When I was in a pub in on Long Island, I went to use the restrooms. When I was
in the stall, I saw writing on the door that said: "follow the arrows".

I looked around, but I didn't see any arrows. Whatever, I didn't think about
it.

Then, about a month after that, I'm back in the same place- use the restroom
to wash my hands before I tear into some buffalo wings.

They were out of paper towels, and not wanting to touch the restroom door with
my hands, I tried to open it with my elbows. This was a clumsy processes, and
resulted in my bumping a lightswitch with my elbow. The room went completely
dark.

Or did it?

On the ceiling I notice a trail of glow-in-the-dark arrows painted onto the
ceiling. They're very very faded, looks like they'd been there for quite a
while. The lead out the door.

Now I had totally forgotten about the graffiti I had read a month ago, so I
didn't really think about those arrows at all. I just pulled my sleeve over my
wet hand, used it to flip the switch back on, and open the door.

I went back to my table with some buddies and we chowed down on some excellent
wings. It wasn't until the end of the evening when my brain, out of nowhere,
remember the "follow the arrows" graffiti in the stall. I excuse myself from
the table, just to check that it was this stall where I saw the writing. It
was. Now I had a mystery.

I wanted to follow the arrows, but I couldn't. After I left the restroom, the
ambient light was so bright that the arrows were invisible.

I told my friends about the arrows, and I asked the bartender about it. He
knew about the graffiti but had never seen the glow-in-the-dark arrows. After
about 15 minutes of pouring drinks, he took a minute to go check it out.

He didn't seem that impressed. I asked him if we could stay after closing and
turn off all the lights to see where it went. He said yes.

Flash forward 2 hours. The bartender and some of the waitresses are all
standing around in the dark of the bar, looking at little faded arrows that
make a trail from the restroom out to the front door.

We step outside, but the trail is dead. The streetlights outside make the
faded glow in the dark arrows impossible to see- if they were even there at
all.

3 days later, I'm in the Geology I at my college, when I notice the display of
exotic minerals that the department has in a display case. Inside the case is
a small, handheld black light used by rock hounds to find and observe
glow-in-the-dark minerals. After the class, I ask the professor if I can
borrow it. He says yes, but that if I break it I owe the department $45.

Flash forward 9 hours. I drag my buddies back to the bar. We have some more
drinks and awesome buffalo wings. When we're done gorging ourselves it is
already dark outside.

I went to the bathroom and tested my black light on some of the painted
arrows. It worked like a charm- they glowed incredibly brightly, and even with
the lights on they were fairly visible.

I went back to the table. We pay our tab, and step onto the street.

My friends stood around me, trying to look cool, while I was geeking out with
my black light searching for invisible arrows on the ground. I found one.

I followed the arrow, keeping my black light inches from the ground, waving it
back and forth... 5 feet away I found another arrow. Then another, and another
still.

I was following these arrows down a side walk for about 2 blocks. My friends
finally loosened up and started speculating on where the hell these arrows
were taking us.

Finally I got to an arrow pointing us in a new direction... it was a driveway
leading to an empty commercial lot of some kind. The lot was surrounded by
cyclone fences with aluminum siding- we couldn't see what was inside.

The arrows led us around the fence/wall to a gate.

I saw a lot of glow-in-the-dark paint under my light, and it took me a few
seconds and some swinging of the light to realize we were looking at a giant
arrow pointing inside the fence.

I guess I should introduce you to my friends now: One was Jeff, one was Dave.

Jeff, pushed on the gate. It was locked and it rattled terribly in the dark.
Dave looked uncomfortable. He took a deep breath, and before he could say what
I'm certain he was about to ("hey guys lets just go home") I cut him off, "I
say we hop this baby".

Jeff didn't even say anything before he leapt against the gate, getting a firm
handhold at the top. Ungracefully, but successfully he pulled himself to an
uncomfortable straddle on top of the gate.

I followed suit, leaping at the gate. I didn't reach the top on my first
attempt. I put the black light in my pocket and took a running leap at the
gate I got a firm handhold, but I could fell the metal digging into my skin. I
made a mental note to get a tetanus shot when this was all over.

Jeff helped me up from the top while Dave pushed my legs from underneath. Dave
followed next with surprising ease.

From our perch on the gate, we could see that the fence surrounded what looked
like an old parking lot. Grass and other green things sprang up from the
ancient, crumbled asphalt.

Immediately below us, on the other side of the fence, was nothing but inky
blackness from the shadow cast by the gate from a nearby street lamp. I pulled
my black light from my pocket, but from this height, it was useless.

To my surprise, Dave was the first one to slide down into the dark. He slide
down the fence as low as possible before letting go and taking the final
plunge. We heard him stumble, curse quietly, and the stand.

"It's okay," he said, "I can see a little. It's just asphalt."

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If life gives you melons, you may be dyslexic.