Nowhere to Hide

The fall air was crisp when I first heard the hum

Like a ceiling fan whir or a microwave thrum.

A little brown box slowly made its descent

From the drone up above to the driveway cement.

Strange, my mind mused as I stood from the place

Where I’d knelt pulling weeds at a rather slow pace.

I thought this small town would be last to receive

Such a service ...that’s why my wife wanted to leave.

Another thought hummed like the craft now long gone,

A thought that shocked slightly, quite like a stray thorn.

I have placed no orders and far as I know

My wife placed not a one before she did go.

I reached for the package and gave it a shake

Before thinking that might just have been a mistake.

The box held no label, no writing, no clue,

But it came to my house, so what was I to do?

I had to assume, if it wasn’t for me,

That fate surely decided to gift it for free.

My conscience quite clear and resolve now resolved,

I moved to the task that was next to be solved.

The tape was that awful thin flimsy cheap stuff

That made peeling it back so decidedly tough.

I took out my penknife, sliced quickly a line,

Like the lawyer dividing my love’s life for mine.

I wondered a moment if she’d sent this here

To send me a message both loud and quite clear.

But the weight and the rattle was wrong for a ring,

So I had to assume it was some other thing.

I lifted the flaps and stared rather too long

At a strangely familiar small roundish oblong.

What the hell is this, 2002?

I knew what it was but not quite what to do.

I suddenly felt quite absurdly exposed,

And retreated across the lawn I had just hosed.

I’m not quite sure why and yet somehow instead

Of the house I soon found myself in the back shed.

You’re paranoid Phil, get a bloody grip fast!

I thought as I stared at the blast from the past.

I was keenly aware of the sheds’ lack of locks

As I lifted the Nokia out of the box.

My mind started to race as my pulse did as well

And the vein in my neck I’m sure started to swell.

“You need to calm down” my ex-wife would have said,

“Or one day quite soon you will find yourself dead!”

I feared for the first time she might have been right

And was oddly nostalgic for that tired old fight.

But this was no time for me to reminisce

For I felt my heart sinking into an abyss.

You’re not in a movie so don’t be absurd!

There’s no way that they tracked you here ...yet my fear stirred.

I slid to the floor, my legs suddenly weak

As I wondered if I still recalled how to speak.

Not two minutes passed before the tone sang

And my trembling hand reached for the phone as it rang.

I threw it against the wall, to no avail,

Because Nokias don’t know the meaning of fail.

The phone clattered down through a pile of debris

Before coming to rest right back near beside me.

The tune carried on as I tried to resign

Myself to the fate brought to me by design.

I pressed on a button too small for my thumb,

Raised the phone to my ear, my emotions now numb.

“We’ve been trying to reach you” the voice taunted me

“...about your car’s extended warranty”