Tell Me a Secret

[fyre_bird]

I'll start: there's still a monster under my bed. The good news is, the matress still protects me.

Sometimes, as I'm trying to get comfortable before sleep or when I'm just waking, my arm or leg will dangle over the side of the bed. Once I notice it, I can't leave it there. Oh, I can for a while, but it makes me feel too vulnerable and I just can'

Comments

[elfwreck]

I can't sleep with my hand hanging over the side of the bed... and my matress is on the floor. Sometimes I can sleep with my toes hanging off the mattress, but more often not.

There is, however, an issue of Xxxenophile that has a "monster under the bed" story that helps me get over the fear. Sometimes. Sort of. Changing the fear into arousal is more pleasant, but not any more conducive to sleep.

[fyre_bird]

I've bookmarked that link for later, but I'll definitely be looking for these at A-kon in a few weeks. Or maybe some of my comic-loving friends (cawti? cluegirl?) already have them for me to check out.

[jenna_thorn]

We do have the XXXenophile books. Unfortunately, they are in the closet O' Doom.

I'll try to unearth them.

[fyre_bird]

Yippie!! That's wonderful, because several issues are sold out, according to the official website.

You know how I am about "complete" collections of things. I was on the verge of doing the calculations between the comic versions and the book versions, to see if a combination would yield the entire series... but then they wouldn't match. (OCD much? Me? *whistles innocently - or would, if she could whistle*)

[cluegirl]

Right there with ya. I used to have to take a running leap at my bed in order to avoid putting my foot down next to it, where I could be grabbed. Never gave a fart in a windstorm about a closet monster, but that bastard under the bed? Fearsome.

Now my phobia is getting lost. Ironic, since I do it all the time, but I still have to fight an anxiety attack every time I do.

[fyre_bird]

I get lost all the time, too. Whenever I'm going somewhere new, I always try to leave early, to allow time to take a wrong turn or two.

I *love* people who give landmarks with their directions, especially if I'm on the same road for quite some time. Seeing things I know I'm supposed to pass, helps me be calmer because it lets me know that I haven't missed my turn.

[venivincere]

Hmm. I am afraid of leaving legs and arms out of the blankets because I might get mosquito-bitten or a spider might land on me. (My monsters are little). *bites nails*

[fyre_bird]

Okay, those make sense. I *hate* getting bitten by those little beasties. Especially spiders, whom I previously allowed to live in harmony in my room. Once I was bitten on the knee by one, that gave me a huge red welt and a streak of blood poisoning up my leg that took two weeks to heal, I switched to a "stay on your side of the window, or die" policy.

[venivincere]

Oh, I like your policy. When I was a little kid I used to pay my brother a quarter to kill the spiders in my room. We lived on the water; he made a mint off me. :-)

[the_con_cept]

You made me grin talking about it, though.

My own fear is: moths. It's a super, uber, ridiculous fear, but they turn me into a wailing, frozen, jelly-legged wimp. I can't go NEAR one without completely freaking out. Even seeing moth-shaped THINGS is enough to make me shudder. I'll even cry if one touches me. Pathetic, no? Ah, well. I know perfectly well they can't hurt me, they just don't seem to realize it. They're not afraid of you, you know?

I think it started when I was a little girl visiting my grandma's, and I felt something crawling up my leg in the middle of the night, and threw back the covers to find this GIANT moth on my thigh. Complex much?

[fyre_bird]

Ewww, I think that would give anybody a complex.

If I know there are bugs in the vicinity, especially at night, I start feeling "phantom bugs" crawling on any exposed skin, convinced it's some blood-sucking insect targeting me for a snack.

[snarkhunter]

I never mock phobias.

Well, okay. I do. But I always do it with love, and do you know why?

I'm desperately afraid of slugs.

Yes. Slugs.

You know, the ones that only move about an inch every minute? That you can step over and completely ignore? They send me into borderline hysterics.

It's not really a secret, but it's kind of relevant, I think. I refuse to walk in the woods if it's been damp. I hate going outside during a rainy night, and if I do, I walk on my tiptoes and never, EVER wear open-toed shoes.

[fyre_bird]

One of the grossest things I've ever done, is to step on a snail while barefoot. I've done it twice, both times quite by accident. Feeling that icky squishy body between the toes was incredibly disgusting. *shudder*