The One About the Creepy Crawlies and Why I Am Scared of Them!

“Mansur!! Come here quick!” shouted my mom. “And get a shoe!”
I sprang up from the sofa I was in watching TV. I spent a couple of seconds looking for the right kind shoe. Should I take my sandals? My dad’s work shoes? My Nike? My mom’s sandals? I didn’t care and picked up the one closest to me.

In my mom’s room, I saw her standing next to her book shelf. ON the shelf, there was a small lizard. The lizard was about the size of my small finger. It was a baby lizard, not the huge ones, where you can see the veins protruding from under their skin.

“Kill it Mansur!”
Sadly, I said, “Mom, I cannot!”

I left to get Raid, the effective pest killer. I sprayed a lot of Raid on the small lizard. I could not bear to get close to it. I feared that if I sprayed on it, the lizard would jump quickly and leap onto my face climbing into my mouth or my nose! I hated the thought of it. I sprayed so much of Raid; it was covered with a small layer of white foam. It was still moving, but was also dying. I could see closely the small heart beating rapidly. It is amazing how much you can see through their almost paper thin like skin. I had to eventually call in my dad to kill the lizard. He picked up the shoe and slammed it down on the insect and squashed it. I shivered for a few seconds. He took some tissue papers and grabbed it in his hands and threw it in the dustbin. The whole time he did this, I was as far away as I could be from him.

You see, lizards, cockroaches and spiders all scare me. Other insects are okay, but these three scare the life out of me. I do not know what caused to me to be so scared. I stay away from them. I can never bring myself to kill any of these insect in any way. I admire those people who so bravely stomp over a cockroach. I run away or get someone else to do it. I think it may have been one incident when I was young that may have caused me to fear such insects.

In our home, my father, mother, brother and I were about to go to sleep after having watched a movie on TV. When we got up, my brother noticed a huge cockroach on the wall. He alerted my dad, who got ready with his shoe. HE tried to hit but it moved rather quickly from one place to another. It scurried away into the next room. My whole family moved into the next room as well. There several attempts to kill the insect revealed something new to me. This cockroach can FLY!! I got scared. The more my father tried hitting it, the more it flew around the room. It was a big ugly cockroach, which had wings. I hated the color of such an insect and hated the body make up with antennas and spiky legs. My father still was trying to hit the cockroach, when suddenly, as it was flying in the room, the huge cockroach landed directly on my face. Keep in mind that I was only 6 years old. I had a small face. I could see the huge thing on my nose, climbing up to my forehead. I started screaming and panicking. I thought I was going to die. The cockroach walked up to my head, and I began to cry. What actually was a few seconds, seemed like eternity to me. Still today, I can see the cockroach climbing up my nose.

I also hate those huge spiders, which have hairy legs. The thought of it scares me and beings me to an almost near-panic situation if I would see one. Lizards have the same effects on me, especially the big ones, which are as big as a green chili.

I do not know what I can do to overcome my fear of these insects. I cannot even watch programs on Animal Planet when it is based on Spiders, Lizards or Cockroaches. Somehow, all other insects I can deal with and face them. In the spirit of “Lion, Tigers and Bears” from The Wizard of Oz, here I am singing off “Lizards, Spiders and Cockroaches, Oh My!!”

Yours being glad that the baby lizard is dead,

Mansur