It’s 11:30pm. There’s a praying mantis outside my window screen, watching me. She’s finished eating the last of her lady bug, its little red carcass slipped through her little talons and fell to the bottom of the sill.  It’s hard to see her. It’s dark out. But from internet search, I can see she’s a brown praying mantis. Her eyes are red dots. A flash light illuminating her doesn’t upset her.

Sometimes she’ll start to rock back and forth. Other times she’ll wipe her talons over her head the way a cat does when cleaning himself.

I’ve been hard on myself lately. Maybe this symbol of contemplation was placed there to remind me to chill. She appeared when i removed my window fan to close my window after I detected the smell of cigarette smoke coming from yet another AirBnB guest of my downstairs neighbor who seems to be running a hotel out of her place .

And there she was – clinging horizontally, catching a little gnat. When I flashed a light to observe her, she moved vertical, as if to get a good look at me. She’s been in that position ever since. Her face moves side to side like September Observer from Fringe.

And she’s still there, spending the night I guess. So, I’m playing music to keep her at my window. I feel safe under her watchful eyes.