4000 Questions: Question #33: What scary creatures did you think were in your childhood bedroom?

Oooo, a good one.

I never really pictured monsters under my bed or in my closet but I did imagine "bad" people in my closet. I thought there might be some crazed serial killer in there.

I also use to be scared that someone would break into our house, & being in the bedroom closest to the door, I would be attacked first. I also assumed that my parents would never hear me since I was the furthest from them. I never could yell very loud even when I was scared so that even made me more frightened. I use to lay in bed gazing, wide-eyed into the darkness just past the glow of the hall night light, listening for every little sound that may be the intruder. I would lay there for what seemed like hours, petrified, until I could gather up enough courage/adrenaline to jump out of bed & run down the hall & into the safety of my (younger) sister's room. I don't know why I always felt safer in there. Perhaps, because it was just across the hallway from my parent's room or maybe because at least there was one other person in the room. The sad part of this is that this was pretty much a nightly occurrence even through jr. high. I may have even done it in high school some but I can't remember. I know it use to drive my sister crazy.

After watching Jurassic Park for the first time I got really freaked out. That night was, I believe, the most scared I had ever been & the whole time I kept thinking how ridiculous I was being. I was in jr. high & knew there was no thing as dinosaurs roaming the country side any more but still I could not control my imagination. The movie didn't even scare me that bad, but that night as I was laying in bed my over active imagination kicked in. I snuck down the hallway & climbed into bed with my sister. Now usually, this was enough to calm me down but this night it did nothing but make the matter worse. We lived just far enough from the highway that when ever an 18-wheeler would hit this one spot, it sounded like the "boom-boom" of the T-rex's foot steps that everyone remembers from the movie. Then, the imagery started flashing before my eyes. The roof caving in, rain pouring through, teeth just inches from our faces, & the warm breath of death enveloping us. I finally went & woke my mom up or either she noticed I was in bed with Kim. I couldn't tell her what was scaring me because, how immature was I being, really? Anyway, she laid down in my bed with me but still I could not sleep. I must have dozed off at some point but I remember that being one of the worst nights ever.

I also use to worry about coyotes jumping through my window like on those wolf movies. I use to worry about one of the trees falling on the house during storms (which one did during an ice storm several years later).

I use to have this really annoying ticking, old-fashioned, wind up, alarm clock (it had a really loud alarm that would give you a minor heart attack when it went off...it was great...I never over-slept with that thing as long as I had it wound & set properly). I must also, at this point, explain that chickens were no longer my friend...that is a blog entry for another day (but most of you know the issue I have with birds of all kinds, especially chickens). I should also point out that this was either my junior or senior year in high school & I was past the "having to sleep with my sister" phase. Anyway, one night I was in a half dream-half awake state & I thought that there was a chicken just above my head on my head board, just about to attack (in reality it was the ticking alarm clock). In the midst of waking up, I grabbed my pillow, flew from the bed, throwing the pillow at the "chicken," & flipping the light on all at the same time. Man, I wish there had been a camera filming all of this. Upon discovering what exactly had happened, I broke down laughing so hard it was difficult to go back to sleep.

Since being in college, I have had a reoccurring nightmare. It has happened in every place I have gone, college dorm room, my parent's house, here in my apartment. This is one of those dreams that you wonder, "Am I dreaming?" then, you think, "If I'm dreaming the I wouldn't ask, 'Am I dreaming?' so I must be awake." It is so real, that when you do wake from it you really wonder if it didn't really happen. I dream that I wake up & feel the presence of someone in the room or house. I convince myself that I am being silly & reach for the lamp & can't turn it on. "There must be something wrong with the lamp." I finally get to a light switch & flip it & nothing happens. "There must be something wrong with the switch?" I flip it on & off several times to no results. Panic is beginning to set in at this point. "There must be something wrong with the electricity reaching this room. I'll go into the hall." The hallway light will not work either. Finally, at the end of my rope of sanity. I rush out the door into the parking lot & into safety.

This dream really freaks me out. My heart is racing right now as I write this. It seems so simple but in the dream it is the most frightening thing to ever happen. I'm sure there is some psychological/dream analysis that could explain it to me. Maybe I should research it. But, I am kind of suspecting that this could be the work of demons trying to attack me. I don't know & I know that most of you reading this may think from that statement that I'm a little kooky but I do believe there are demons & that they influence us more than we know.

Man, I hope I don't have that dream tonight now that I've talked about it. On lighter note, that dream has taught me to always dress in a way that if I did run out the door (sleep walking or running) I wouldn't be too upset if neighbors saw me (aka, shirt & shorts/pants).