The nightmares

       My greatest fear is that I would be eaten alive by a shark. I am even afraid to look at pictures of these savage-looking creatures.

       It all began when I was ten years old. My older cousins asked me to go with them for a movie. I was excited that I did not even ask what movie they were going to watch.

       I cannot recall what the movie was about but I will never forget the scene in which a shark devoured a man alive. The sinister background music and the victim’s horrible screams made my blood run cold.

       For months after that, I had nightmares in which I was eaten alive by a shark. I was afraid to go to the toilet on my own at night. One of my sisters or brothers had to accompany me. I refused to go to seaside and even stopped going fishing with my father.

       At first, my family members teased me and called me a coward. But when I continued to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, my parent grew very concerned.

       Although they tried to help me, I could not forget what I had seen. The nightmares disappeared eventually, but the fear remains with me to this day.