Don't go towards the light

I have very bad eyesight. During the day I wear contacts and usually only wear my glasses in bed to watch TV. I try to stay up and watch The Daily Show with John Stewart and catch what I can of Letterman. More often than not I fall asleep with my glasses still on my face and they get lost in the sheets. Last night I was drifting off in the middle of The Daily Show when I decided to run up stairs to the office and send a quick email.

When I got back to bed, I turned of the TV, turned out the light, put my glasses on the nightstand and went to sleep.

I was asleep for maybe an hour or two when I woke up for no reason. Lauren was asleep next to me. I could hear the hum of the baby monitor and knew Max was asleep. I could hear the dog snoring at the end of the bed. The cats were locked in the garage. I turned to squint at the clock to see the time but could not make out the red blur of the three numbers. I reached for my glasses and knocked them off the table. Since I was still groggy I figured I would leave them on the floor until morning. That is when I saw an eerie glow coming from the hallway.

What was it? All the lights were off in the house. This was a soft white glow. Coming from the hallway, or maybe the stairs. Adrenalin started to course through me and I shot up. I got on the floor and started feeling around for my glasses like Velma in Scooby Doo. I couldn’t find them.

Was it a ghost? No the house is not built on and ancient burial ground, nor is the house old enough. Was the light the moon? It was a full moon last night. No it couldn’t be there are no windows in that part of the house. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. I frantically searched for my glasses. Finally I found them.

Without moving from the floor, with sharper sight, I tried to figure the source of the light. I did not want to turn on bedroom light because I did not want to wake Lauren and I was afraid it would prevent me from figuring out the where the hazy glow was coming from.

Was it the computer from up stairs? No the angle is wrong plus it goes into a sleep mode. Did I leave the second floor bathroom light on? No. I even closed the bathroom door. What was it? I was getting nervous.

I finally stood up and went into the hallway. I looked up the steps and realized what the light was. On the top of the steps there is a gate to prevent Max from falling down the steps. There is a motion sensor night light on it so when you approach, it lights the way. Whew. No Ghost.

I calmed down a bit, went to the kitchen to get a drink. I climbed back into bed, placed my glasses on the nightstand and started to drift off. Five minutes later I shot back up wide- eyed. Wait a minute. The safety gate has a motion sensor light. Key word here is MOTION.

I jumped back out of bed. What the hell set the motion sensor light on? Not the dog. Not Max or Lauren or the cats? Crap. Now I had to go and check the whole house, which I did. I did not find anything.

I slept with one eye open and with my glasses on the rest of the night. I think the safety gate is malfunctioning.