Have you ever wondered what you'd do if you were to find a monster in the closet? Or just run across a monster? Many varieties come to mind - the very scary alien from Aliens, the boogeyman, a werewolf, the list is endless...

For some reason I thought about this one day. I mean, how many of us watch a horror movie and the classic scene comes up where the character is about to open a closet door, and we know there is something really creepy hiding inside. We, the audience, go "Don't open that door stupid!"

But they always do. And many times get killed or eaten. But, what would you do? I'm pretty sure I would open the door. Not that I've ever had the occasion to hunt for killers or monsters hiding in my house, but close enough to show me what I would probably do.

Let me see...one time I was awakened from a sound sleep by a loud noise. I lived by myself with two little kids. My heart was racing, but I got up and checked the house. Did I open closet doors? You betcha. I ran across the cause in the bathroom, where the rod had fallen into the tub.

Once, I came home from work and my daughter, Chris, was running out of the house, her eyes huge. She told me she heard a noise in the house. We lived in a Victorian mansion we'd bought and were remodeling. I'm talking 3 floors and a basement, with over 8,000 sq feet!! I didn't really think it was anything...maybe a rat chewing something. But I got Simon's 45 and went from room to room, looking.

Most of the rooms were large and not scary at all. No problem. Closets are always questionable. But the huge basement was dark, and always creepy. The last place I checked was the 3rd floor, which was big, and had two small, very dark rooms. They were too big to be closets and oddly shaped, so we always thought they were servant quarters back at the turn of the century. Now, those were a bit nerve-wracking to open and check out, but I did. Found nothing.

It wasn't to later Chris told me she had heard very loud footsteps coming down the long staircase. When she looked, there was no one. She was alone supposedly. Anyhoo, we put it down to a ghost who wanted to scare her. I have other stories about that house, and it did seem as though it was haunted.

My bravery? Stupidity? started when I was little. I used to have very vivid, scary dreams quite a bit. Starting when I was 2 or 3. Who knew the mind of a creative writer was in the making! My most typical dream was about skeletons. They were usually under my bed, waiting to stick a long, bony finger into my chest.

Did I cower beneath my covers and hope it went away. For a minute, but I couldn't stand not knowing. So I would take my tiny bit of courage, jump out of bed, and run turn the lights on. Then I'd look under the bed. No skeleton. I remember doing this when I was four. Seems I haven't changed much.

Myra
www.myranour.com