Glow Effort

Charles came to his beloved’s house, where he observed one small change since his last visit: lighting the way from sidewalk to front door were four pathway lights glowing a warm white.

While he paused to take in this new bit of scenery, the lights turned pink.

Ah, thought Charles. The color of love. Of affection. That hue most associated with Valentine’s Day, the lover’s holiday. No doubt this is meant as a message for me from my beloved inside. I should hurry up to the door, enter, ensnare her in a warm embrace, sweep her off her feet, and plant a kiss upon her lips to show her the feeling is reciprocated.

Of course, the irony only occurred to him a moment later. In waiting, observing, and analyzing, he had not hurried. Making matters worse, while the show had left him feeling inwardly joyful, his outward projection was one of concentration, and so he wore the puckered expression of deep thought, one that could easily be confused with consternation or even disgust.

Quickly, he smiled a big, theatrical smile.

But it was too late.

Before he could take a step forward, the lights turned icy blue. His beloved, Charles believed, had observed him from some window, and now sought to return his coldness with something cold of her own. She is feeling blue at my failure to hastily requite her previous message! Oh no, this is terrible! So terrible! I cannot see how it could possibly get worse!

He cursed this thought a moment later, when the lights turned a deep red.

Could it be, thought Charles, that my beloved wishes the devil upon me?!

Then a peculiar thing happened. Some of the lights remained red while others turned green. Charles quickly realized his mistake. The red had not been hellish. It had been the deep crimson of a fine cab sav. And now his beloved, feeling spurned by him, was drinking to the point of sickness, as evidenced by the green.

Charles rushed to the door and ran inside. “My love, I am here! I only hesitated to observe the beautiful light show! I’m so sorry!”

Seated on the couch, she looked up from her phone. “Sorry for what? I was just playing with my new Atomi Smart Wi-Fi Platea Outdoor Pathway Lights. Check it out, I can tune the white or change the color right here from an app. And it has a bunch of presets. Like, this one, for example, is ‘Christmas.’ Neat, right?”

“Very,” said Charles, when he’d caught his breath.

“But I should probably stop,” she said, setting down her phone. “If I keep messing with them, people on the street are probably going to start thinking I’m trying to send them secret messages.”

“Ha!” Charles said. “Don’t be silly!”