory work the twins had gone over with Grandpa Gizmo for nearly 2 years now.

Zane lit up. “Yeah, yeah! ‘Power isn’t just electricity—it’s knowledge. It’s perseverance. It’s standing strong when everything tries to knock you down. True power isn’t just what you have, it’s what you do with it! Real power isn’t ju—”

A faint hum came from the machine. The hum built to a strong, steady vibration that rattled the machine, the desk, it reverberated in their very bones…

Zane and Zara locked eyes. Their minds flashed back to the last time Grandpa Gizmo had sat them down in his workshop, explaining what that really meant.

"Samson had muscles, but his real power came when he humbled himself before God. Joshua had an army, but his power came from trusting and obeying God’s plan. Peter was just a fisherman, but when he received the Holy Ghost, he spoke with boldness!"

Grandpa had leaned forward then, his voice serious but full of excitement. "Real power isn’t just something you hold—it’s something that lives inside you when you trust the One who gives it."

Now, standing before the strange machine, those words felt heavier than ever.

Zara grabbed Zane’s hand. Thankful for Grandpa Gizmo’s insistence that they memorize this little proverb. Together, they spoke the proverb again, this time with full confidence:

“Power isn’t just electricity—it’s knowledge. It’s perseverance. It’s standing strong when everything tries to knock you down. True power isn’t just what you have, it’s what you do with it! Real power isn’t just something you hold—it’s something that lives inside you when you trust the One who gives it.”

BOOM!

A blinding light exploded from the monitor.

The air crackled. Zara’s long braid stood on end! Zane’s arms prickled with excitement!

The walls seemed to ripple. Suddenly, the siblings weren’t in the garage lab anymore.

Instead, they stood in the middle of a vast, golden field, tall grasses swaying in the breeze. A crystal-clear river wound through the valley below, and in the distance, towering mountains stretched toward the sky. The air smelled fresh, like rain and pine trees.

“Zane," Zara whispered. "I don’t think we’re in Grandpa Gizmo’s garage anymore."

Zane gulped. "Nope. Definitely not."

“B-b-but where are we?!?” Zara asked.

“Uhhh…” Zane hesitated, glancing around for a sign.

Just then, the wind shifted, carrying a deep, echoing voice from somewhere beyond the hills:

"Welcome, Power Pack. Are you ready to unlock the truth?" [S]

To be continued...