The Open Door

I can't look. I'm afraid - afraid of the unknown - why?

Could it be because the cat ran from behind the garbage can under the big fruit tree in the far corner of the backyard that night when I was 10 and it was my turn to take out the trash and my daddy made me do it even though he knew I was terrified of the dark?

"Go on out there girl. There's nothing to be scared of!" he said in his usual booming I'm-going-to-whip-your-butt-if-you-don't voice.

And, of course, my worst fears were echoed in the screeching scream that could only come from a skinny, scared 10-year-old little girl.

Damn that cat!

But the thing is, I always knew there was something in the dark - something lurking there waiting to scare the beJesus out of me.

But I didn't always know what it was. So, yes, I am still afraid to look. Yes, the unknown is always lurking, always scary as hell.