As I was decluttering my room last weekend, I found a torn page from a book whose name I cannot recall. The page consisted of the fable “The Lion and the Bullfrog.” The fable tells the tale of a lion who hears a noise but cannot actually see what is making it, so the lion runs away in fear.  It turns out the noise was being produced by a harmless bullfrog, and the lion was simply letting his imagination run wild. At the bottom of the page the phrase “imaginary fears are the worst” was written, and I would have to agree.

My “bullfrog” in life spirits, specifically those that live in inanimate objects. I know that supernatural beings probably do not exist, but it’s the possibility that scares me. I live in a house with a lot of empty space, located in an extremely quiet neighborhood, so I can basically hear every single creak and crack in the night. This has caused me to have many “ghost” encounters, well, at least that’s what I perceived them as.

I’ve been afraid of spirits for as long I can remember. Almost every room in my house has pictures of God and they used to really creep me out. When I was younger, I would feel uncomfortable looking at the pictures because I could swear God’s eyes were following me wherever I went. One day, I felt a chill on my shoulder after I tried to cover his eyes. I haven't touched the pictures since that incident.

I also still struggle to go downstairs by myself in the nighttime. There is a very large shrine of god on the first floor and sometimes music and flashing red lights come from it. One night, I was extremely tired and went downstairs just to take a quick sip of water. But then suddenly, the music started playing and the red lights blinded my tired eyes. My heart started racing, I ran out to the closest door I could find, but that triggered the alarm. I screamed and cried. Then cried some more. I was shaken up for days after. It was not the actual event, but at the moment when the lights flashed, I thought about all the things that could have happened, just like the lion.

This fear has affected many aspects of my life. I cannot sleep without some type of noise in my ears, that way I can’t hear the noises of the spirits. My heart pounds heavier than a bass drum every night before bed. I cannot stay in the dark without completely covering myself with my blankets. I always think that if one part of me is exposed, a ghost can grab it and drag me out of my bed.

I think my imagination just likes to create scary situations to make me suffer. I hope one day the rational side of me can emerge victoriously, so I can finally be free of my “bullfrog."