The Fear Monster

This is a story I've had to tell to my children twice in the past two days.  As I was telling it for the second time, it occurred to me that I could use hearing it myself from time to time, so I thought I would share it with you.

Once upon a time there was a very scary monster who lived at the base of a very tall mountain.  Anyone who wanted to try to get over the mountain had to fight the Fear Monster first and then climb the mountain.

Maybe people approached the mountain but turned back when they met the fear monster.  Some people managed to get past the fear monster but were then too tired to climb over the mountain.

One day a little girl needed to climb over the mountain because her grandmother on the other side was sick and she wanted to visit her.

As she approached the mountain an old woman called to her, "The monster cannot stand AIR."

It seemed like a strange thing to say so the little girl didn't pay much attention.  She was in a rush.

As she approached the base of the mountain, the monster jumped out at her.  He was VERY scary and she almost turned back but then she remembered how important it was to climb the mountain to visit her grandmother and she pressed on.

"YOU CANNOT PASS." the fear monster said.

"I can. And I will." she told him.

"You can't. And you won't" he answered back.  "The mountain is too big for such a little girl."

"I could stand here all day and argue with you." she told him.  "But then it would be late and I would STILL have to climb the mountain - and so I won't argue." she said.  "Step aside."

"NO!" he roared and did his best to frighten her.

And she WAS frightened, and she almost turned back.  But then she remembered that if she turned back today, she would not get to see her grandmother OR she would have to try again - and facing the monster twice seemed TWICE as scary as facing him once and so she said again, "STEP ASIDE!"

"NO!!" he roared again and did his best to frighten her.

And she was more scared than before but she remembered what the old woman had told her about AIR and so she took a DEEP breath and she SUCKED IN the fear monster and she held her breath - and she could hear him THRASHING about inside her.  In fact, it sounded a little like the beating of her own heart POUNDING.

And then it slowed and she slowly breathed out and the fear monster was expelled with her breath.  Smaller now but still ferocious. "You May Not Pass" he shouted again - but it was very loud.

And so she took another DEEP BREATH and sucked him back in - and held her breath - and felt the thrashing again.  But this time when she breathed out - he was small and tiny and instead of fighting with her he slinked away and hid.

And she looked up at the mountain and it was HUGE.  It sort of looked TOO HUGE.

But then she said to herself, "It actually looks like it is 2000 steps."  And she started walking - and counting.  And before she got to 2000 she was over the mountain and visiting her grandmother who was feeling much better.

THE END.

I'm SURE that you can figure it out but I had to explain to my children that the moral of the story is:

1) Fear is loud and frightening.

2) Arguing with Fear is a waste of time.

3) Deep breaths can conquer fear.

4) The biggest naysayers are, themselves, scaredycats

5)  The biggest obstacles can be conquered with lots of small steps.

Believe it or not this story calmed my daughter down enough from FREAKING OUT about her loose tooth POSSIBLY hurting when it came out - to actually give it a quick (painless) tug - that left it on her bureau and quieted her enough to NAP (because her FREAKOUT was actually a result of being overtired.)

It ALSO helped my son get through a minor academic meltdown related to learning his math tables AND some difficult spelling words for a test today.

And me?  Well, this story helped me quit my job last year and basically helps me get through every day when I have something scary to do.

What are you afraid of?

Deep breaths!

 

Comments

[Mrs. MidAtlantic]

I am so glad you shared this story - it's awesome! I hope I remember it the next time I am terrified of something stupid.

[Alexandra the Tsaritsa]

This is a nice allegory. I think the idea of fear is usually bigger than what we're actually facing.

[Susan Lambert]

This is wonderful!!

[Kez]

I really love this story. I will try to remember it when I go into labour for the first time (any day now...)!
:)

[Moomser]

What an awesome story, I'm going to have to steal it to tell my children when the need arises. Thanks!

[John]

This reminds me of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer "Fear Monster" episode they had for Halloween.

Still, it's a good lesson.... one must always watch out for deep breaths

[Ridingtohellinahandbasket.wordpress.com]

What an awesome story. Gotta remember about that fear monster.

[Heather B]

I had never heard this before! Can't wait to share it with my boys.