**Names have been changed to protect the innocent.**
Someone was hiding in the shower. Not something, someONE. I could feel it, I could sense it. Without a shadow of a doubt I knew it, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood. My worst childhood nightmare was coming true.
Did you have any childhood fears? Maybe walking in the dark, going into the basement, spiders or snakes, getting lost, perhaps a neighbourhood bully? Although I had my share of fears, some more substantial or founded than others, the fear that was on my childish mind the most was that someone was hiding behind the shower curtain. I’m not certain where this fear came from. Perhaps my brother jumped out one time and scared me forever? Honestly I don’t remember. But every time I had to use the restroom, that fear came to haunt me. Sitting on the toilet and imagining a strange and scary person standing behind the shower curtain literally right next to me was a horrifying thought for my childish self, for my adult self too I suppose. So as a child, I made a habit of ripping back the shower curtain with no forewarning for a quick check before every toilet sit down. I don’t know if I fully ever processed what I would do if I happened to actually find someone behind the shower curtain, but not checking and being horribly surprised while ‘trapped’ on the toilet was definitely the worse option.
Well one day I did find out what I would do if someone was hiding in the shower.
