But sometimes, the fears we have as children are completely bizarre and absurd. For example my sister and I were terrified of dinosaurs. Like, we believed that a tyrannosaurs rex was going to trample our neighborhood and eat us. We also had a fear of volcanoes, although that is not a completely unsubstantiated fear considering we live near the Ring of Fire*
One of the worst fears I had (for probably close to a year or so) was of this thing called the Witch Bunny. In the house where we had an empty lot overgrown with grasses as our backyard, there lived a wild bunny. We saw it a couple of times and was a harmless enough looking animal.
However, my sister and my vivid, twisted imagination took this harmless rabbit and turned it into Witch Bunny. In my head, the bunny grew bucked, jagged, crooked teeth. It wore a cape and pointed wizard's hat that was purple with yellow stars. It burrowed up through the carpet and then the carpet seamlessly knit itself back together. Ignoring my sister, the easier prey on the bottom bunk, it climbed the ladder (rather than just magic itself up, which it could clearly do based on the carpet trick) with its tiny bunny paws.
I never saw what happened when it found be because I was just so terrified that I screamed my head off, calling for Mom. And every night my sister would chant "Wiiiiiiiitch Bunny. Wiiiiiiiiitch Bunny." And every night that bunny would come for me. It scared me for so long.
And the older I get, the more hilariously ridiculous the whole fear seems. I can't remember how it ended, but I eventually moved past that point. Thank goodness, otherwise it may have been that petting zoos and pet stores would terrify me now. And bunnies really are just adorable
So who else had absurd fears as a kid? Am I the only one with a Witch Bunny-esque situation?
*Which is the ring around the edge of the Pacific Plate (tectonic plate) that contains 75% of the worlds volcanoes
Really??? dinosaurs in the neighborhood?? funny I didn't know about that one :)
ReplyDeleteI used to be terrified that something or someone was under my bed and I used to try and turn off the light to my bedroom and jump from the middle of the room into my bed. This solution was two-fold - 1. I was too far away from the bed for whatever it was to reach out and grab my leg and 2. If I could get into bed before the light went out then I could see it coming for me. Somehow this never really worked. I either missed the bed and landed on the floor right in front of my bed (in prime grabbing range of "it") or I would beg my brother to turn the light off for me after I got into bed since I never seemed to be able to move faster than light.
Oh ya - and even when I was an adult (at least until I got married) I used to be afraid to have my arm dangle along side the bed... just in case "it" was still under there :) Maybe that's why I sleep with noisy dogs who would attack anything that tried to sneak under my bed :)
Yes, I remember the dinosaur one clearly because you told us to picture them in their underwear. And your fear reminded of one I had up until a few years ago. I used to be scared that someone had somehow hidden in my closet (like a burglar or a murderer) and was just waiting until all we all went to bed to come out. I would lie specifically so I could see the closet if it should open and I practiced evening out my breathing. Plus I always kept a pencil nearby.
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