I saw something outside last night.

I was at the back door, letting the dog out before bed as usual. As I stood there waiting for him to do his business, I saw two points of light. I was looking through the back door window, and I thought what I saw was just the doubled reflection of a neighbor’s doorbell light. For some reason, the people behind us have one of those light-up doorbell buttons next to their back door. Who needs a doorbell for a back door?

I leaned to the left and then right, thinking the position change would break the optical illusion. But it didn’t. The lights still floated out there, toward the back of the yard.

I don’t know how long I stared at those lights. I lost track of time. I think because I was really tired. I just kept trying to figure out what they were.

The dog’s bark, demanding to be let back in, scared the shit out of me. I let him in, then looked back up for the lights, but they were gone.

Then I went to bed. It took a while to fall asleep. I couldn’t get the lights off my mind.

I told Nina about the lights this morning. She told me I was seeing things because I’ve been staying up too late. She said lack of sleep can play tricks on the mind. Maybe she’s right. But it’s just been hard to sleep lately, for some reason.