The Painter       of the Night

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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 paiting?"
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."

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