3110. Night light © Bruce Goodman 8 February 2025

Stanislaw lived alone. He’d done that since his wife of fifty-four years had passed away. He was careful with his money – he had to be – and although he was never mean there were times when perhaps he was more abstemious than was necessary. An example would be when he went to the bathroom or went to the kitchen for a drink of water at night. Rather than turn the light on and “waste expensive power” he would put his hand out while walking the passageway and feel his way to where he was going. When he got to the kitchen he would reach out and turn a light on. It’s not as if there was anyone else in the house to be disturbed by a light being switched on, but he liked to think he was saving money by walking in the dark. One night, about three in the morning, he woke up wanting a drink of water. His mouth was dry. He groped his way down the corridor in the dark feeling the wall. He reached the kitchen door. He reached out to turn the light on. It wasn’t the light switch he touched. He touched a person. Naturally Stanislaw got a huge fright. The person moved quickly and Stanislaw was able to turn the kitchen light on. But the person had fled out the sitting room door to the outside world. Stanislaw presumed it had been a thief. After that, he always slept with the light on. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story