Safety First

So, I'm at home in West Virginia. It was the longest drive of all time yesterday to get here, next to the Christmas ice storm. So, okay, the second longest drive. I was a little spent.

Dad and I were sitting there last night and we heard what sounded like something hit the outside of the house beside him. We ignored it the first time, but got up to check the second. They've been having break-ins around here now that so many people are losing their jobs at the plant. Dad went out the back door and I went out the front.

Mom and Dad have a huge piece of property which my Grandpa bought and built the house on when my Mom was little. Mom and Dad have added this terrific long, covered front porch. I stepped out on the front porch, looked out through the darkness and turned to the left. From just off the porch, pointing straight at me was a little red dot.

I.HIT.THE.DECK!!!!!!! I'm about to be shot. You've seen those rifles with laser scopes in the movies, right? Well, I wasn't going to be a standing target, at the very least. I.WAS.DOWN.

I looked up in my panic and noticed that the light had now turned purple. That's odd. Okay, and now blue. And now back to red.

And now my head starts to clear: the light was from the firefly lawn ornament that Mom has over there in her flowerbed.

-b