Things that go bump in the night…

Last night was probably one of the worst nights I have had in a long time now…I am one of those people whom Fortune has favoured with coma like sleep. I have been blessed with this ability to be able to fall asleep anywhere, at the drop of a hat literally. I can fall asleep( the most obvious one) in class during a lecture, on the train or bus, while waiting for my date to show up(and God save him if he is late for more than a few minutes, I can be really cruel at times), in the theatre, reading Tolstoy,  while watching re-runs on the telly, while my parents are talking to me about what I’m gonna do in the future and more often than not at work. All these examples are just to highlight my ability and prowess to sleep and sleep well under less than perfect conditions. 

        To get back to last night’s misadventures, my eyes suddenly drifted wide open due to some sound or I don’t know what. The first thing I registered was the Darkness. My ever so considerate sister had turned off the lights in my room before going to sleep herself, something which is strictly forbidden. Here begins my tale of woe, as I struggled to get back to sleep. You see I have this totally childish, inexplicable fear of the dark and everything associated with it, which judging from the tone of this post, is nothing good. Within seconds my brain had gone into overdrive and started imagining the worst. I began to see lightning flashes, in very clear details, of every horror flick I had ever had the misfortune to watch in my life…and those movies were not even good. I was stuck in a real dilemma whether I should risk getting my ankles grabbed by something as I climbed out of bed to put the lights on or continue to suffer silently but not bravely. Every sound was like a horde of elephants pulling metal chains, in an Indian palace which is haunted. I seemed to have developed superhuman powers of hearing where my ears could deduce every single sound, no matter how minute, or far its point of origin. Don’t even get me started on the scary shadows that seemed to be more taunting me than dancing on the wall. Finally after what seemed like endless hours of burrowing deep under the comforter, having gotten tired of straining my ears and imagining things at which point I must have fallen asleep. When I opened my eyes next, it was thankfully daylight and I was free to leave the sanctuary of my bed. Being an adult is such a pain sometimes. My mum would not take me seriously if I told her this and would ask me to grow up and deal with my fears. No matter how much I try to apply logic and rationalize  that there is nothing scareworthy in the dark, I am predictably reduced to a sweating, trembling coward.