The Drone

 by Kali Hawa

 It was afternoon in Badolgaon; a little boy was playing outside his house. Now and then his mother would call him to get inside the house as the sun was beating down mercilessly. Even though the Sun was warm, the air was cool under the shadow of Timla tree; a light breeze made matters more pleasant.  As usual villagers take siesta during this time so he was all alone out in open stretch of barren land save that Timla tree. Boy was not in mood to sleep so he was playing all by himself, digging holes in ground or breaking twigs, collecting small boulders all the while ignoring calls of his mother. Soon his mother gave up. A while later he heard an airplane whizz past above him making that familiar sound. He looked up at the sky but couldn’t see anything, the plane had disappeared. But he was surprised when he heard a thud; a carton had dropped from the sky not too far away from him. He pounced on the object to claim ownership. In a jiffy he tore open the cardboard box. Inside was a nicely packed drone, thermocol packing saved it from any damage. Furiously he assembled the device and launched it up. The camera on the drone began to relay images of the village on his cell phone.  When the drone passed over the Semal tree near the temple he was surprised to see an old man sitting under it. He brought down the drone to have a clearer view. Even more surprised when he found the old man was a Chinese. 

Boy had been to temple many times but always accompanied by some responsible person, just now nobody was around; entire village was having siesta. But the boy decided to find out who was that Chinese old man sitting under Semal tree. So he brought down the drone, carefully packed it in its box and hid the box in a thick bush. After a lot of dithering he managed to muster enough courage, began walking towards the Semal tree. At the tree he found the old man equally surprised at seeing him. The man appeared in a state of shock. The boy coyly asked,

Who are you, Sir?

I am Li Jei. Who are you? Where is this place?

This is Badolgaon, boy said.

Badolgaon! Where is it?

In India, Sir?

Why are you calling me Sir? I am just a little boy.

No Sir, you are an old man.

The old man became angry, said,’ I am a little boy, nine years old. My name is Li Jei and I live in Wuhan.

Boy pointed to him to look at his arms which were wrinkled like an old fellow. When the old man looked at his arms, he jumped in shock then began to cry like a little boy. When he calmed down the boy asked him what happened to him?

The old man narrated this story....

An hour ago I was playing in the yard in front of my house in Wuhan. It was a hot summer afternoon, my mother kept calling me to get inside but I ignored her. There was hardly any traffic on the road which passed by the side of my house. I was busy playing by myself making a mud house in the yard. Then I heard a crash, a small truck had turned sideways spilling out a lot of cardboard boxes. I ran to the site of crash. It appeared that an old man was driving the truck carrying its cargo to some depot when suddenly a dog appeared in front of it. The kind old man wanted to save the dog so he made a sharp swirl, causing the truck to turn sideways. As the old man climbed out of the cabin, he didn’t seem hurt. Seeing me he said, ‘Hello boy, what is your name?’

‘I am Li Jei, Sir.’

‘Li, could you keep a watch over these boxes while I go and get a crane?

‘Yes Sir.’

So the old man went away to fetch a crane. I quickly stole a box and hid it behind a bush in my back yard. After some fifteen minutes the old man came back with a crane which lifted the truck to upright position. I helped the old man with the loading of boxes back into the truck. When all boxes were loaded, the old man said, ‘Li you are good boy. My boss is very tough on me; if one box is missing he will sack me. I have a family to look after therefore I cannot afford to lose the job.’

Then he gave me one ringet and went away. When he was gone I quickly retrieved the box from the bush and opened it. There was a shining drone inside. I was very pleased with my steal so assembled it and launched it up. As the drone went up I saw the images it relayed on my cell phone. Strangely it relayed the scene of truck crash again and again even though there was nothing on the road. And then I lost consciousness. Now I am an old man sitting here in Badolgaon.

The boy said, ‘Don’t worry, Li Jei, come with me.’ So the old man followed the boy to his house. The boy took out the drone box he had hid in the bush and said, ‘Return this box to the old man and you will be OK.’

As soon as Li Jei got the drone box he disappeared. Boy, even though dismayed at losing his prized drone was nevertheless happy at doing a good turn. He went back to house. His mother said, I have been calling you so many times but you would not listen. Today is your birthday therefore there is a present for you and showed him a cardboard box wrapped in shiny paper. When he opened it, there was an identical drone inside.