The
Painter
                of
the
Night

        Someone
called
in
a
                report
that
she
had
seen
a
        man
painting
in
the
                        dark
over
by
the
pond.
A
police
    car
was
            dispatched
to
go
investigate.
The
two
officers
with
their
big
          flashlights
walked
all
around
the
                    pond,
but
found
          nothing
    suspicious.
hatcher
was
the
younger
of
the
two,
and
he
said
to
Johnson,
"What
do
you
think
he
was
                        painting?"
Johnson
looked
      bemused
and
said,
"The
          dark,
stupid.
What
else
could
he
have
been
    painting?"
Hatcher,
a
                    little
hurt,
said,
"Frogs
in
the
Dark,
Lily
pads
in
the
    Dark,
Pond
in
the
          Dark.
Just
as
many
things
                        exist
in
the
dark
as
they
do
in
the
        light."
Johnson
paused,
          exasperated.
Then
Hatcher
added,
"I'd
like
to
see
them.
                Hell,
I
might
even
buy
one.
                                        Maybe
there's
more
out
there
than
we
know.
We
are
the
          police,
after
all.
We
    need
        to
            know."