#19 on the 30-Day Writing Challenge Prompt List

FYI this list is not necessarily in order, but these are all things that I am deathly afraid of…

#1 HEIGHTS

When I say that I’m afraid of heights, I guess I should be more specific and say that I am afraid of falling from great heights. This is why I don’t do roller coasters.

Strangely, I have no fear of flying in a plane, unlike many folks with fear of heights. I guess because I’m inside a plane, I feel safe. As opposed to if I were to trying skydiving or bungee-jumping (no thanks). And this is one instance where, for some reason, I am able to think logically, in that I know that statistically I am much more likely to be killed in a car crash than a plane crash. Plane crashes are extremely rare, compared to how many flights there are worldwide, so I just feel safe when in planes (although I wish commercial flights were more comfortable, with bigger seats, for tall folks like me).

#2 BEING BURIED ALIVE

I’ve often said that I’m not afraid of death. I am afraid of dying. And this is probably the worst way of dying that I can think of. Trapped somewhere, to slowly suffocate to death or die of starvation. This is why I’m slightly claustrophobic now. I don’t even like getting into elevators, because when I am in one my mind starts imagining getting stuck in there (keep in mind, I live in California, which is prone to Earthquakes, so this a completely unreasonable fear).

#3 SNAKES, SPIDERS, AND RATS

I put them all together as one, because I hate and fear them pretty equally. When I say snakes, I’m talking everything from little garden snakes to cobras and boa constrictors. Spiders, everything from tiny little ones to tarantulas. And when I say rats, I also mean mice. Big ones, little ones, I don’t care. They all freak me out.

#4 GOING BLIND

I can’t imagine living like that, feeling constantly helpless and scared. I kind of hate to say it, but even just being around blind people makes me uncomfortable. And this is why I put up with all the uncomfortable check ups and daily doses of eye-drops to keep my Ocular Hypertension under control.

#5 BECOMING PARAPLEGIC/QUADRIPLEGIC

Yeah, Stephen Hawking has managed to live a remarkable life in his condition, but I couldn’t handle that. In many ways, it’s similar to why I fear being buried alive. It’s being trapped, except this is being trapped inside your own body. I fear this so much because, unlike if I went blind, at least I know I’d have the option of killing myself, which I believe we should all have the right to do, but if I were paralyzed I wouldn’t be able to do that. I’d just be stuck until I died naturally.

I could go on (seriously, I could, I’m very morbid and paranoid), b those are my major nightmare scenarios.