You are being watched and listened to and should fear.

The psychiatrist appointment was sensitive. Perhaps I required a sedative. I explained as calmly as I could, a feeling that was not good.

“Unexpectedly, the light changes; the quality of the air rearranges. It is as if a cloud covers the sun. The pressing shadow is impossible to shun. Warmth and calm, once a balm, dissipates to cold heavy vapours. Neck hair rise, as the pupils in my eyes, grow round as boulders.

" The feeling weighs upon my heart. Is this the curse of missing the mark? The feeling has a hungry growl and snapping teeth and holds potential pain and grief. It follows round every bend. Nothing can make it disappear or end. The predator watching and listening is fierce. It is impossible to control, excise or pierce.”

The doctor gave a reply, but she had a strange look in her eye.

“The feeling of being watched is called scopophobia. Sensitivity to another’s gaze may be real or the result of paranoia. Traumatic events take many forms. Aberrant connections in the limbic system adjust the norms. The brain is sensitive to more than conscious vision. Nonconscious blindsight holds mysterious precision. Victims can die from shirking physical and mental threats that are lurking. Excess or deficit of fear due to weaknesses, personal limits, and guilt for mistakes can create a paralyzed victim. It can threaten relationships. You must change the dictum.”

Her response was sincere. I felt that she had a sympathetic ear. “Each moment holds the possibility of death. Capricious forces threaten to take my last breath. The grim reaper and lady death his wife, seem delighted to threaten my life.”

What next she stated were words that I contemplated. “A dark shadow made Bucephalus, Alexander’s horse, skittish with fear. The Great tamed his companion by turning to the sun. The message is clear. The real or imagined feeling, that something is lurking and watching, alerts instincts to prepare for potential problem dodging.”

I spoke a thought and the discomfort it wrought. "My heart races in response to an elusive threat that is too close. A monster-demon exists behind a veil of shadows.”

The doc explained and nodded. “There is a real threat to the carotid. Don’t turn around to check. Threat exists. Follow the light, do not resist. We can train you to change the script. Don’t worry, the scales soon will be tipped.”

Anxiety remained, but I began to imagine and play for an audience using two-way mirrors to constantly survey. Real and spectral spectators watched me live naked in a zoo. They used microscopes and telescopes to get the best view. Then I saw a door that was left open. I casually walked out. I became silent and was invisible. I’d found a new route.

It was then that I realized an uncanny fright, the Elf on the Shelf skulks out of sight.Siri, Alexa and other AI's watch and listen. They hover to creates algorithm that make profits glisten.

Once illegal, wire-tapping has become legal and wireless. It makes me wonder how humanity will survive this.