Growing up, I got my fair share of terrifying stories about nature. My parents said things like:
"If you go close to the river, you'd drown", "If you're in the woods with lots of greens, a snake may crawl up behind you" , "If you are found in a rose garden, the prickles could injure" and so on. I never really had an option when it came to nature. The part of nature I wasn't told to stay away from was the night skies.
I used this photo some time ago
There was a time when I was so afraid of the dark that I could literally lose my mind if I was left in a dark room for ten minutes. I usually focused more on the bad things that could happen courtesy of the numerous horror movies I watched as a kid. Would the boogeyman man sneak up on me and chase me with a sharp knife? What about the angry ghosts that roam around? No positive thoughts ever came from my mind in a dark room.
This fear lingered on for a while and I was very lucky as I lived in an area where there was somewhat constant power supply and as such, there was always light even in the middle of the night.
One regular day while I sat by the outer parlour looking at the sunset, a little birdie flew on our electricity transformer. One thing led to the other and there was a loud noise accompanied by a spark. "Poor bird just got electrocuted" I muttered without giving it much thought. I didn't know that I was about to face my fear head-on.
My parents were out late and for some reason little wongi was home alone. 7pm, 8pm, there was no light and no one was home either. Without hesitation, the creepy images started forming in my mind. My bedroom felt like the only comfort zone and so I ran there. The heaps of clothes, scattered curtains and disorganised books created this giant monster in my imagination. The only thing on my mind was "write a note for your parents before the monster swallows you", but how was I supposed to do that with no light?
I inaudibly laid on my bed and covered my entire body with a blanket to prevent myself from angering the shadows. But something kept penetrating; the moon. The moon and the stars illuminated everywhere that night, thereby diverting my attention from my "dilemma". I keenly gawked at the moon, watching it pass by clouds (I didn't know it was the clouds passing by instead). I remained in that position for a while as the ghosts or the boogeyman weren't after me anymore. This was the day I fell head over heels in love with the moon and the stars.
Till date, I still love star gazing as it is very soothing and it helps whenever I feel the urge to clear my mind. From my room window, I get a very nice view of the sky at night, what more could I ask for.
On the flip side, the little birdie had to sacrifice itself just so that I could overcome my fear; it was a hero indeed. I'm sure wherever the birdie is, it is proud of me; that's if only it knows I exist 😅.
I learnt one thing and that is:
Nature always comes through for us in times of need, irrespective of how badly we treat it or how long we have ignored it.
All images used are mine and were taken with my mobile device.
With love, wongi ✨