Night Flight

Suzy flew her Force1 UFO drone at dusk, admiring its bright red, white, and blue LED lights and intuitive controls.

“Hey, whatcha doing?” called Corey.

“Playing with my new drone,” called Suzy.

Corey came around the fence and watched.

“Wow, it’s really cool,” Corey said. “Did you get it for Christmas?”

“No, actually,” Suzy said, maneuvering the drone through the air. “It was on sale a few days after Christmas, so my parents got it for me.”

“Man, I wish my parents got me a drone,” Corey said. “Instead, they got me a clone.”

“What?” Suzy landed her drone. “You’re messing with me, right?”

“Corey-2!” Corey called. “Come!”

A second, identical Corey bounded around the fence.

“Cashews! Olives!” Corey-2 cried.

“Oh, jeez!” Corey looked at his watch. “I’m sorry, Corey-2, I forgot it was feeding time.”

“You feed him cashews and olives?” Suzy said.

“It’s the only thing he’ll eat,” Corey said.

Corey took out a ziplock bag from his pocket containing cashews and olives. He held out a handful to Corey-2, who leaned down and ate it directly out of his palm.

“It’s sorta weird that he eats out of your hand,” Suzy said.

“I’m trying to teach him to take them and eat them one at a time,” Corey said. “But it’s a losing battle.”

“Those sure are some crunchy cashews,” Suzy said, watching with curious horror as Corey-2 chewed. His face contorted with pain as he swallowed.

“What you’re hearing are actually the pits of the olives,” Corey explained.

“You don’t pit them?”

Corey shrugged. “I tried, but they’re his favorite part.”

“Weird,” Suzy said. “So, is it fun? Having a clone, I mean.”

“He wears all his shirts backwards so he can chew on the tag,” Corey said. “And if he hears the honk of a goose, he falls asleep immediately. Like, even if he’s mid-stride. But it’s cool, I guess.”

“Huh,” Suzy said. Then, she remembered something. “You know, my drone actually came with a couple of Orbiter drones. You use your hands to fly them. Maybe you two want to play with those?”

“That would be great,” Corey said. And the three of them–Suzy, Corey, and Corey-2–flew their drones in the fading light.