1. my biggest fear
wasn’t always my biggest fear

2. i used to be just like you
young and fearless
ok, maybe not that fearless

3. but i was no scaredy cat
(i’m not really a cat person to begin with)

4. as a kid, i was never afraid of those silly things
like
clowns
being away from my parents
monsters under my bed
the dark

5. yet somehow as a freshman in high school
i managed to pick up a fear even sillier than all the rest

6. not spiders
not heights
not dying
not going stag to prom

7. i know my fear is irrational, i really do

8. katie
and i have a fear of squirrels
yes, squirrels

9. i googled ‘cute squirrel’ and this image came up
(this image terrifies me)

10. in fact, i see little reason why the words ‘cute’ and ‘squirrel’
should ever be used in the same sentence
.

11. i don’t care how big it smiles

12. or how tiny and pink it is

13. one
because in my mind there is only one squirrel

14. we were introduced
one morning as i was getting ready for school

15. without warning
or invitation

16. there he was
arms spread wide
caught in my window screen

17. when our eyes met, i screamed
and ran faster than i’d ever run before
i made it to the bus stop
a whopping
one hour early

18. it was the scariest 10 seconds of my life

19. you may not believe me

20. but you didn’t see his stare

21. his beady little stare

22. if you did
we’d be starting a club this very minute:
the squirrely scaredies
the he-man squirrel afraiders club
non-nutty squirrel haterade drinkers
(ok ok we’ll work out the name later)

23. and my biggest fear would be your biggest fear too