Guys and Dolls

I get scared too easily, I think. Most things I can handle, like thunderstorms or strange noises, but weird things freak me out. I can’t watch scary or suspenseful movies because I end up being the one that everyone watches. My friends all know when it’s particularly scary so they tap each other on the shoulder and point me out. They like to hold their laughter while I get all worked up and jumpy. Then right when it gets really suspenseful (i.e. the barracuda scene in Finding Nemo) they yell really loud to surprise me. It’s not very nice. I usually end up watching stuff by myself with all the lights on. That was the only way I could even sit through Aladdin.

The worst thing was that my younger sister had one of those baby dolls when she was little that closed its eyes when you laid it on its back. Those were innocent enough when they worked, but my sister’s had one eye that wouldn’t close when it was lying down.

(Pretty freaky, right?)

So it was kind of like it was watching you at all times. I promise I could feel it looking at me when I turned my back. There are too many movies and stories about murderous dolls to take that kind of thing lightly. And the worst part is that my sister found out that it scared me, and she used it against me. I’d be watching Scooby-Doo and she’d want to watch Sesame Street. Since I’m older, I’d say no. She wouldn't bother telling our parents. She’d just calmly walk to her room and get her doll. Then she’d throw it on the floor in front of me and whisper, “She’s watching you.” I’d run away and go play G.I. Joes in my room while fighting back the inevitable tears. And I couldn’t tell my parents. Can you imagine that conversation?

“Dad, sissy’s doll scares me. It’s always watching me, even when it’s laying down ,and I think I heard it talking, and I don’t like those things, and I want her to stop ‘cause it makes me scared.”
My dad would say, “Son, you’re 25 years old. You’ve got to stop this.”