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, "Frog 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."