Fear

Author's Note: My first night in my new room I hear sounds outside. Crashes, squeaks, and the darkness, fill my dreams. I wake up to see construction on the neighbor's house and the heater under my room. Lesson learned: Fear lasts for a day at the most.

On your way home from work, you approach the shortcut to your house. It is a dark alley where strange people are rumored to hang out, and where a man supposedly got struck twice by lightning. The alternative is a 4 block route around the neighborhood. You start to walk forward, toward the shortcut. As you reach the half way point, you congratulate yourself for making it this far. Then, you drop to the ground. You hear a loud crash and a car brake squeak. The building on your right starts to collapse. You run forward and out of the alley. When you open the door, you hop inside and slide down the back of the door. You should be happy to have made it home, but you aren't. You are scared.

Bloodcurdling, creepy, eerie, alarming, chilling, horrendous, hair-raising, and spooky. These words swarm in your mind when you are on the edge of your chair. Whether you are watching a scary movie or hearing a storm outside, your nerves kick in and take control of your mind. Your senses are out of control.

First, your nerves have taken over your sense of touch. Every table that you crash into, every doorway that you hit seems like the end. You jump out of your chair when your dog comes up to your feet. Everything knocks you off balance and you are always terrified to turn around and look.

Next, your sight is blurry. Your head snaps around at the funny things in the night. Your eyes hurt from looking in too many directions and you might pass out if you keep this up. You are tempted to keep your eyes closed all day, but that may make you more frightened. Is it worth the risk?

Your hearing, how is it? You wouldn't know because your hands are covering your ears, then you stop and realize you don't have big enough hands to protect your eyes too! The noises hurt your ears, and you shake with every scream, crash, and explosion as if you were experiencing them yourself. The pain in your ears slowly fades because the fear has taken over once again and you can't hear a thing.

Lastly, smoke fills the air and breathing becomes difficult. A taste comes into your mouth that you didn't have before. Is it possible to eat flames? Your mouth burns, and your nose is frozen. You cannot breath. You remember to stop and drop, but once you are on the ground you are a statue. Your mind fills with panic and you can only lay there.

Fear can change people permanently. You may not leave your house for years, or never open that closet in the basement. You may flinch whenever you see a flame, or even leave the room. In some cases, your mind might turn demonic, and it may begin to enjoy your phobia. People are tormented by fear. They live their lives terrified of something happening that is out of the ordinary. If you are in this war, it is impossible to win. In the back of your mind, your phobia haunts you. The only thing you can do is stand up straight and put on a fake smile.

To conquer a fear you have to change yourself as a person. You have to first create and image of your self, one that you are never scared. Then, over your life time you must change your self to be that image. You can try and depending on the fear, you may be able to overcome it. There are some fears, however that will dwell in your mind for the rest of your life and haunt you.