What is it that truly frightens you? Nothing like the imaginary things like ghosts or vampires, but things that happen frequently in our day to day reality. Fears that lead to anxiety, as we know we will eventually and inevitably encounter them in our lives. Do you fear walking down the street alone at night? Do you fear a bad encounter with an angry customer? Do you fear the inevitable end that will come for us all?
The sky outside was growing darker as my friends and I sat at the library, studying for an upcoming exam. There were a couple big test coming up at school as we were nearing the end of the school year. Unfortunately, as teenagers are, my friends and I procrastinated and waited until the night before the test to decide to study. It wasn't something to be proud of but at least it gets us by.
After a couple more minutes, the librarian approached us.
"I hope you guys are close to finishing," she said. "You're the only ones left and we're about to close for the night."
Startled, we looked at the time before apologizing, closing our books and heading out. The librarian was generally a nice person. I was glad she kept the library open a little longer so we could get our stuff done. I'm certain today was a long day for her so we wanted to get out of her hair and take care of closing.
My friends, Sam and Doug, and I walked home together. They lived pretty close to each other while I lived a few blocks down. It was good for us to talk a little on our way home to relieve some stress from the tests going on tomorrow, the big ones that take up a massive chunk of our grades.
Finally, we made it home. We each said our goodbyes before walking inside to be greeted by their parents. I was lucky to have them as friends.
Eventually it was just me, walking alone in the cold dark of night. I carefully made my way down the road, dodging cars, as there was no sidewalk to safely walk on. I was nearly there, just a few houses down.
Just as I was about there, I heard the cry of a woman asking for help. I turned my attention to the lady, just a few houses down from me. Whether it be instinct or fear of the consequence, I approached her, asking her what was wrong.
Almost the instant I asked the question, her head jerked toward me, revealing a twisted smile and wide eyes that made her look as if from a horror movie. I was petrified, feeling my blood run cold. I wanted to run away in fear, but what if it was just the way the pale moonlight was hitting her that made her appear so terrifying?
I repeated my question, asking her what was wrong. She responded, not with a word, but with a single step toward me, her facial expression unchanged. She took another step toward me. Through her clenched jaw, I heard her whisper my name in a high pitched, raspy voice.
This was the final thing to truly strike fear in me. I felt my fight or flight response kick in and I ran toward my house as fast as I could. I didn't even look behind me to see if she was still there. I darted straight for my house and never looked back.
I breathlessly ran into my house, quickly shut the door behind me, panting as I leaned against it.
At school, Doug stopped me in the hall in between classes.
"Dude, I saw what happened last night, are you okay?" he asked, a concerned look in his eye.
"Yeah," I replied. "That lady just scared the hell out of me with her creepy grin. She even knew my name."
"What lady?" he asked.
"The lady I was running from last night." I said. "I thought you said you saw me."
"I did," he said. "There was no lady, I thought you were freaking out at something further down the street, but I looked and saw nothing. I went out to ask if you were okay and you took off running."
The sky outside was growing darker as my friends and I sat at the library, studying for an upcoming exam. There were a couple big test coming up at school as we were nearing the end of the school year. Unfortunately, as teenagers are, my friends and I procrastinated and waited until the night before the test to decide to study. It wasn't something to be proud of but at least it gets us by.
After a couple more minutes, the librarian approached us.
"I hope you guys are close to finishing," she said. "You're the only ones left and we're about to close for the night."
Startled, we looked at the time before apologizing, closing our books and heading out. The librarian was generally a nice person. I was glad she kept the library open a little longer so we could get our stuff done. I'm certain today was a long day for her so we wanted to get out of her hair and take care of closing.
My friends, Sam and Doug, and I walked home together. They lived pretty close to each other while I lived a few blocks down. It was good for us to talk a little on our way home to relieve some stress from the tests going on tomorrow, the big ones that take up a massive chunk of our grades.
Finally, we made it home. We each said our goodbyes before walking inside to be greeted by their parents. I was lucky to have them as friends.
Eventually it was just me, walking alone in the cold dark of night. I carefully made my way down the road, dodging cars, as there was no sidewalk to safely walk on. I was nearly there, just a few houses down.
Just as I was about there, I heard the cry of a woman asking for help. I turned my attention to the lady, just a few houses down from me. Whether it be instinct or fear of the consequence, I approached her, asking her what was wrong.
Almost the instant I asked the question, her head jerked toward me, revealing a twisted smile and wide eyes that made her look as if from a horror movie. I was petrified, feeling my blood run cold. I wanted to run away in fear, but what if it was just the way the pale moonlight was hitting her that made her appear so terrifying?
I repeated my question, asking her what was wrong. She responded, not with a word, but with a single step toward me, her facial expression unchanged. She took another step toward me. Through her clenched jaw, I heard her whisper my name in a high pitched, raspy voice.
This was the final thing to truly strike fear in me. I felt my fight or flight response kick in and I ran toward my house as fast as I could. I didn't even look behind me to see if she was still there. I darted straight for my house and never looked back.
I breathlessly ran into my house, quickly shut the door behind me, panting as I leaned against it.
At school, Doug stopped me in the hall in between classes.
"Dude, I saw what happened last night, are you okay?" he asked, a concerned look in his eye.
"Yeah," I replied. "That lady just scared the hell out of me with her creepy grin. She even knew my name."
"What lady?" he asked.
"The lady I was running from last night." I said. "I thought you said you saw me."
"I did," he said. "There was no lady, I thought you were freaking out at something further down the street, but I looked and saw nothing. I went out to ask if you were okay and you took off running."
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