Stanford Chaparral

3:00 am, Robinson Village

In the early morning hour of three, a young man—a thinker, a dreamer—returned to his room, illuminated by thin, mumbling electric lights (for there was no sunshine), alone, only to find that he was not alone. There was another life-form in his room. He had only gone out to go to the lavatory, and now, here it was. This life-form came in the form of a human man—a dark man—an “Afro”-man. His stature was as high as his pride, his eyes as clear as his purpose, and his weight as sure as the rain. The “Afro”-man was gone in an instant, and with him, the hopes and dreams of an entire nation, the innocence of the hour, and one hundred and fifty dollars. A young man had only gone out to go to the lavatory, but had come back...a man.

11:19 am, Neihoff Residence

Mrs. Neihoff’s cat has been lost, and with it, so much more.

4:54 pm, Sunrise Lane

Sunrise Lane was an ironic, yet fitting, backdrop for the incident. Susan Perry, 33, was found lying in the long shadow of the street sign where it had all begun and where it had all come to pieces. She was taken from that thoughtless place, to a local hospital where she was later pronounced devoid of being. Some would say she is free now. Others, though, would say she had been in chains her whole life and now Satan has swallowed the key.

6:49 pm, Silvermoon Drive

The suspect’s motor vehicle was not gray, but it seemed gray because everything seemed gray that day—ashen faces, leaden hearts, and gray cars. When police arrived on the scene, they knew what they were looking for, just not where to find it. Squinting into the horizon, they wondered where it was. Sterling-plated skies seemed to absorb the hollow roar of a million gray cars which slipped by on the roads, but none of them was the suspect’s gray car. The suspect’s gray car was gone, for now.