A Favor for a Friend

Caleb heard a soft buzz outside of his window. He slightly opened the blinds to see. A small mechanical drone was dropping off the package. It teetered slightly as the wind pushed it, but found its proper path onto his porch. Caleb stepped outside onto his front porch and looked down at the package.

A flash of light interrupted as the drone took a picture of him. He held up his arms, but saw the drone flying away already. Frowning, Caleb scooped up the small package and took it inside.

His friend Ariel had offered the proposition to him. "Just watch this package for me okay? Until I get back from London."

Caleb shrugged as he walked back inside. He placed the package on the small table near the door and went back to his work.

***

Days went by. Caleb would see the package as he left for work, errands, or even a run. Each time he opened that door, he glimpsed the package on his way out. Often times it was a fleeting moment, barely a blip in his day.

After the first week, Caleb found himself watching TV in the living room. The light of the TV would glance off the package near the door. He tried paying attention, but kept removing his gaze to look back at the package.

"Please, don't open the package Caleb. It's from my friend at uni and I know she was itching to surprise me." Her words lingered in his mind.

Caleb was able to put his thoughts away and go back to the show in front of him.

***

Weeks went by. Caleb kept leaving. Caleb kept seeing the package.

He hadn't heard from Ariel since it arrived. He even sent a text to her from the get go. All she did was reply with a thumbs up. He wondered about her now. Why she hadn't reached out to him. Wouldn't she care to know if her package was okay? If it was such a big deal to her that it wasn't opened, wouldn't she be checking on it constantly? Hell, Caleb hadn't even sent her a picture.

The first month passed. He was sitting in thought, and decided to bother Ariel. He put one hand on the package and took a pic of it with his phone, sending it to her. He laughed to himself after it sent. "Oh wow its been a month! Hope I don't unwrap this this thing." His text said with the pic. He set his phone down and laughed to himself. Caleb crashed early that night.

Caleb awoke to his phone buzzing on the nightstand near his bed. Groggily, he checked his phone. Ariel. He quickly answered.

Caleb found himself awake once again in the middle of the night. He wiped his eyes confused. His phone was ringing. It was just ringing right? He leaned over and check it. Ariel. Hadn't she just called? Caleb shrugged and took his phone. He answered it.

It was morning. Caleb sat up with a start. The soft light of the morning sun was sneaking through his room. He yawned loudly, and looked over at his phone. Barely six in the morning. He wiped the drowsiness from his face and got up. Whilst relieving the pressure that had accumulated during his sleep, Caleb checked his phone again. Curious, he looked at answered calls.

Five. Ariel had called him five times. And he had answered all of them. He frowned down at his phone, and finished up in the bathroom. Caleb decided to call Ariel.

He mindlessly stepped out to his kitchen while calling her, starting on breakfast. As he closed the fridge door, he heard a buzzing. Ariel hadn't picked up yet. Caleb looked down at his phone, the call still trying to go through. He looked to where he heard the buzzing.

He looked to the front door.

Caleb saw that the package was on the ground, still wrapped in a neat bow. The door to his house was slightly open, he could see a glimpse of the front porch through it. A figure stood outside the front window.

A shadow behind the blinds to his window. Buzzing came from the figure outside the window. And Caleb could see his call to Ariel was still going through. As he looked back up he noticed. Though still hidden by the blinds, the figure wasn't outside the window looking in. But inside his house, staring right at him.