The Mystery

Opheliana was sitting at her computer getting some work done. Zoom meetings, paperwork to file, and reports to submit. It was all so tedious and time-consuming. Her butt was getting tired of being in this chair and it was time to take her pain meds again. But, she supposed, it was a privilege to be allowed to work from home. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all that. It helped that her boss was a good friend and approved her request to work remotely quickly. But what else could she have done?

Two weeks ago, Ana had been running to catch her train and she was running late. The escalator was packed, so she went to the left and tried to run up the stairs, dodging the fewer people in her way. She was trying to squeeze between a businessman on his phone and a heavyset older lady with too many shopping bags, and she had tripped, stumbled, and missed a step. Next thing she knew, she was tumbling through the air, backward, down the stairs. She barely registered hearing random people shouting “Look out” … “Oh shit”..... “What the hell?” She just remembered weirdly thinking, “That's it. I'm going home and calling in sick today.”

The world stopped spinning when she finally landed on her side on the lower platform. Suddenly, an MTA man rushed over to her with his little radio and he had a look of grave concern on his face. He got to her and at least helped her sit upright. Nobody else stopped to help or even looked at them. When she moved, that was when the pain hit her, her left leg was on fire. She switched her focus from the MTA guy kneeling beside her to the source of the pain. She could see it swelling and getting bigger by the second, right below where her left kneecap was supposed to be. Then, when the front of her dress slacks started to show a tell-tale wet, dark, red spot, Opheliana knew this was serious. She laid back, on the nasty, stinking, disgusting subway platform and tried to take deep breaths to keep herself from passing out, throwing up, or both. The last thing she remembered was hearing the MTA man called into his radio that they needed paramedics and EMTs at their location.

It had taken surgery, a small steel plate and 4 tiny screws, 21 stitches, and 10 days in the hospital to repair her broken patella and piece it back together. Now, she was back in her comfortable little loft, but with an immobilizing cast on her left leg, and having to use a wheelchair for the next 6 weeks. Insurance from work was paying for everything, thankfully, and she was still working, so she still had money coming in. It could be worse, she supposed. Everything had been approved smoothly by Georgia, her boss, and now she spent her days waiting to heal. She spent her hours going from the bed, to the desk, back to bed, back to her desk, with maybe a trip to the bathroom now and then for variety. When she wasn't working, she was binge-watching Netflix and Amazon Prime. But even that was beginning to get boring. The most exciting part of her day was when she would open the windows in the living room and roll her chair to her tiny balcony/fire escape. She would drink her morning coffee while she watched the sun come up over Riverside Park. It was the only time of day that NYC was relatively quiet.

That Tuesday had started like any other day. She woke up, sat on the edge of the bed and gave two hops on her good foot to her chair. Then she had to maneuver herself to the bathroom to shower and dress. The chair didn't fit inside the bathroom so she had to leave it at the door, but she could manage on one leg and use the edge of the tub to sit on. Then back to the chair to roll down the short hallway to the kitchen for breakfast and medication. Coffee at the window. Then get a bit of work done. She had never been so bored in all her life. She was used to being active, busy, and ALIVE! But whatever, when life hands you lemons you make lemonade, right??

Ana happened to be at the window with her coffee when she heard a very strange sound, one that wasn't immediately recognizable. It was a buzzing sound, kinda faint and far away. She wouldn't have heard it all if she hadn't been right there. Ana stood up, hopped to sit on the window ledge, and poked her top half out the window to see and hear better. She looked up and there it was. A drone, flying high above, a tiny little buzzing black dot. She smiled up at it, watching. How cool, she thought, as it came lower and she could see it better. She had only seen a drone in person a few times. Somebody must be using the open space of the Park to play with their toy. It dipped a little lower and she gave it a little wave, just because it seemed the appropriate thing to do. It hovered for a few seconds and then flew back toward the park. She went inside and completely forgot her strange visitor.

Hoodie Guy carefully guided the drone back to the patch of grass he was standing on in the park. With the onboard camera, it was easy to fly. All he had to do was watch his little screen to make sure he didn't hit any trees or power lines. Once it was on the ground, he turned off the controller and waited for the blades to stop so he could go collect it. He pulled out the small phone and hit #1 on the speed dial. The Woman answered and simply said “Did you find her? Were you able to verify it's her?”

“Yes, the woman looks exactly like the picture. I got a very clear shot of her. 99% chance it's her. The name and address on the lease records, job records, and the hospital info I got last week all line up. It all checks out.” said Hoodie Guy.

“Excellent.” the Woman said. “Go to Manhattan Mini Storage, Unit 812. You should find the package and an envelope with your ½ payment. Now you know how to deliver it to her. Just let me know when it's done, and you'll get the other half of the money.” Hoodie Guy hung up and put the phone away. Then he walked over and started putting the drone in its case.

Ana was getting tired. One last report to finish and she would be done for the day. Her leg was starting to hurt again and she wanted another pain pill, but she had to finish this before taking it. Numbers just don't add up the same when you're in an Opioid brain fog. One thing to be said about working from home, when she was done she could just be done. Her commute had narrowed down from 2 hrs a day to 10 minutes and a roll down the hall. She put on some background music and went back to her Excel sheet, determined to power through.

About an hour later, she was about to hit SAVE on the files she had just created when, suddenly, she heard a loud THUMP come from the direction of the living room. What in the world was that? Did she hear something? She muted the music and listened. Silence. Georgia was supposed to come by tonight with Chinese takeout and to check on her, but she wasn't due for another few hours. And Georgia had a key, she probably wouldn't even knock, she would just come in. Ana wasn't expecting anyone else. She rolled out of her little office and down the hallway toward the front door. She called out “Who is it?” Nothing. She stood up on her good leg and looked out the peephole. She didn't see anyone. She backed up enough to open the door, and poked her head out into the hall. Nope. Looked in both directions. Nothing. Just an empty hallway. Hmm... that was weird. She shut the door back, made sure it was locked, and decided it must've been her imagination.

As she rolled through the living room, heading back to her room, she heard a different noise that sent a chill through her. The buzzing and humming of something outside came from the direction of the window. She headed towards the sound. Was that the Drone?? That's what it sounded like, but HOW?? WHY?? The same one from this morning or a different one??? She didn't know anyone who owned a drone or who would try to fly one to her. She lived on the 4th floor of a 5-story building, so there was no easy way to get to her window. Was this the 2022 version of some kind of pervert? A peeping tom who used technology?? What in the world was going on?? Opheliana slowly wheeled herself over to the window. She was weirdly scared, but then fussed at herself for being silly about this. She was not an overly dramatic teenage girl in some terrible Horror movie. She was a professional woman, a grown adult, she should act like one. She had closed the window and drawn the blinds after her morning coffee. The sound was getting louder as she got closer to the corner. Ana picked up her phone and dialed 911, but she didn't hit Send yet. She got to the window, grabbed the string to open the blinds, took a deep breath, and pulled.

The Woman pulled up and parked on the street. She had to be close to the Park to be within WiFi range of the signal from the Drone. She grabbed her Ipad off the passenger seat, grabbed the coffee cup, and crossed the street. A short walk two blocks and then she was sitting on one of the many benches in front of Opheliana's building. She pulled up the FLY app and within about 90 seconds, she was looking at the outside of a window, on the side of the building. Isn't technology grand? she thought as she smiled, looked up, and confirmed that yes, indeed, there it was, right up there, hovering outside the 4th-floor corner window.

She sat back and tried to look as common and ordinary as possible. She was just a young lady, in jeans and a sweatshirt, sitting with her coffee at the park, watching a video on her Tablet. Like a thousand others. The Woman watched the video as the blinds slowly opened, and at first, she could only see a glare on the glass, see the reflection of the Drone with its tiny package attached to the bottom. Then the glass slid away. The window was opening. The Woman held her breath. She watched as Opheliana hopped to the ledge, and cautiously poked her head out. It was her. It had been so long since she had seen her, and she was astonished at how much she still looked the same. Opheliana's face came closer to the camera. She looked confused and puzzled as she looked all around, up and down the Fire Escape, like she expected whoever was operating the Drone to be standing on the side of the building. Then she looked back, directly at the tiny camera, and outstretched her hand to take the package. She mouthed the words “Who are you?” and then the view from the Drone's camera pulled away from the building. The last shot the Woman saw was Opheliana, sitting in her window, behind the railing of her fire escape, holding the little box. Delivery confirmed. The Woman turned off her tablet and stood up. She put the coffee cup in the trash and headed back to her car. Almost as soon as she got in and closed the door, the phone rang. It was Hoodie Guy. “It's done. Did you see?” “Yes,” said the Woman. “Thank you for a job well done. Check the trash can on the corner of the Park closest to her building. Vente-size Starbucks cup with the name Katherine on it. Take the cup and lose the phone. Pleasure doing business with you.” She hung up and pulled away from the curb.

Opheliana was still sitting at her tiny kitchen table 3 hours later when the front door opened with a loud thump. Ana almost jumped out of her skin. Georgia called out “Hey Ana. It's me. You left the chain on. Come let me in. I brought dinner.” Ana quickly rolled down the entry hall to the door. “I hear you, I hear you. I'm coming, just give me a second.” She reached up, slid the chain, and rolled back to let Georgia in. As soon as her friend stepped through, she locked it back and re-latched the chain. She looked up at Georgia and said “Did anyone know you were coming here tonight? Did anyone follow you?” “No,' Georgia said, puzzled. “I don't think so. Just me and you. Why? What's wrong?” Ana just rolled past her and said “Come in the kitchen and I'll show you.”

Georgia walked in and put the take-out bags on the counter by the sink and proceeded to get plates out of the cabinet to serve up the food. Ana rolled over to the table where the tiny box was sitting. “I had a very weird encounter today. Something like this has never happened to me before. I'm not sure what to do and I need your advice”

“What is it?” Georgia asked. “What's in the box?” Georgia was carrying plates and glasses and a bottle of wine. “Tell me what happened.” While they ate, Opheliana told Georgia all about how she had first seen the Drone that morning, and then it came back with this mysterious little package in the afternoon. “I sat in the window,” she said “and it just hovered there in front of me. It was almost as if it was looking at me. I looked all around, up and down the fire escape, even down to the street and I couldn't see anyone anywhere. Nobody looked like they would be controlling a drone. Nobody seemed interested in what was happening at my window. Then I noticed the box. I looked at it and read “FOR ANA. OPEN ME” That shocked me. How do they know my name or what apartment I'm in? So, I stuck my hand out and the box just dropped into my hand. I looked right at the little camera eye again and said “Who are you?” I don't know if they heard me or not, or if they just read my lips, but before I could figure it out, the drone took off and flew back over the park.”

“Ok. That IS weird. But what is it?' said Georgia. “Why haven't you opened it yet?”

“I don't know. I'm kinda scared, I guess. It could be a bomb or drugs, or I don't know, dangerous somehow. Should I call the police or something? Report it? Turn it over to them? Maybe it's some kind of prank and I should just throw it away. I don't know what to do with it. I've been staring at it for hours now while I trying to decide.”

Georgia poured herself another glass of wine and said “Well, I don't think it's a bomb. If it was, it probably would have exploded by now. And besides, who on God's green earth would want you dead? For what reason? You don't have those kinds of enemies, do you?” When Opheliana shook her head no, Georgia continued. “ As for drugs, well, probably not. This small package would have to be a very small amount. And why? You don't buy, sell, or use any kind of drugs. I mean, only the pills prescribed to you by the doctor, right?” Opheliana just glared at her. Georgia ignored her and continued making her point. “Lastly, if this is some kind of prank, well, that is extremely dramatic and over-the-top, don't you think? I mean, I think you should just open it. You're never gonna know what's in it until you do. I'll be your witness for when it was opened and how it was handled. If it's anything dangerous or illegal, we'll call 911 together and then get the police involved. But we need to know what we're dealing with first”

Ana's hands were shaking as she held the scissors and sliced the tape sealing the edges of the box. Finally, it was free. She sat it back down on the table and slowly pulled off the lid. Both Georgia and Opheliana gave a little sigh when nothing explosive happened. They looked at each other and each gave a little nervous giggle. “See, told you it wasn't a bomb,” Georgia said. Ana's glare said, “Oh shut up.” It was something small, black, and wrapped in a couple of layers of bubble wrap. “It's a phone. I think it's a phone.” Ana said. Sure enough, it was a small black flip phone. She hit the power button and waited with shaking fingers as the little device came to life. Immediately, it chimed to indicate a voicemail message. Ana put it on speaker and pressed “1” to check the mailbox. The Woman's voice came on “Hello Opheliana. We have never met but we have known each other all our lives. My name is Alexandria and we need to meet to discuss our past. I happen to be your sister, your TWIN sister. Call me at the number in the contacts under Sis. I'll be waiting to hear from you” Ana and Georgia just stared at each other, speechless.