I can handle Boogeymen. Pitched black darkness? Yeah, it doesn’t send a shiver down my spine. And spiders don’t scare me in the least. My childhood was never plagued with the ordinary fears that come with wiggly teeth and staying up past nine and times tables.

It doesn’t matter,

When the sun sets to the west

It doesn’t matter,

How fast the current is in

the ocean

It doesn’t matter,

When a storm passes through

the plains

It doesn’t matter,

Groping onto the handrail, I climbed the cold, metallic stairs, my leather shoes brushing against it. Filled with anxiety, I scurried along the concrete floor to the other dancers. The world around me was black; the blue velvet curtains created a cloak of darkness, like the night.

A Giant

A Living Freak of Nature

A Redwood.

Tall, upstanding, huge, strong, ancient

At least

 2,400 years old

People look at it in wonder.

“Wow! Amazing!” They say

And I agree

But I don’t