I'm afraid of a lot of things. None of them are the boogeyman. That creature is waiting under your bed to meet you when the lights are off. When the most hideous parts of them aren't obvious right away. I get that, boogeyman, I can relate. Things I am afraid of are a lot more common. Gaining weight, a grown man crying, an article about an abuse survivor that contains the words It still affects my current relationships. I fear a story in which a stubborn wound does not stay stitched, but rips open with the flex of a muscle. Once a man (who was barely not a boy) gave me pills until I could not speak then did what he did with my lack of language. I'm afraid he crawled inside me and never really left my body. I picture him waiting, crouched in my throat for the moment I am most in love to reach his hands back out and strike again.