Kalimba

Splashes of water kicked up when the drone’s blades began to chop from the morning dew. The controller sat back in Wilmington, Delaware and guided the tiny craft with a box in tow. With its extensive battery life, it traveled from its urban home in New Castle County to the fields of Sussex County in Lewes, Delaware.

Whoever it was, they used excellent precision. Each turn looked crisp and true. It finally rested.

Jonathan Spartan fully dressed in blue jeans and a black shirt, was as black as the shirt and coffee he sipped and featured strong cheekbones. He heard a whirring sound. He opened the door and found a drone and a package about the size of one which would hold a bowling ball.

He looked around. He clutched his phone and snapped the QR code on the top of the box. A white screen with bold Helvetica question marks showed on the screen. Spartan kissed his teeth. He picked up the drone and the box and reentered his four level home.

His wife Linoa and five daughters were dressed in farm gear as well. A sea of blue jeans and starched shirts that looked like a floral arrangement cascaded down the stairs.

“Good morning, Daddy,” the youngest girl, Florence, eleven, said and kissed her dad.

Spartan was dumbfounded. He didn’t address her for five seconds.

“Dad?” Rinera, fourteen, asked.

“Yes, honey?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a drone and a box,” he replied.

“Can I see it?”

“Yeah, Dad, can she open it?!” Jinisha, twelve, asked with excitement.

“Whatever it is, just cut the flaps,” Jinisha suggested. It actually had a perforated pull tab. He pulled it open and the scent of camphor and mint emitted from the handheld box.

He laid it on the table. The four sides fell to the table one after the other. An instrument with alabaster wood that matched his wife’s face and metal strips that gleamed in the light remained in the box. She had sapphire soft eyes and a nose and mouth which spelled slender and inviting, respectively.

“I know what that is,'' Asina, sixteen, offered. She possessed light brown skin like her mother. “That’s a kalimba or thumb piano.”

“Why is it on my dining room table?” Spartan asked. Asina shrugged. Lynyatta, the thirteen-year-old, knew about it also. She picked it up and cradled it like a newborn infant.

She handed it to her sister after first inspecting it. Asina palmed the instrument and began to play music. The sweetness and depth of the tuning resounded in the room. The drone started again. Equipped with a camera, it flew to a blank wall and projected onto it the history of the Spartan family. The controller in New Castle County painted a picture with the device that followed along with the tune.

Pictures whooshed by like cars in traffic and animation concluded the presentation.

“I think that was amazing,” Hailanda, seventeen, remarked.

Asina played the kalimba in all its precious melodic glory.

The drone then lifted once more and showed more. Asina stopped, and the drone ceased its flight. She played again and the drone resumed its activity.

“Whoever is controlling that thing must know what we are doing. Linoa, girls, head upstairs. I’m going to figure this out on my own.” They responded by hitting the steps.

Spartan held the kalimba and the drone in each hand. Then, he noticed a sticker on the bottom of the drone.

“Wilmington Flying Video Services....” he said aloud to himself.

He then began to laugh a deep hearty laugh. “Girls!” he called. It was like the sequel to the film of the first showcase of the girls and young women in his life.

“What is this all about, Jonathan?” Linoa asked with a stern tone.

“I just remembered I had ordered this gift from your Uncle Harmin. He sent this all the way from Wilmington.”

“Can we keep it?!” Jinisha queried.

“Of course.”