#275 – You, a Grown Adult, are Afraid of the Dark…

…explain why this is a legitimate concern, so friends won’t laugh at you.

Something about the dark has a way of changing things.  The blacker it is, the more alien the world becomes around you.  Sometimes it can make the world seem to shrink around you, crushing down on you, and other times it can make stretch out to infinity, making you feel lost and alone yet completely at the mercy of whatever is out there.

It’s that unknown factor.  Anything could be in the dark and you wouldn’t know because you can’t see it.  It can be something as simple as an object on the ground we might step on like a child’s toy or it could be someone watching you, waiting for the moment that you’re at your most vulnerable.  And you would never know it was there until it was too late.

Behind the Random: As an agoraphobic, I can understand and relate to a person with a fear of the dark.  I have trouble walking through a wide open field in the dark even more than during the day just because of that mysterious shroud surrounding me.  The shadows will play tricks on my mind, always moving in the corner of my eye and taking on shapes of people or worse then vanishing when I look over.  So to all you Achluophobics out there, I understand you.

#61 – A Woman Thinks…

…she might be living next door to her grandson.

Sharon, don’t be such a silly worry wart.  You just walk up to the door and ask him if he’s related to Matthew Bisk.  If he says no, just welcome him to the neighborhood and that’s the end of it.  If he says yes…well, we’ll cross over that bridge when we get there.

Oh, but he does have that look in his eyes doesn’t he?  And he definitely has the same smile I remember from 20 years ago.  It has to be him.  What are the odds of that though?  All these years and he would just happen to move in next door to me.

The Lord does work in strange and sometimes wonderful ways though.  This could be my only chance to reconnect with him and after Peter died, I’ve been so lonely.  I just have to see.

But what if it is him?  What do I say after all these years.  Did his dad ever tell him about me?  Does he know why we just stopped talking?  Will he hate me for it?  I don’t know if I can handle it if he does.

Oh, you’re being an old scaredy cat, Sharon.  Chances are it’s not even him and if you don’t find out now you’ll just kick yourself in the backside for not taking this chance to do it.  It’s just one little question.

Okay, here we go.  I knock on the door.  I can hear him coming.  I can do this.  I can do this.  There he is.  Oh, he looks just like Matthew.  Now I just have to ask him.

“Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood.”

“Oh?  Thanks.  It’s nice to meet you…”

“Sharon.”

He’s smiling.  Is that a good thing?  Be a good thing.

“Sharon?  I’m Ryan.”

Ryan!  It is him!  It has to be him.  Now to confirm it.  Ask him about his dad.

“Oh.  Uhm…”

Just ask already!  Wait, he’s going to say something.

“Can I ask you something quick?”

“Of course you can.”

“This might sound strange, but are you related to Matthew Bisk?”

What?  He’s asking me?  He knows then?!  Oh my, that’s amazing.  Answer him already!

“I…oh, yes.  Yes I am.  Matthew was, I mean, is my son.”

He’s laughing now.  Sounds just like the way Peter laughed.

“I noticed you when I moved in and you look like the pictures dad had.  I was going to ask you but just didn’t know how to do it without sounding like a weirdo.”

“I know how you feel.  I’ve been standing here giving myself a minor heart attack myself.”

“Would you like to come in?  We can talk over coffee.”

“I would love that, Ryan.  Thank you.”

Behind the Random: Every now and then, it’s nice to do something that doesn’t end with a monster or alien or something like that.  Just an uplifting story of a grandmother reuniting with a lost grandchild.  Not that the idea for a monstrous twist didn’t nibble at the edge of my creative mind, but I managed to push it back and do something normal.

#253 – Imagine a Character…

…at two very different ages, and describe his or her day at each age.

Davin was at the top of his game.  At the cusp of 30, he’s accomplished everything he set out to do.  Already near the top of his advertising firm, married to a beautiful woman and expecting his first kid, the life of the world beating go-getter was a life worthy of envy.  Not that there weren’t concerns of course.  The house needed a new foundation and the his car was making that strange clunking sound again.  His dog recently got diagnosed with worms and needed special medication that was a fight and a half to get him to take.  Worst of all, his father was battling a losing fight against cancer.

A huge difference to the time Davin’s only concerns are eating and sleeping.  A simpler time, he has no real worries beyond that draft that’s chilling him.  He sees the faces of people he barely recognizes as they talk to them in funny little voices.  He’s heard their words again and again but their meaning is all but lost to them.  It doesn’t concern him as he lives his life as he wants, sleeping whenever and wherever he pleases and crying out for attention whenever he’s hungry.  Then, as he feels a familiar rumble and he promptly soils his diaper, a rarely clear thought passes through his once young and vibrant brain: being 95 is no 30.

Behind the Random: This one is another hard topic to do.  At first, I had to decide if I was going to do a serious comparison betwen two ages or if I was going to try and make it humourous.  Obviously I attempted to go with both at this point.  Then I had to decide which ages to do.  At first, I thought it was a no-brainer and I was going to point out the similarities between being a helpless infant and being old and infirm.  That proved harder than I predicted and time was running out so I instead decided to do the ol’ bait and switch and throw a twist at the end.