THE STALKING SHADOW

Mysteriously she appeared during the Covid-19 shut-down. I noticed her silhouette in my peripheral vision, this shadowy profile of a strange woman but always in my left eye only. It seemed like something out of a horror tale. Something Stephen King would write! Nah, NOT Stephen King -- Clive Barker! But those guys probably aren't dealing with eye issues.

Even after the shut-down ended the vision center was still booking emergencies only. So I waited. My friend Marie urged me to call. On June 1 I did. I told the clinic I didn't consider it an emergency. They disagreed! I was instructed to come in 8:45 AM the following morning.

Now I was worried, but relieved to get an AM appointment since afternoons tended to be stormy. And I have driven in blinding rain where I could see nothing but the taillights of the car in front of me. I didn't want to be in a likewise situation with dilated pupils, dark glasses, & blurry vision.

However the next morning this weather pattern had reversed, rain was coming down in buckets as I drove to the clinic. But thankfully the sky cleared for my drive home.

This was my 3rd emergency visit to the eye clinic since my cataract surgery in 2017.

I actually thought cataract surgery would end all my vision problems; instead it was just the start! The light flashes not only remain, now there's even more. Plus I've got eye floaters galore; big black ones, small brown ones, and jelly ones like small drops of Vaseline that blur my vision in places. The later are the result of posterior vitreous detachment which I have in both eyes now. My vision is similar to peering thru a glass of swamp water during a lightning storm.

After a series of tests, I was informed that this silhouette of a well-defined feminine profile was just another symptom of my posterior vitreous detachment. It could be removed by laser along with many floaters for a mere $7000. UGH!

I have more pressing expenses, many more! Nor do I have a wide enough circle of friends and acquaintances for a Go Fund Me page. Plus I don't have the type of personality most people can relate to. Since this is not serious, only annoying I'm just going to live with it. I'd rather spend that $7000 on a great trip, repairs to my home, or most likely the next big unexpected expense that raises its ugly head!

I'm just grateful this isn't more severe!

Around this time, a close friend's father was handed a death sentence from cancer and she was researching funeral homes. "Everything is so expensive I don't understand how anyone can afford to die," she told me.

From my experience you can't even afford to get sick unless you're rich! If I'm anything like my parents this is only the beginning, far more grievous and expensive maladies are on the horizon.

When MY end comes, I won't have to worry about funeral expenses, they'll be selling my body parts just to make a dent in all the medical debts I'll probably be leaving behind.

In the meantime, I'm doing everything I can to keep healthy and out of hospitals. But it may not be enough.

Since benign and not evil, I'm going to live with the witch in my left eye as I call her. But if I ever hear voices in my head that are not my own I'm going to be splashing that eye with holy water and contacting an exorcist!