A friend of mine & I were talking the other day about our deepest fears. Hers…snakes. Her fear is so deep, she makes a thorough check of her bedroom every night for the slithery foes. She checks under her bed, in her closets—everywhere a snake could hide. She and her sister used to tease each other when they were small that the thing they feared the most was how they would die. Her sister was most afraid of knives.
Of course while we were talking, it brought back one of my childhood fears. (When I tell people this it usually brings them to tearful laughter.) I clearly remember every night opening my closet door and searching under my bed because I knew the thing I feared most was hiding there waiting for the lights to go out so they could pop out and get me. Don’t laugh now this is the serious fear of a young girl...Cowboys and Indians. That’s right, I just knew there were Cowboys and Indians hiding under my bed waiting to jump out and get me. There were many nights when I was terrified to go to sleep (although the closet and bed had been checked) overactive imagination I guess. Don’t ask me when I finally outgrew this silly fear or why it even began in the first place, but at the time it was very real. Now, like I said, it brings people to tearful laughter. But remember when creating your characters, these are the type of idiosyncrasies that can make them seem so real.
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