I’ve come to the conclusion lately that the more time I spend with my friends the more I am privy to witnessing some of their unique quirks. I’m not talking about the usual stuff like always needing to carry the biggest stick possible while walking or the tendency to indulge in mud-pies at the park; I’m talking about their strange phobias. Some of my friends are spooked by the usual things; shadows, doorbells, garbage trucks, vacuums, the automatic trash can at my house, and even my mom’s potholder mitts! But as we are approaching the holiday season it’s come to my attention that some of my friends are genuinely spooked by the ghosts, witches and scarecrows that have been decorating households and lawns all over town. I can’t help not making fun of them; I mean clearly these figures are fake but nonetheless some of my friends proceed to bark, growl and run the other way when coming into contact with them. In any event I suppose phobias are not something to be taken lightly especially since my mom pulled a fast one on me and spilled the beans to all my friends on my secret phobia: Mirrors. Anytime my dad shoves a mirror in my face asking me “where’s the puppy in the mirror” I break out in a sweat, tuck my tail between my legs and hide in the next room. In 5 years I have yet to locate this yellow puppy he speaks of; trust me I’ve spent lots of time looking for him! I think what scares me the most is not that I’m seeing another dog I can’t find but it’s the fact that half of my dad’s body disappears when he holds the mirror in front of me; it’s enough to give you dogmares for months…
