burglar shadowdancing

I awoke the other night at 2:20 AM. Our house alarm battery is dead, but the inactive system starts beeping every few hours. My housemate is away in China. We generally don't use the alarm, but he's said recently that he wants to start turning it on when we're both away. I trundled upstairs to disarm it...and noticed that someone had lifted the screen on one of the front windows. They had obviously wanted to get in, but it seemed they hadn't. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. A stranger informed me that he had seen someone climb over our fence. I thanked him, and he left. I was a little suspicious, as there would be no need to climb our fence...both the alley and backyard gates have no lock. I gave the first floor a once-over, turned on lights in the frontmost and backmost rooms, and went downstairs. Deciding to stay up for a while, i turned on the TV. After a few minutes, i saw the backyard motion sensor light go on. It was a neighborhood cat. I realized that the back gate was open, something i hadn't checked. I closed the gate, noting that nothing had been disturbed. A few minutes later, i went back to the house's front room...and realized another break-in attempt had been made. This time the inner window had been pushed up six inches, until the pop-out anti-burglar tabs prevented further opening (i had thought it curious that the window had been unopened earlier...both regular latches have been broken for quite some time). I closed the window, and went outside. Nothing. How bizarre...that the perp would attempt another break-in knowing someone was home in a well-lit house.
I decided to maintain my vigil downstairs where i could see the backyard light come on, checking upstairs regularly. I got a stick, which i carried with me the rest of the night. The pacifist in me wasn't entirely happy with this...but i'm also an agnostic pragmatist, accepting of the overwhelming evidence that biological life dies, so i am DEARLY dedicated to avoiding that for as long as i can. I decided i wouldn't waste any Gandhi speeches on a would-be burglar who might be a strung-out junkie. I could live with that.
I started watching ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO, a film whose creators had done good work in the past. I'd never seen it, and wanted to like it. I quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. A little too saccharine, and maudlin with the whole mongamy issue.
When i went back upstairs, another break-in attempt had been made. This time a different screen had been raised, to a window which had fully-functioning latches. I realized the action was upstairs. I dressed fully, something i'd not done before, and sat in the front room with the lights on. After about ten minutes, i saw someone emerge from a parking lot across the street. He seemed fully intent on our house, walking straight at it. I think he then saw me, and took a sharp turn up the street.
He was young and slender, of average height or taller. He had short, dark hair and a big orange shirt. Perhaps Hispanic or Mediterranean. Was it the same fellow who had come to the door earlier? I can't say for sure. Even though our street is well-lit, i didn't have my glasses on, and he was at least forty feet away. You'd think i would recall whether a fellow at the door had a big orange shirt...
After a while, i returned to my vigil downstairs. I started watching a terrible porn-lite film...the kind on a channel dedicated to such fare, where you're not positive whether the sex is real or not, and the actors are bad but good enough that you wish they'd just go ahead and be comically awful, to make the film more watchable. Lots of makeup and fake boobs. But on a 4AM burglar vigil, watching naked people having sex is better (just barely) than a re-run of FRAZIER.
Dawn came sooner than expected. Confident my vigil was done, i masturbated and went to sleep.
It didn't occur to me to call the police. Perhaps we're a bit jaded in the city, but i didn't think a failed break-in merited any extravagent response. The next day, a neighbor told me she had seen an orange-shirted fellow trying to get into several houses. Having confirmation of his description, i did call the police. Little could be done, and i declined to file any report. The following night, i slept on the couch upstairs, stick nearby.
Anyone have an extra DJW612 battery, so i can get a full night's rest?
I love you all.