The announcement of a cyclone approaching the island came to me as a bombshell. The generic music on the radio just before the announcement of the cyclone bulletin was very terrifying. I had the strange belief that the cyclone was sent by Demon to destroy our house and to kill us. Worse was to happen if I had lied on that day for I thought that it was going to tear me to pieces. My father had said that too many sins were being made, so the Devil was sending its fury. The grey sky, the howling wind, the flashes of lightning and the rolls of thunder were, in my opinion, the hands of that devil. Thunder was to me a black square shape with piercing eyes and lightning was a gruesome and fierce mass of fire sent to locate the hiding sinners. At times, I used to become hysteric, and my parents had to sit beside me to console me.

 

Another thing that I was awfully afraid of was ghost. I was made to believe that ghosts were lurking in dark places and were ready to pounce on naughty children. My father would say they were of four shapes:  vampires, werewolves, witches and mermaids. They could also be skinny women dressed in white. One night, I remember having watched a blood curdling ghost scene in a horror cine film although it was forbidden to those under fifteen. The imagination of a burly man with fingers in the shape of sharp blades gloatingly staring at me gave me jitters and creeps. I had strange nightmares. My parents had to sit beside me and next morning they were forced  to sleep till late!

 

Drilling machines are the objects that frightened me as a child. I felt their noise piercing my chess and pulling out my heart. Whenever they were drilling on the road, I would run to hide myself. Even today, I am afraid of them, and I prefer to call a cousin to make the drilling if any in my own house.

 

Of all the things that frightened me, these were the most terrifying and I would never forget them.

 

(551 words)