Sunday, November 3, 2013

Scared of the Dark

So, my brother and I shared a bedroom for about the first nine years of my life. For most of that time, we had a set of bunk beds. Being older, Chris got the obviously cooler top bunk. We had them set up with mine at a right angle to his, my left shoulder up against the ladder for his bed. 

I’m not ashamed to admit, as a kid I was a big time scaredy cat. I don’t know if I just had an overactive imagination or what it was, but there were lots of nights I was too scared to sleep and would sneak into my parents’ room and either sleep in their bed or ask my mom to come sleep in mine to keep me safe.

Rest assured, this stopped before I hit middle school.

But I was often scared at night, my mind filling in the space that my bedside lamp couldn’t reach. I imagined all sorts of monsters lurking, just waiting for me to drop my guard. I was even scared to sleep facing away from the bathroom door, because they just might come in through there. 

I saw the movie Gremlins in the theater as a three year old; I’m still not sure why my parents thought that was a good idea. I spent most of it in the lobby, using Jujyfruit candies to comfort me. But I caught certain scenes of the movie in between crying and my parents switching off who took me out to the lobby. After that, I was definitely scared of gremlins.
You're telling me this wouldn't scare the crap out of you as a three year old?












For months, I would be absolutely certain that a ravenous pack of gremlins was right at the foot of my bed, waiting to chew on my feet. 

There was one thing that kept me sane and comforted me enough to fall asleep each night. 

I knew that if gremlins WERE to crawl up over the footboard and get under my covers, all I would have to do is scream. My brother would be quick thinking enough to both realize exactly what was happening, and also comprehend that he just needed to roll off his bed and land on my legs, squashing the gremlins.

I’m serious. This was my thought every night. I envisioned my brother waking up and instantly knowing what needed to be done and just roll off his bed onto mine, saving me.

Because he’s almost seven years older than me, my brother and I got in more than our fair share of fights sharing a room. But every night, fighting to fall asleep, I was glad he was there and missed him when he eventually moved out and I was left alone.


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