Motion detector lights are what finally snapped Calvin Black in the end. A string of failures: in life, love, and goals, as well as horrible memories amplified and magnified through various vices he all found quite manageable. But a few flood lights burning across his back yard, leading up to the edges of the dark wilderness sent him spinning into a nervous frenzy.
Initially these short episodes seemed like no big deal; stray cats or various woodland creatures scurrying around, looking for food or attacking each other was nothing out of the ordinary. He even let his mind drift off into the ridiculous: "Maybe some missing-link-type mutant had pulled itself out of the swamplands down the street and crawled through the yard searching for the nearest Wa-Wa so it could buy a paper and look for employment or reasonable rents." However, the light became triggered so frequently he was sure that it had been every night for five days straight, and roughly at the same time: just after midnight.
Some of the ensuing paranoia was his own fault. He had immersed himself in a string of "true crime" books, that delved into the horrible, gruesome murders by serial killers or mobsters. Ritualistic and random, all the details that get someone's mind-gears moving when it's dark and the quiet in the house is interrupted by various creaks and drips. He started looking around to see what kind of make-shift weapons he could fashion to stave off an attack by whatever floating 9-foot demon he had dreamed up.
But what really sent him spiraling into the cold arms of delusion was the dreaded "Horn Incident". Through various incidents of road rage that resulted with his fist being pounded into the steering wheel repeatedly the interior circuitry of the horn was damaged, the full extent of which revealed itself just after midnight on a cold February night while Calvin was engaged in one of his eerie, crime books. At first it was almost subtle, like a horn down the street , maybe someone was trying to get a wayward animal out of the road, but quickly it became apparent that there was something wrong, and that it was in fact coming from his car. The unrelenting, constant whale of a car horn was unsettling enough, but the fact that he didn't' know why it was happening flooded his brain with panic.
When he sprung outside there were no demons, monster or murderers, just a broken car horn which required a flash light, a frantic yanking of fuses until the right one cut the sound off instantly, however, to Calvin it still felt like every nerve was vibrating and he couldn't quite shake the feeling that somebody in the dark was snickering while watching him turn into a nervous, trembling pile of jelly.
Then it stopped. No more light. No more creepy shadows draped across the yard, or car horns screaming in his ears. No more thoughts about maniacs lurking off in the trees waiting and watching. The weather got warmer and those nights became a memory, until a certain Monday when it seemed extra quiet outside, as if the cars had been diverted off the highway. For a week straight the spotlight winked at Calvin at that same time it used to, and the old, rusted gears of paranoia creaked back into motion.
It was time for serious action, he thought and decided that a stake out was in order. He placed a lawn chair in the yard in the late afternoon and sat there listening to a baseball game and thumbing through a book. As the sun light dissolved he peered through his dark glasses to try and register any movements in the trees, as if someone would be taking position to begin a night full of stalking. The night finally settled in and Calvin shut the radio off and folded up his chair. He zipped up his black sweatshirt and headed towards the house. He opened the door in a very deliberate manner and quickly placed the chair and the radio inside, and in a flash of motion pulled a black ski mask out from his pocket and over his face. He slammed the door loudly and dove belly first onto the ground, dragging himself to the cover of a thick pine tree. In his prone, battle-ready position he pulled a small pair of binoculars out from his back pocket and gave a quick once over the back yard to see if anyone could have discovered his deception, unfortunately all they managed to do was magnify the blackness of the woods.
Of course he was hoping that he would find nothing, maybe a gust of wind would blow through setting the light off and then he could breathe easier, maybe he there was a stray cat dashing around looking for a mouse to hunt, but just in case it was a real threat he armed himself with the dull knife he kept at his desk for opening envelopes and his cell phone with 9-1-1 set into the speed dial should he become overwhelmed.
Unfortunately for Calvin he underestimated the amount of patience one must possess in order to be successful in such an operation. Self doubt began to creep in, and after an hour he thought to himself "this is awfully silly". He pulled the ski mask off his head and folded up the pocket knife, and made his way back towards the house. As he opened the door he noticed a glare on the window, the light had been set off. That was it. Now he was just being mocked. He darted towards the light and started covering every possible route someone could have taken, the need to know if someone was there overtook any fear he might have had. Finally he gave up. By the time he got back to the house the light was off. There were no scurrying animals, no missing link mutants, no violent gusts of wind, and no weapon wielding maniacs.
Calvin decided the best course of action was to remove the bulb altogether since it obviously wasn't deterring whatever was setting it off. The next morning, he did what he assumed was the last logical step for him and unscrewed the bulb from the fixture. That evening he felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and there was no nagging need to swivel his head towards the window to see if the light had gone off. He was getting ready to go to sleep that night and perhaps out of just sheer instinct he glanced out the window and was met with the white stare of 100wats of light shining back at him. He didn't believe it at first, he looked at the shelf he'd placed the bulb on just to make sure it was still there, which of course it was, he opened the door and stood outside for a few quiet moments just staring in the direction of the light.
He then calmly entered his house and began neatly packing a bag. He drove himself to the Ocean County Medical Center. Before he admitted himself for "chronic fatigue" he looked at the nurse behind the counter and asked: "You guys have a security system right? Like in case anyone tries to get in."
The nurse looked somewhat puzzled: "Um, yeah, we've got a system and a guard on watch 24 hours a day."
"Good," Calvin thought, "now it's their problem."
