Thursday, September 27, 2007

The morbid child

When I was a kid, I used to fantasize about the end of the world.

Now, by "fantasize" I don't necessarily mean I giddily planned for the eventuality of the Apocalypse the way I giddily planned for my future as a rock star/movie star. My thoughts were more along the lines of... contingency planning. What would I do if zombies took over my hometown, or aliens invaded the planet, or I got forgotten at the mall overnight? (Ok, that last one might have involved some giddiness.) If I got lost in the desert, or dumped in the woods like Hansel and/or Gretel, which creatures would I avoid and which would I eat? Would I have the mental fortitude to bean a cute little rabbit if I had to?

I was not raised by survivalists. Maybe I was innately morbid. Maybe I had watched too many late-night horror movies. Maybe I was just born a control-freak who has to plan for every possible scenario. (To this day, I carry a Swiss Army knife with me, although I'd be hard pressed to cut down even the scrawniest tree with the wee saw at my disposal. Mostly I use it for cutting the tags off of just-bought shoes that I want to wear immediately.) Or maybe my youthful mind was writing stories before I was calling it that. Morbid stories, but stories nonetheless.

The first "story" I can remember coming up with involved a little girl who'd been forgotten by her parents, who then had to fend for herself in the wild. I remember that the story made me cry as I recited it in the hallway of our apartment, to an audience of none. I know I was was about three years old because it was before my brother was born. It's a good thing no one else heard me, I guess. It's probably pretty disturbing to hear babies talking about scavenging in the ominous dark. Other stories involved people being eaten by giant squid and sharks. Maybe I was just morbid.

In other, more light-hearted news, I'm working on a fun little side gig. I'll be able to post about that soon, I think, barring any Apocalypse or zombie attack.

1 comment:

stonecoldmomo said...

There are always people you will never forget from your childhood. Had I known the sheer depth of your darkness...I would have hung out with you everyday! I thought I was the only truly weird kid at school.

Mike