Halloween Countdown - Things That Are Scary #16

[vivien]

Sharks

When I was six, my mom and I spent a lot of time in Virginia Beach visiting my favorite aunt and uncle. We were there the summer Jaws came out. Being responsible parental figures, they talked my mom into taking me to see it.



This was, as it turned out, a REALLY BAD IDEA. For the rest of that visit (I was staying with them for the summer, and my mom was visiting on weekends when she could), I was terrified of pretty much any body of water I had the bad luck to be near. I was certain that Jaws was going to come up the pipe and into the bathtub. We were RIGHT NEXT TO THE OCEAN. Which is where the water came from, according to my six-year-old logic. Of course, it could happen!!!

LOOK AT THESE SCARY BEASTS! You'd avoid baths, too.





Needless to say, any beach adventures from then on featured me shying away from the water and indulging in my newfound great love for building sandcastles.

For about a two or three years, I checked out as many books on sharks as the library had, determined to know my enemy. That helped quite a bit. I was able to take baths in peace and even go into the water again without expecting an inevitable fatal bite to my ankles.

Still. I wouldn’t go swimming with a scratch on my knee. Sharks can smell blood, you know.