The Fuzz

A few years ago, I set out to do a low-key photoshoot on a cloudy damp morning.  I had packed an iron cauldron, my Witch prop, and a bunch of smoke bombs.  I thought that a smoking cauldron in the foreground of the photo with a blurry Witch in the distance would be a fun image.  The setup took longer than expected.  

Doing this stuff for as long as I have, you'd think I would be less anxious and twitchy about trespassing to get a photo of a weird prop.  Nope.  In fact, I think I've gotten more uptight about it over the years.  A grown man setting up a Witch, or a scarecrow, or a reaper looks odd and unusual and WIERD.  And suspicious.  

So, I set up the Witch and her cauldron behind a construction company and began lighting smoke bombs.  These things only burn about six quick seconds, so I would get about three shots with each bomb.  Turns out the smoke was visible from a nearby road.  As I snapped away in the sulfurous, brightly-colored smoke, I heard a voice come from behind, "What exactly are you doing?"  It was a police officer.

I was impressed I hadn't heard his car pull into the parking lot behind mine.  And definitely shocked I didn't hear him approach on foot (disappointed in my previously-mentioned twitchiness).  I stood up as the smoke bomb hissed out the last of the blueish smoke.  I explained I had an odd hobby, and I was taking some shots of a prop I made.  I would imagine I sounded like Don Knotts at this point, trying to explain what exactly I was doing.  

I scrolled through photos on my phone showing him the photos I just took, and earlier ones of other photoshoots.  The officer seemed really interested and told me that he had a hobby taking photos of architecture.  Said he does it on the weekends to keep sane.  I told him I would leave and he said for me to take my time.  As he was pulling away, I snapped a photo.

Wellness Check

The glow was from the TV which was on a blue screen and is bright enough I didn't need my flashlight to see in. I looked first at the floor to make sure she had not fallen there, couch, recliner, everything was empty. The telephone home base was blinking red with the missed calls and voicemails. From the living room was a hallway that was dark and I couldn't see down. Using my flashlight I could only see an open door down the hall. Still no signs of life.

I turned around and told the complainant that everything looked ok and nothing was disturbed. I turned back around and an elderly woman is looking back at me with her face right up next to the glass. I couldn't breathe; it felt as if I had been hit in the chest by a bat. I fell backward and off of the bucket. I hit the ground hard and the complainant rushed to me. I pushed her off as she was trying to help me up and I ran back up on the bucket. My heart was pounding but I had to see. Instinct had my hand on my gun the other was up on the window. I looked back inside and saw a frail elderly woman standing in the hallway wearing a long nightgown with her back to me. She turned her head to the side and looked at me out of the corner of her eye and slowly walked out of view and down the dark hallway. 

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Police Report

Called to a burglary in progress (day time). The owner was in the kitchen and heard someone run upstairs to the third floor (old house and wooden stairs).  Set up a perimeter around the house. I came up with K9. Just as I gave K9 warning a perimeter officer saw a hand pull a curtain back on the top floor and relayed the info to me.  Thinking surely we would be making an apprehension with K9, sent my partner in. Long story short, nobody was found.  Officer was 100% certain he saw what he saw. The homeowner was confident he heard the running up of 12 steps.

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Image by visionsoflightandday.