The Cyber Riddles

Josh Townsend hates his life. He’s had to move towns; his new school

doesn’t have computers, the footy team’s already been selected and
nobody seems to want to talk to him. Reluctantly Josh befriends
classmate Caitlin Randall and together they play the Internet game
‘Cyberhunt’ which promises them one wish … if they can solve five
virtual riddles.

Will Josh and Caitlin solve the riddles, each more difficult than the
last? And what will they risk to secure the wish of a lifetime?

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Excerpt

Riddle No. 1 – Find Something

Preston Gralla is the author

Cyberspace is the theme

Find his book amongst the shelves

And you’ll be closer to your dream

‘Please press ‘go’ to continue.’

Josh hesitated before saying, ‘Well, this should be a breeze. I’ll
just take the hyperlink to the library’s website and do a search.’

‘Maybe,’ Caitlin said, ‘but where’s the hyperlink? Looks like we’re
going to be a while, I’ll just go get another chair. But don’t do
anything before I get back.’

But as Caitlin walked out the door Josh clicked on ‘go’.

Suddenly everything went black. Josh could feel himself being pulled,
as if someone had hold of his legs. First he tried to pull his legs
away, but the force was too great. Then he tried to open his eyes, but
realised they were already open. The pulling became stronger until he
felt himself falling, down and down and down.

He opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out. And then
everything was spinning, around and around, swirls of bright colours
surrounding him as he continued to fall. This was a nightmare. It had
to be. But then the colours gradually faded to grey and the spinning
suddenly stopped.

Josh found himself on the floor. Panting, he tried to get up, but he
was dizzy and lost his balance. He sat back down, breathing slowly,
until his heart-beat returned to normal. Then he tried to stand again.

He wasn’t dizzy anymore but a wave of nausea passed through him and he
reached out, clutching at the wall. Slowly, the nausea passed and he
was able to stand up straight.

What just happened? he wondered. Where am I? And how did I get here?

Pinching himself on the arm to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, Josh
winced at the pain. He wasn’t dreaming and this was really happening.
That thought made him feel sick all over again.

He looked around. To his right there were aisles and aisles of
bookshelves starting at the floor and reaching almost to the ceiling.
To his left as far as he could see were desks, with people sitting at
them, reading and writing.

Josh turned around. Behind him was a set of huge timber doors and in
front or him, between the desks and the aisles of bookshelves, was a
long red carpet that led to a desk marked ‘Enquiries’.

He felt a chill run down his spine. I’m in a library he thought. A
virtual library. But virtual places don’t exist, at least not yet, not
in 2007. This must be some sort of trick.

Josh looked around at the people. They seemed normal enough; students,
men in suits, older people. I’m in a library, he thought, a really big
library! It must be in the city.

And the name of the library has to be around here somewhere he
thought, as he slowly started walking along the red carpet towards the
Enquiries Counter. I’ll just ask someone where I am.

But that would be silly, wouldn’t it? Of course I’d know which library
I was in – wouldn’t I? If I’d come in the front doors like normal
people. But I didn’t come in the front doors. I just appeared.

But didn’t anyone notice me just ‘appearing’? Probably not he thought.
They’re all either looking at the bookshelves or have their heads down
reading.

The Josh remembered the game. He had to find a book … now what was it about?

Josh stopped. Cyberspace. It was about cyberspace. But I can’t
remember the name of the person who wrote it. How can I solve the
riddle when I can’t even remember the name of the author?

Suddenly a woman, her face almost buried in a book, walked past him
and almost knocked him over. ‘Hey’, he called out, but she just kept
walking.

Josh continued up the red carpet, finally arriving at the desk and
falling in behind a queue of people. Glancing around he saw a clock on
the wall high above the desks. It read 7.35pm.

What was the time when he went into the game, he wondered. They had
finished dinner and he and Caitlin had gone upstairs. It was probably
around 7.30pm. Josh shivered. This was really happening and he had to
admit he was a bit spooked. Intrigued, but spooked.

Finally it was Josh’s turn at the desk. He approached the desk but the
female attendant just ignored him.

‘Excuse me,’ Josh said but the attendant continued to ignore him.

‘Can you please tell me …’ but the attendant just walked away.

Josh didn’t understand it – he had been polite, he had asked nicely.
What was her problem? Why wouldn’t she speak to him?

Seconds later the attendant returned and looked up smiling, ‘Can I
help you?’ she asked.

Josh opened his mouth to speak but a male behind him got in first.

‘Yes, I’d like some books on 17th century England for an assignment I’m doing.’

Josh looked back. A student, aged around twenty, was standing so close
to him he could practically hear his heartbeat. Josh moved forward a
little.

‘Certainly,’ replied the assistant, taking out a plan of the library
shelves and marking it with a highlighter. ‘You’ll find English
History in the third last aisle. 17th century should be about three
quarters of the way down.’

‘Excuse me,’ said Josh, wanting to tell the lady he was here first.

The attendant picked up the plan of the library and handed it across
to the student. Except that Josh was standing between them and the
plan seemed to somehow glide right through him.

He felt his knees go weak and had to hold onto the counter to stop
himself from falling. In horror, Josh realised what was happening.

He was invisible.