What Scares Me

I used to never think about it. I just blocked it out. Before I moved house, I didn't even realize just how much they scared me. Their multiple sets of legs, their astounding speed, and their disgusting, writhing bodies. All of it grossed me out, but it was the pincers that really got me. I shudder at the thought of the two sharp, curved daggers, held high in the air, ready to strike.

Earwigs. I can't stand them. I don't like bugs in general, but earwigs scare me more than anything else. I guess this fear might be somehow related to two extremely unpleasant experiences I had involving them. It all began at my new house, which, unfortunately, was a haven to countless numbers and types of bugs.

The first encounter I had was right as I was getting into bed to go to sleep. I was just about to lay down, when my eyes caught a flicker of movement on my pillow. There, just inches from my face, was an earwig. It was sitting there, pincers pointed towards me, ready to assail at any given moment. I screamed. Running from my room, I asked my sister to help me out, and get rid of it. She grudgingly agreed, but when we went back in the room, it was gone. My insides started to squirm. Then the unthinkable happened. There was another, crawling on my sheets. The first earwig appeared from under my pillow. I backed away from the bed, only to be confronted with a third earwig on the wall. It was too much. After my bed was cleared of earwigs, and the one on the wall was squished, I still couldn't sleep. I kept imaging dozens of them crawling all over me. I was in panic. I couldn't shake the horrible feeling of pure terror that was looming in the back of my mind. But somehow, I got through it.

Over the next few days I had miraculously managed to forget about the earwig incident. Until, one night, when I was kneeling to pick up books on the floor, I was abruptly reminded in the worse way possible. I felt a sting on my foot, and guessing it was a mosquito, I tried to swat it away. But I was wrong. It was a repulsive earwig, viciously pinching me between the toes, unprovoked and malicious. I shrieked in fright, and the horrible memories all came flooding back.

Now, I try to avoid earwigs at all costs. I recoil at the memory of those upsetting and sinister events, hoping that I will never have to go through something like that again.