Friday, February 06, 2009

Your Turn

When I was watching Groundhog Day this week and watched Bill Murray try to kill himself in a variety of different ways, I was reminded of some scary moments of my own. There was the time I stumbled into a macrobiotic restaurant. When I realized what it was, my eyes glazed, my heart started beating faster and I kept hearing Gwyneth's voice in my head saying, "I hate chocolate." I never thought I would find the front door in time to escape.

Now, what I want from you today is the scariest thing you have ever done or the scariest thing you want to do. I will take either. If you have done something scary though, I want details. I don't want to just read, "I went sky diving." I want to know if you had to be pushed out of the plane or if you jumped on your own. Tell me scary.

89 comments:

merrick said...

Here is my story and I am sticking to it...
during one of my key west vacas with the girls, I wanted to go parasailing, because being an east coast city girl, had never been given the chance to try it. So while standing at the dock waiting for our turn to board the ship, I catch eyes with the hunkiest man I had ever seen. Yadda yadda yadda, he winds up on the parasail with me. So as we are flying high above the gulf of mexico, my stomach churning, we start talking about where we were from and so on .. he tells me he is there for his roommates wedding .. cool I think .. so my next question is what college did you go to .. wrong question .. seems my fella was a parole from San Quentin prison, who was down in the keys against his parole and should he get caugh, well .. anyway it dawned on me then why why he was so ripped and so horney .. not really scary like Friday the 13th, but scary for someone who had never met a real live criminal before .. it was also very sexy ..

PeepStone said...

split this in two

voluntary scary - when i was a camp counselor, i used to fling myself backwards off the camp's zipline. it was amazing.

involuntary scary - went to get a breast lump biopsied and it was actually a lumpectomy. i didn't know i was having outpatient surgery until i was being strapped to the table. the doc got an earful about that later. oh, it was the size of a peach pit but benign. :)

Goodgrief said...

First off let me say I am adventurous. I mountain bike and backpack during the summer. I have been badly injured from being thrown off my mountain bike while tearing down the mountain. Lucky for me I am in good shape and I recovered with no lingering problems other than a few scars. However, rapelling down the face of a mountain was the scariest thing I have ever done. I was petrified. You kind of have to jump back a little and when you are looking 300 feet down, it is scarry. It took me several minutes of my instructor encouraging before I could get out over that rock to rapell down it. Once I got the hang of it, it was kind of fun.

Lolita Breckenridge said...

Merrick - finish the story! What happened after parasailing? Hmm????

Lolita Breckenridge said...

When I was younger, I rode horses, and jumped them. You know that saying, when you fall off a horse, you have to get right back on? Well, during a horse show, when I was around 12, I went for a jump, and the horse stopped, and I didn't. I crashed into the jump and scattered all the poles and stuff. The officials were yelling at me not to move, to stay on the ground until they got there. But this was in public, and my pride forced me to get back on the damn horse. And do the damn jump again. Thank god that horse jumped that fence.

Genesis said...

I was 8 I think, me, my mom, my brother, his friend and her annoying fat brother were on our way to the movies, it was night and my mom doesnt have the best vision in the world. We had to go on the freeway to get there and this highway went around hills so there were drop-offs up the arse everywhere, so we were all talking about the movie we were going to see and my mom almost drove straight off a curve in the road down a fucking hill! I nearly shit myself silly and cried. Then end.

Molly said...

first, i got on the expressway too fast during a rainstorm, the car hydroplaned, i turned completely around so i was facing oncoming traffic. this was during rush hour on a friday. luckily, there was a gap that was just large enough for me to maneuver my way to the emergency lane but my heart didn't stop pounding for a week.

second, someone i know who has access to military things for special covert missions brought me up in a helicopter and the pilot took us to downtown chgo where we were hovering low enough to be looking into highrise apts. scared the shit out of me. it was just too freaky.

and when i was single i had some nut push his way into my apartment building and tell me he was going to kill me but i changed his mind once i kicked him in the groin. scary nonetheless.

Sinjin said...

You know, I've read that comment regarding Gwyneth before...however, I saw her in that docu when she was traveling through Spain; I saw her eating churros, and she said that when she was a student there, she wanted churros every day for breakfast. Churros come WITH a cup of THICK CHOCOLATE! I call BS on her.

captivagrl said...

just moved into an apartment and i ran water for a bath. i got distracted with a phone call and the bathtub overflowed. i ran toward the bathroom when i saw water puddling outside the door and, ZAP! i was thrown backwards on my butt. i later saw that the lit floor lamp had a cord with exposed wires in the puddle of water. scared the shit out of me. and still does.

Molly said...

lisa, i've had churro's and none of them came with chocolate, so it's possible she just had the plain old cinnamon-sugar variety.

West End Girl said...

The scariest thing to me, that I want to do, is be a mother. Sappy answer but it's true. I'd rather jump off aeroplanes for charity continuously than mess that one up and I'm not much a fan of heights.

Scariest thing I've already done is stand up to my abusive stepfather and my mother. But I'll leave that there as this isn't my therapist's office ;)

Cooper's Mom said...

umm, ok a few things pop into my head:

1) I'm actually blind in my left eye (from being 4months premature) and i have a degenerative condition in my right which means i'm going blind in that eye too. A few years ago for 3months i was totally blind as i had to wait for surgery to my right eye due to recurring cataracts (even though i couldn't see AT ALL, my specialist needed it to be worse than it was) so that was pretty fucking scary, having to depend on people for help, having to sleep downstairs so i wouldn't fall down them, and just generally feeling majorly sorry for myslef and scared shitless. Needless to say when my operation had been performed and the bandage was off and i could see again I promptly fainted from shock and relief.

2)Moving continents at the age of 21 to be with someone who i had only known for 6months was pretty frightening... the unknown and the knowledge that everyone i knew and loved were 11,000 miles away. 5yrs later we're married with 2boys and still in Oz so it worked out. But those early weeks were a nightmare time for me.

last one: i know this is cliche but giving birth scared the hell out of me. So much so that i begged my OB for a c-section as i just couldn't go through with it, i was paralyzed with fear at the thought. My ob flat out refused to give me one (as she should) but i sailed through it with the help of an epidural. Now that made me complacent so the second time round when i was told at the hospital i was too late for an epidural i started to panic. i was screaming like a banshee on speed and was in absolute agony. For six hours, i was petrified and in so much pain. Didn't help that everytime i screamed my way through a contraction my hubby laughed as he said i was doing my 'come face'... lol... NOT what you want to here when you're in labour! Sorry for oversharing a bit but it was pretty amusing (afterward!)

Unknown said...

I was pretty scared after some drunk guy punched me in the face in Georgetown, D.C.

He and his friend were trying to take pictures up my friend's skirt on Halloween (she was Peter Pan and her Fiance was Tinkerbell- hilarious)He got mad and started fighting with one of the dudes and when I went over to the other 2nd due he just punched me in the face!! I couldn't believe it- I'm a 5/4", 130-lb. girl...So I punched him back in the face so hard he flew into the street and almost go hit by a cab. Yay for justice!

Unknown said...

How about the time that I was camping with a bunch of friends and I go to pee in the woods. My friend was holding the flashlight and we stepped across a little creek, taking care to step on the rocks so our feet didn't get wet. After we finish our bidness and go to cross the creek again, one of the rocks didn't want to get stepped on again and instead stuck its head up and hissed and lunged. No snakebite ensued, but it was scary nonetheless!

twunty mcslore said...

My former sister-in-law asked me to come upstairs with her to the bedroom she shared with my brother on New Year's Eve. I said, "What's up?" and she talked me into helping her into a red corset that she was going to bang my brother in later. I'm lacing her up and I look down and she's not wearing panties. I ran out of there and couldn't look at her the rest of the night. GROSS. And freaked me out for months.

Molly said...

these are great!

enty, you should jump in and answers these with us.

Molly said...

lmao @ coopers' mom!!!

Goodgrief said...

@twunty that is hilarious. Your brother must not have been too impressed eithr if she is your former SIL.

lutefisk said...

The summer I was 21 I went on a college age tour of Israel for 8 weeks.
At the very beginning of the trip I met a soldier who followed me around the country--the language barrier was a big problem, but he had a 2 week leave the same time my trip was ending, & asked me to stay with him, his parents, & twin brother.
My parents gave me permission to extend my trip, & he gave me directions to his army base out of Jerusalem, where he was going to meet my bus. I didn't know the bus stop was in the middle of the desert, & it only stopped there once/day.
His unit was called away when he was supposed to meet me, & I found myself standing in the sun, in the middle of the desert, by myself.
Along came a car with 2 Arab men, who came over to me & tried pulling me into their car, where they were going to take me somewhere "cold", with "Coca-Cola".
This went on for about 45 minutes, of which I thought was the end of me.
Finally I was able to convince them that a group of soldiers would be there for me any minute, & would be searching for me.
Eventually, the soldier I was meeting was able to contact soldiers at the base, who did come get me.

Kara said...

The scariest thing I've ever done is probably not very scary to a lot of people, but it was to me.

I traveled around the world. On my own. The one place that made me the most nervous is when I moved to Bulgaria. I lived on the border of Macedonia. It was the mid-90's. IFOR forces were all over that area. I didn't speak the language, I didn't know anybody, and I was woefully ignorant of anything having to do with Bulgaria. It wasn't technically a communist country anymore, but it sure felt like.

So probably not scary for a lot of people, but it was for me. But then again, I'm weird. I deal with felons for a living and am often locked in a room with the guys at the prison so they don't scare me but clowns do. Go figure.

twunty mcslore said...

Amster, I think that she was fucking with me, not literally or anything, but who does that? Even if I was gay it would have been waaaay over the line.
Her kids can't stand her now either. Some people are born freaks.

Elizabeth T. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

D'oh, my answer got eaten by blogger. Here goes again.

Only been scared for my life twice.
1) Hiking in New Zealand, on an unused trail -- last logbook I'd seen showed about 2 weeks between people logging in each time. I found out why. The trail was essentially a mountain stream, fighting current, waist deep for me (I'm 6'2"). So I'm about halfway to where I need to go (3 hours into a 6 hour day) and the sky gets dark, and suddenly it just starts pouring. While I'd been in NZ for over 6 months by then, I don't recall ever seeing lightning there until that storm. I was convinced that I would get hit by lightning, standing in a river, and my body would float away not to be found for weeks.

2) Hiking outside of Winnipeg, Canada, again it had been several days since I'd seen any life other than bugs, birds, and squirrels. I crested a hill and found myself amongst 3 dogs... oh wait, no... they're awfully big hairy dogs... oh fk they're wolves. I grabbed some rocks and made a lot of noise and they ran off, but some ran off behind me and one ran towards the direction I needed to head. Not a pleasant thought of having wolves in all directions.

I survived these, and still love to hike when I can.

Ror said...

I lived alone, and was eating dinner. All of a sudden a huge piece of chicken I was eating got lodged sideways in my throat. I tried to take a drink, but it wouldn't go anywhere. I dialed 911, but I couldn't speak, and it was a cell, so they couldn't trace it. It was summer, and a man and his son were working on restoring the house across the street, and they were outside. By this time I had begin to turn gray. I ran out of my house with my arms waving and the son ran towards me and met me in the middle of the street. The dad dialed 911 and the son (a big football player), began the Heimlich on me. I started to lose consciousness and remember thinking "So this is how I'm going to die".

After what seemed like an eternity and several failed attempts, the chunk came flying out and I immediately vomited and dropped to the pavement. The paramedics showed up and they were all laughing and smiles, because throwing up is a good sign apparently. They checked me out and told me I was a very lucky man.

I moved shortly after that, and don't have much money, but I sent that boy a $100 gift card to Best Buy with my eternal gratitude. That moment change both of our lives forever.

Every day since has been gravy.

Dianne P said...

I was 23 and was living for the summer in Providence RI, having recently moved from San Diego. I was living in a nearly empty dormitory of a prep school--my boyfriend who taught there was gone for the summer and I stayed there rent-free while I looked for work and an apartment. It was a huge old building from the late 1800s and there were only 3 other people living there, all spread out in different wings and floors. My boyfriend's room was large and high-ceilinged and I was petrified almost every night when I went to sleep by myself.

Late one night I got into bed after a long day. As soon as I turned out the light I heard a rustling noise. I told myself not to be stupid and keep my eyes shut and go to sleep. But the noise got louder and closer. I turned on the light, and OMG, it was a fucking BAT a few inches from my face!! (I guess this is not uncommon in New England but it was not something I was used to!)

It was just like a B movie. I screamed but no sound came out, and there was no one to hear me anyway. I jumped out of bed but my legs collapsed under me. I crawled and then ran out the door (it was a very large almost barn-like room).

I ran through the ark and deserted halls of this Gothic building looking for someone to help me. (If I had been wearing a long white nightgown and carrying a lantern, I would have looked just like the cover of one of those Gothic novels.)

A teacher and his wife who were staying there let me sleep in their apartment. Right before I closed my eyes I thought about, What if this was really a vampire, not just a bat? In the movies Count Dracula could dissolve into a mist and sort of waft under a door...So for a few minutes I waited to see whether anything materialized under the door.

amazonblue said...

I'm tall, 5'11", and in high school a teacher wanted to hang a decoration from the ceiling in the classroom. She asked me to stand on a rather tall stool to reach the ceiling and hang it for her. I'm absolutely terrified of heights and I told her this repeatedly, but she coerced me into doing it. (I have trouble challenging authority figures).
I did it with the help of a couple of classmates holding onto my calves, but I was trembling the whole time. When I got down I was on the verge of tears. When she saw how upset I was, she apologized.

captivagrl said...

scary world travel stories is a good topic. i could share my story about the time drunk Lebanese soldiers(18 year olds)took over the public bus I was traveling on with my 2 yr. old. yes, they were armed. this happened in Greece.

Ms. said...

This relates to last week's My Turn. I did (once) confront a big hairy moth in my kitchen - with a vacuum.

irishstayc2 said...

Wow there's been too many unfortunately - at 28 i was diagnosed very very early (thank god and Gilda radner/gene wilder) with ovarian cancer. Had surgery to take everything out and didn't know when i woke up if all would be ok. I am now 45 and cancer free for 17 years .

Had laser surgery on my sinus and woke up on the table fully before i was supposed to... intubated and unable to move. Kept trying to open my eyes- couldn't do it - couldn' move anything - heard the docs talking and finally used the weight of that thing they put on your fingernail to measure oxygen level and swung my hand into one of the docs. they put me back out pretty damn quick and when i woke up in recovery i had no eyelashes - my eyes were taped shut and i pulled them out trying to open them up on the table. Scariest mf'ing thing ever!

IndigoBlue said...

First: I rode one of those rides at an amusement park that is round and everyone sits in a circle around a really high pole and it takes you up, rotates, waits a minute and you freefall....okay, doesn't sound scary, but here's the deal. I used to LOVE all things amusement park. Would ride till the cows come home. It had been quite some time since I'd been. Yeah, seems I've developed a fear of unsecured heights. I didn't realize it until I was at the top of that thing. I about came unglued. I developed a much closer relationship to God waiting for that thing to drop. It wasn't the going up or going down part, it was the sitting at the top, dangling feet and all. Scared the crap out of me.

Second - Almost got sideswiped on the bridge crossing the Mississippi river and overcorrected trying to get out of the way, turned several complete 360's before coming to a rest sideways with all the traffic behind me headed for me. Luckily everyone behind was mindful of traffic and no one hit me. A kind man followed me off the interstate and checked my car out and stayed with me until I was calm enough to get back behind the wheel.

Third: Almost drowned -- for real -- when I was about 4. Left unattended at a hotel pool, walked into the adult pool and there was a steep dropoff. Water up over my head instantly. Couldn't get back up the drop off. Knew I was going to involuntarily take a deep breath, and I did. Felt like fire. That's the last thing I remember. Had the whole out of body experience. My brother saw my body floating at the bottom of the pool and pulled me out and some German ladies (we were in FL on vacay) gave me CPR and mouth to mouth. They were able to revive me. Spent 3 days in the hospital. That last second before I knew I couldn't hold my breath anymore was truly the scariest thing ever.

kelly said...

Ok, believe it not I have 3...the first 2 happened where we camped when I was very young. One time (not at band camp) horses from the farm next door got loose when something spooked them and they started stampeding and I was directly in their path. Luckily my mom saw them and screamed at me to get into the outhouse. I took one look behind me and don't think my feet hit the gound. I stayed in there until Mom came and got me. Another time (different campground) I went out late one night to go to the outhose and when I was on my way back to the trailer a wild dog chased me. I jumped up on to the hood of a car and someone (I can't remember who) heard me screaming and came out with a baseball bat and scared the dog away.

The final (and maybe the scariest)happened nowhere near an outhouse. I had just found out I was pregnant and was thrilled. I was taking night school at the time and the campus was up on a winding hill that wound around the 12 mile creek. It was winter and slippery and I lost control of the car and was headed straight for the water and literally at the last possible moment my car went sideways and I was able to stop it. I sat there for what seemed like forever (cell phones were very rare in those days) and I remember rubbing my stomach and saying "sorry baby, it's okay now"

TV said...

scuba diving and swimming around the coral reef and luckily i had slowed to look at something because a 10 foot lemon shark swam less than a foot in front of my through the reef.

selenakyle said...

This past July 4th we narrowly missed being demolished in a bad boating accident. It was the only time I ever said to myself "this can't be happening!" as it happened in slo-mo.

Thank God the drunk asshole driving the other boat saw our anchor light at the very last minute and swerved and got tangled in our bow line. All we could see right before he pulled back on the throttle was the hull of his boat coming up over us because he was trying to get up on plane.

juicy said...

I was raped and beat up pretty badly at gunpoint by an intruder in my home when I was 20.
I had to have reconstructive surgery on my face.
Asshole hasn't been caught.
I thought I was going to die that night.

Majik said...

Scariest moment of my life:

No food, no job, no money, no support, eviction notice on the door, razor blade in hand.

B626 said...

I found out who my bio mom
was from a P.I. and called her on the phone,
Memorial Day weekend 2003
and she hung up on me and I called again and she hung up on me again and I made sure she knew who was calling her and she did and she hung up on me and I stopped calling her. THE END.

lutefisk said...

juicy, I am so sorry.

juicy said...

Eh, its ok. I feel like it made me stronger (cliche much?)
B626's story makes me sad.

Kara said...

Geez juicy, majic, and D626 - those stories are sad! I hope you all are having happy and healthy lives now.

gillian said...

I was hiking in another country. Not in a remote area but it was getting late and I decided leave the path and bushwack across to a nearby road. The only thing in my way was a narrow ravine, about 15' across and 30' deep with a stream at the bottom. Normally there would be a way down and a trail up the other side, or if it was narrow enough, a tree trunk for a bridge but I wasn't on the path anymore.

I got down to the stream okay but the climb out was almost vertical. Nothing to do but kick toe-holds into the dirt and haul myself up holding onto plants and bushes. Two-thirds of the way up, a foothold gave way--did I mention this was the rainy season? and I started to slide backwards. The plant I grabbed came out of the water-logged embankment, root and all. Dirt rained down on my head. You know those Garfield cats suction-cupped to the rear window of a car? That's what I looked like, spread-eagled, face pressed into the dirt and willing myself not to slide down any further. At that height, a fall wouldn't have been fatal but there wouldn't be anyone around to help if I'd been hurt until the next morning, if then.

Eventually, inch by inch, I did haul myself out and I could see the road in the distance (lights, a vehicle or two--it was dusk by this time) but first I had to clean up; I was plastered in dirt and mud with twigs in my hair. I walked until I came to an irrigation ditch and then I lay down in that. Felt a bit tingly with my scratched arms and legs, probably the chemical fertilizer run-off, and washed as best I could. Climbed out and followed a path to the road. I met a kid, a teenager who'd just had *his* evening bath, wet hair combed, clean white t-shirt. Me, sticky and sodden. I asked him if he could give me a lift back to my village on his motorbike. He agreed without blinking an eye. They're used to crazy foreigners there.

Cooper's Mom said...

wow, some of these are really, really sad and petrifyingly scary. Thanks for sharing with us guys, really appreciate it.

Ms. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
juicy said...

Oh, I live a happy, healthy life now, albeit with a glock in my nightstand! ;)

Molly said...

yea, i agree with cooper's mom. major props to everyone who really suffered scary incidents and lived to tell the tale. thnx for your candor.

juicy said...

Another scary thing is happening to me now. I keep hearing noises in my house. Not creaks or moans or other "ghostey" noises, but actual knocking on my bedroom door, doors opening, doorbell ringing.... I don't know which is scarier, the possibilty of someone in my home (very unlikely) or that it might very well be all in my head.
I wonder if I'm losing touch with reality!

KellyLynn said...

The scariest thing I've ever done happened on the day after my 17th birthday. I was driving home from the library (of all places) and was rounding a curve along a pretty high embankment. I took the curve too sharp and went into the gravel on one side of the road, then overcorrected and swerved off the other side.
My car barreled down the embankment, the flipped over onto its top when hitting the bottom, throwing me out. I landed a few inches from some trees.
As soon as I was conscious, I heard a hissing sound that somehow made me think I needed to get away from the vehicle. Even though I had a bone broken in my heel, soft tissue damage in my feet, and numerous other glass cuts and bruises, the adrenaline in me pushed me up to the top of the hill.
I looked back in tine to hear the gas tank explode and the car burst into flames. Luckily, someone who lived nearby called emergency services, and a bunch of people stopped to make sure everything was okay.
I spent the rest of that summer rehabilitating from my injuries. On the up side, I could have been hurt much, much worse.

Ms. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Scary is when I told my mom about how both of my brothers had molested me, and she believed me, but did nothing about it. No after-school special ending for me. She never told my dad. One of my brothers still lives at home with his wife, who I can't tell or else I'll ruin his marriage, and the other is also married with four kids, so no telling there either. I spend my days either riding short waves of hyperactivity where I try to blot things out with meaningless hobbies, or hating that I can't kill myself because I don't have any insurance to cover the funeral costs.

juicy said...

Saraeva- I'm so sorry. Do you still have contact with them? Is there the possibility that your brother that has children of his own now could be doing the same thing to them?

Unknown said...

Juicy -- I was just getting ready to post my story about being broken in on while I was sleeping, then barricading myself in my room until the police arrived and found the guy in my roommate's closet with a knife. Then I read your story and I realize how lucky I was that night. I am so, so sorry to hear what happened to you and I'm even more thankful to read that you are in a good place with it now. Thanks for posting -- your story has given me new perspective on my own frightening night! (And I, too, have a gun in my nightstand! :-)

Majik said...

Aw, Kara....everything happens for a reason, right? Even the truly awful stuff, though I wish it were different.

You can't know how far up you've come unless you know how far down you've been, yeah? Just look at all the beautiful people here and what they've overcome!!

We all rock. :o)

Cooper's Mom said...

Sarava, it's tough, huh? Really fucking tough. It's heartbreaking when you find out that your mom knew for all those years when both you and your sister were being molested by their daddy, and later on by his friend who had a penchant for everything anal.... forgive me if i don't cry her a river because she couldn't deal with what other people would think?

Unknown said...

Sarava, do you have friends/other family members/trusted peers you can confide in that may be able to help you deal with this situation?

juicy said...

Cooper - WTF! People never cease to amaze me. I hope you are in a much better place now and I wish the best for you and your sister.
Reading all of these confessions is starting to really frustrate me.

Cooper's Mom said...

Juicy, its dumbfounding isn't it? Totally. It really, really fucked me up when i was younger but thanks to a truly wonderful husband and i'm really much better now. Funny thing is i started getting flashbacks when my eldest was about 6months old which freaked me out heaps, but i have now found some peace. My sister on the other hand is not so fortunate. Thing is we still speak to our mom all the time. I think at the end of the day she's still my mom and the only one i've got so....... i don't speak with my dad but my sister does. Go figure..

Maja With a J said...

Reading all of your stories makes me realize what a sheltered life I have had. I was going to post that nothing really scary ever happened to me but reading about these home invasions reminded me of when I was 16 or 17, and I was living with a roommate. She was the daughter of my mom's best friend and we had known each other since we were kids.
Anyway, she had this boyfriend, a bodybuilder from England who was on steroids and had quite the temper. She eventually broke up with him and he became obsessed with her. He would call all the time, leave messages on the answering machine, sometimes pleading, sometimes being "sweet", and one time, threatening to kill us both.

She started dating a new guy and the steroid freak found out. She went on holidays with her new bf and I was home alone late one night, when the doorbell rang. I can't remember if I asked who it was or if I just opened the door, but when I opened there were two guys outside, one who had his hoodie up and tightened around his face so you couldn't see it, but I knew damn well who it was because of his build. He had what looked like a baseball bat up is coat sleeve. I was - of course - scared shitless and pretty much just let them in, and he went through the apartment, tore a couple of things off shelves and then they left when they realized I was the only one there. And that was pretty much it - I was not hurt, just scared. I called a friend and took a cab to her house. I still don't like being home alone at night and slept with my clothes on for quite some time. I can't imagine how I would have reacted had he really attacked me.

The steroid freak was arrested a while later, for selling steroids I think. He was jailed and subsequently deported. The girl I was living with never really talked about it even though I told her what had happened. He was not her first, or last, bodybuilder boyfriend though....

Ugh...I prefer the funny Your Turns. But again, it's pretty cool that we have this kind of community here...

Unknown said...

I agree about the sense of community here Harriet. I don't post often (and for some reason blogger alternates my name between Susan and Rosie on different posts!) but I always come here to read everyone else's comments. I feel like I know most everyone who posts -- and there are a lot of cool peeps here!

Unknown said...

You know the Uma Thurman overdose scene in Pulp Fiction? Yeah, not so fun when you're witnessing it happen to someone you know and love.

I have a twin sister. Out of six kids, she and I are the only girls, and we have always been incredibly close. Our senior year of high school, however, she got sucked into doing some pretty hardcore shit, namely meth. She went from being my best friend to being a totally psychotic, unpredictably maniacal bitch... she even showed up at our senior prom wacked out of her mind on fucking meth. I don't know how our parents didn't know; she took great pains to generally hide it, but looking back all of the telltale signs were there and screaming to be seen.

Anyway, we graduate, and I move an hour away for college, and she stays behind "to work for a while" and moves in with a real piece of shit guy who makes things go from bad to worse in 2 seconds. She convinced me to come stay with them for a weekend, to see their new apartment and just kick back... I wasn't aware of it at the time, but she had (with his help) progressed from smoking meth to snorting it to shooting up.

When I got to their place, everything seemed normal and fine like any other mundane Friday night. I didn't witness either of them tweeked out, and other than a few bong rips that Michael Phelps would be proud of, it was an uneventful evening... until 4am, when I was awakened by her bf's screaming because she was OD'ing... running into the bathroom and finding your twin laying on the floor, turning colors, with a needle still stuck in her arm... doesn't get much scarier than that.

Wow, I didn't mean to write that much, lol. I guess shit like that just kinda stays with a person in all it's vivid and horrific detail.

Molly said...

you guys rock and you're all warriors. i'm really admire the strength you have. wishes for nothing but great things to all of you.

mooshki said...

I'm sorry for all the scary things that have happened to so many of you, and happy that you felt safe talking about them here. The last couple of days I've been ready to give up on the CDAN comments altogether, but now I know the spirit I thought was broken is still there. So many of you are so special!

The scariest moment of my life was just two weeks ago. My dog was getting out of my car, and for some reason she ran out into the street. I was screaming at her to stop. She made it to the middle as one car drove past with just inches to spare, then was hit by an SUV going the other way. I screamed and my heart stopped. By the grace of some guardian angel, she was turning around as the car hit her, so she just got side-swiped and knocked down. Her only injury was scraping the skin off her chin. I could barely sleep for days because I couldn't get the picture out of my head.

I know some of you will say "it's just a dog," but some of you will understand that she's like my child. And since I suffer from serious depression, I can honestly say that if it weren't for her, I would probably be dead right now. I never took her for granted, but now I'm even more aware of how precious she is to me.

A lot of the people I've met and gotten close to on CDaN are precious to me as well. Here's to you guys! (And sorry for the long post, I'm feeling maudlin. :) )

Unknown said...

Mooshki, I'm glad to hear your dog is okay! I know how hard it can be lose a pet- they are 100% members of the family, I don't give a shit what anyone says to the contrary!

Molly said...

wow, mooshki, you need a hug! pets are family. sorry about your baby and really glad she wasn't injured more.

if u need to talk, i'm sure any one of us would be more than happy to listen.

selenakyle said...

You are all in my prayers tonight and every night...(sounds like a Stones lyric!) but I mean it.

Juicy--ghosts are real, but they can also be PTSD-generated. Even post-post traumatic.

Y'all keep those Glocks handy, but make sure you either know how and WHEN to use them, or ditch them.

On my 19th birthday I came very close to death but never saw "the light." But what follows me every now and then since is an "anti-light"--a shadow that I figure is a ghost of some kind.

I have to turn and face it when starts to bother me. It'll appear in my peripheral, just over one of my shoulders.

Rubie said...
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Rubie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rubie said...

My oldest daughter was about 7 when I drove up to her school and she wasn't in the group of kids standing,waiting for pick up. The teacher on duty told me she'd seen my daughter come out but couldn't remember seeing her after that.

I'd picked her up every single day since kindergarten. She knew I was on my way and to wait out front.
I went to the office. Yes, they'd seen her in the front of school waiting to be picked up but had not seen her since. And no, they couldn't remember seeing her picked up.
Well I don't care what those moms in the movies do, running and screaming like crazy people - I was helpless. And yes, my entire friggin life flashed before my eyes. Every single horrible thought in the world was being played by my brain like a slide show. Luckily, we only lived a block from the school because I began running down the street towards my home. Don't ask me why I didn't get in the car but running seemed to make more sense.

I bolted through the front door to discover my daughter, on the floor of the den, playing with the dog. Her dad had picked her up from school and didn't tell me. One lousy time in 13 years of school, he picks her up and doesn't bother to tell me.

There's no way to describe the combination of actual physical pain, and mental horror,of those few minutes. This was 22 years ago and thinking about it is as horrible now as it was then.

(big surprise, I divorced him. he was a moron)

Chris said...

When I was 14, I was babysitting for my neighbors. They had moved from NY, and always said they had a ghost that used to play the piano in their old house. I didn't take much stock in it, but I hated being alone at that age, especially in a strange house, and late at night.

The weird thing was, at the stroke of midnight, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. The kids were upstairs sleeping. I freaked out. I ran to the living room, and burrowed into the couch and put a pillow over my head (like that would make me invisible LOL)

The steps stopped and all was quiet...I figured I HAD to go upstairs to check the kids (just in case it was somebody that had gotten in) but I was shaking like a leaf, and scared you-know-what.

Kids were asleep, thank god, and their parents came home about 30 minutes later.

mooshki said...

On the other side of the scaries, scariest thing I want to do - spelunking. I am claustrophobic, but I have always wanted to go caving. I watch "Descent" over and over again even though it nauseates me.

redhotpepper said...

Having my mom tell me when I was about 15 that her boyfriend of several years had been abusing her. I still feel guilty for not figuring it out on my own. My brother and I had to get up in the middle of the night quite frequently to referee fights. It came to a point when I was 16 that I told her either he left or I left before she finally saw the light.

I was driving home late one night when I was in college along a stretch of road where a lot of people have died including several close friends. I was nearly home but I swear I saw people crossing the road in a covered wagon. To this day, I wonder if the people that have died on this road saw the same thing and swerved to miss them.

califblondy said...

Scariest thing? Marriages. All of them.

Seriously, I've enjoyed reading everyone's posts even though some were heartbreaking. I'm fortunate to have had a very happy and lucky life and I'm thankful for that.

Unknown said...

It was within my first two weeks in London, UK. I bought a one way airplane ticket out of an oversheltered prairie small town life.

At a dark 8:30pm in June, I stepped off an old train carriage on the above ground London Tube. It was Plumstead SE 18 a remote stop along the Greenwich line, which follows roughly the Thames River, in south east London. Manual carriage doors - you had to twist the metal handle and push out the hinged, narrow metal door.

A guy followed me and I couldn’t get back on the train. Just the two of us.

It was the far platform, away from the station building. A pedestrian bridge over the rails connected the far platform to the main station building. The station was closed for the night and, seriously, no one was there.

The guy had got ahead of me. He was between me and the pedestrian overpass. As the train left the station he was walking towards me. I felt numb, frozen. But kept trying to think think think what to do.

I remembered him from the train carriage. He wanted to open a window. Nobody cared. I said something. Gave myself away as a foreigner. He had a yellow zone 1 to 6 ticket in his hand (this was before all the electronic cards) so I knew he wasn’t a local. I had a green and white pass for that zone.

He walked towards me - short curly dark hair, olive skin, beige fitted jacket and jeans. I was wearing a beige trench/raincoat, a fairly fitted skirt and low heels.

The last train carriage was gone. The guy was getting closer to me.

Then my flatmate John called out my name from the station building on the other side of the tracks.

The potential attacker ran off. Really hard. Over the pedestrian overpass. Through the station building. Into the empty streets. flap flap flap flap flap

I could hear his feet pounding for ages.

On the platform, my flatmate John talked to me about the power outage in our rented accommodation. I never told him what just happened.

John was one of several flatmates - we all met at the luggage carousel at Heathrow - he was a stranger to me only two weeks earlier. The reality is that very few strangers are harmful to you.

Unknown said...

This story takes place in the same neighbourhood, Plumstead SE 18. South East London, along the Greenwich Tube line.

Oversheltered green young thing, I was calling a relative back home from a payphone. Cell phones not common then. To reach this Aunt during her evening hours meant about 1 or 2 am my time in London.

So I was at this payphone in a quiet, deserted neighborhood, speaking to her on the phone. When this big tall guy approaches me with a slip of paper. Do you know where this address is?

Uh... I pause from my phone call.

It was my address. He was looking for my home at 1 or 2 am.

Wrinkled my face, as if confused. Because London UK is a maze. Did I point him in the wrong direction, or did he go the wrong way by himself. Can’t remember. But he did go the wrong way.

As soon as he walked far enough away, I told my Aunt that I had to go, sorry. It was a bit abrupt.

Then I ran home in my flip flops. Soon enough this guy showed up at the door, threatening us from out in the street about our rented accommodation.

Our “landlord” was probably his employer. Goal to get us out because we weren’t quite the lucrative foreigners they dreamed of?

Doesn’t look like they owned the property they were renting us, by the way. We moved not long after.

whole lotto luv said...

These stories are all more terrifying than my own.

Several years ago, I was just falling asleep when I heard a noise from my kitchen. I couldn't remember checking the back door before going to bed. I heard the footsteps on the floor -- the house is carpeted except for the kitchen and bathroom. I thought I needed to pretend I was asleep and they would steal what they wanted (my cheapazz tv or vcr) and just go away. Somehow, I eventually did fall asleep. The next morning, I found half a dozen refrigerator magnets on the kitchen floor.

Once, I was driving down the interstate, and some dipshit towing a boat was right alongside of me. Wouldn't pass, just right alongside. A semi a ways in front had a recap tire that peeled off. On my right was a concrete barrier wall, and on my left was guy with boat. I tried to brake, but dipshit was still right there, so I couldn't do anything but hit the peeled off tire. But guess what? You can't hit one of those in a lowly Escort. I swear 3 of my tires left the road. I flew over that thing. When I got off the interstate, and out of my car, my legs were not rubber; they felt as if I was trying to walk on toothpicks. They made no noise, but my knees kept bouncing off each other.

Marielachipie said...

When I was 12, my mother and I went to a restaurant in Moscow. During the dinner, a fight erupted between 2 men. One of them grabbed my knife and tried to stab the other other one, who stumbled on our table and let a bloody trace on the tablecloth. I was scared to death and even if it happened 15 years ago,I still think about it each time I go to the restaurant.

MnGddess said...

I am in awe of you brave people. Mooshki, I am so glad your dog is ok.

The first thing I remember is going to visit my cousin who was a park ranger. He took our family to a Maryland mansion (Civil War era) for a tour. It wasn't open to public at the time. Let me tell you that I am very empathetic and "sensitive" to things. Well, about 15 minutes into the tour I ask my cousin's wife if this place is haunted. She then regales me with all the freaky things that have been told and shown to her, including a photo of a chair "floating" in the air. I could not get out of that house fast enough. I waited on the lawn for everyone. LOL

The serious scary thing that happened to me is when I let my son walk home from school and he didn't walk home by the route I asked him to. He took one little shortcut and I panicked. It was definetely the most sickening feeling I have ever had. Couldn't shake it for a week.

But sadly, when I first read the question, my first thought was that I am scared to be myself. Not being myself and letting people influence me has pretty much ruined my life and led to a lot of self-abuse. The only really great thing I have are my children and fortunately I have been able to be a good mom. In the past few years I have begun an extremely difficult journey to find myself. At this stage of the journey I have a cousin I have serious issues with (guess we weren't THAT close) and my sister and I are not talking. Won't even mention the husband, or should I say, the guy that lives with me. But I'm OK with that, because I am standing my ground.

So good luck to all of you, and I need to do more scary things!!!

Oh - the scariest thing I want to do is - they show this on the Planet Earth preview - is a guy who jumps into a black hole in the earth. Turns out its a beautiful cave-thing. Love to do that...

Goodgrief said...

I have read everyones stories now and must say I too am in awe of some of you. A few of the stories brought a tear and some sent shudders. The resillience of you all after enduring such traumatic circumstances is very inspiring. I think some of the scariest things are what we have no control over. But you have proven that we can control how we deal with it afterward. As they say, it can make you or break you. And Mooshki I have been where you were with your dog. It is very scary while it is happening and you feel so helpless when your dog is not listening to you. They get away so quick and before you know it..... I'm glad yours had a happy ending, mine didn't.He was hit by a FedEx truck and the driver didn't even stop.I had,had him for 10 yrs.

juicy said...

Mooshki - I can totally understand how scared you must have felt when your dog was hit. My little guy has a ton of health problems and people always ask me why I just don't put him down...
Hello!? He's NOT just a dog, he is literally my best friend, a part of my family!
He has grand mal seizures every couple of weeks and let me tell you, when a 6 lb. dog is that helpless on a regular basis it just breaks your heart.

mooshki said...

Amster, I'm so sorry your story didn't end as luckily as mine.

Fear is such a strange and powerful thing. You have to try to find a balance between being afraid enough to be careful, but not so afraid that you can't live your life. I often wish I had a less active imagination so I wouldn't keep thinking of all the things that could go wrong.

lmnop123 said...

When Enty suggested this topic I knew two things, first I didn't have a scary moment to share with anyone, and second I didn't want to read the comments from anyone else.

The topic seemed too depressing.

Today I decided to give it a try.

Wow! So glad I did. You people are very brave and even more courageous for sharing your intimate stories.

I'm glad to share a blog with all of you.

I sincerely wish each and every one of you a safe, peaceful, loving weekend.

Good Nite.

mooshki said...

Juicy, the funny thing is that when they're hurt it bothers us a lot more than it bothers them. :) I wish your puppy well.

Geebz said...

While driving from the Oregon Coast to Portland with my son's father, we made a pit stop because my pregnant bladder was working overtime. We stopped in a little town named Dallas, OR. The mascot for the local high school is the dragon...as in Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. As he and I are people of color (Korean, Black) we stupidly walked into the McDonalds and he bought a drink while I went to the restroom with the strangest feeling that there's something that I should know about this town. Someone had said something to me about it but what was it? I had total recall while washing my hands and ran to meet him and told him where we were. Two "ethnic" people expecting a child in a famously racist town is a bad equation any way you look at it. We did survive though!

mooshki said...

"The mascot for the local high school is the dragon...as in Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan."

That deserves a good: What. The. Fuck.

Adam said...

The scariest thing that I can remember happening to me (key word, remember) anytime recently was when I was working at an unnamed automobile manufacturing company, on the assembly line. Have you ever seen a scene in a movie or commercial or safety video where they warn you of the perils of loose clothing around open machinery? Well I got my foot stuck under a trolley thingy (whatever you call the giant slab of metal that carries around the car's frame along the conveyor to each station) as it was passing by, a mere 6 feet from the edge of the platform I was on. The dropoff wasn't far, maybe 3 or 4 feet, but it lasted for probably about 20 feet and then there was a wall, which the car shell went past, and then if I remember right, down into the belly of the beast. So basically I'd fall off the platform, probably snap my ank;e, then possibly get torn in half when the car shell passed by the wall, and then who knows where my remains would end up.

Luckily as I was screaming "STOP THE LINE!" I managed to dislodge my foot. I then went into shock for a few minutes, including my leg shaking so bad I could barely stand straight. I was scared shitless in those brief moments where I realized "this could end VERY badly". And no one wants to become a statistic like that. I was still in college at the time.

The other scary thing I can remember was when I was about 10 or so. I was playing baseball with a friend, basically doing the throw the ball up in the air and hit it as it comes back down trick. Well, I was standing too close one time and not paying attention and instead of the ball getting hit, it was my forehead, which put me out of consciousness for a split second (as I fell down to my hands and knees), and then after a couple seconds I realized "hey, isn't that blood... dripping from my head?". I proceeded to run immediately into the house, where my mom/family were finishing up dinner, and yelled "I NEED HELP". The wound was on the left side of my head, everyone was on my right. My mom didn't realize what was wrong until she got closer to me. She then freaked out (as you'd expect a loving mother to do) and went into Dr. Mom mode. From there it was 'jam this towel on your head and hold it there as hard as you can' and we zipped off to the hospital. I had no idea if I would bleed to death or suffer brain damage or what (don't think I even had a concussion), I was pretty scared. Luckily, it actually stopped bleeding before I even got in to see a doctor, and after 4 stitches I was good to go.

The only other scary moment, which I knew wasn't life threatening, was when I cut my fingertip open at a restaurant job. I was more worried about that because it was my right (good) hand, and I play guitar so I was afraid of being able to still play or not.

bramblewitch said...

Well peeps, I wasn't going to add mine, but since everyone is being so candid, and i'm at the end where no one will probably see it:

My scariest moment (week, month, etc.) was being diagnosed with breast cancer and thinking that I would be dying a horrible and slow death. That was over 4 years ago. It sure wasn't fun and my hair still sucks but i'm fine now and pretty much over it.

mooshki said...

Bramblewitch, I know a couple of other people on CDaN are breast cancer survivors too, so you're not alone. I'm glad you're okay now!

lutefisk said...

bramblewitch, I know exactly how you feel--last March I had a lumpectomy, & when I returned the following week to have the surgeeon check how I was healing, he hit me with my diagnosis.
I spent the entire spring having every part of my body undergo MRI's & cat scans, & until I got the results of each & every test, including the lymph nodes, I thought the most horrible thoughts.
I am happy to hear you have passed 4 years--I am going on my 1st, & will be extremely happy to reach my 5th year with no reoccurrence.
Like Mooshki said, you are not alone here.

ElsieFire said...

Okay, I'll bite. And as well, add my comments to the awesomeness that is this forum. Way to be survivors, peeps!

I have pretty severe asthma, and on roughly my 19th birthday I was at a "social" as we call them here, also, hall party, community hall party, etc.

It was very, very cold that night, and my asthma gets triggered by cold fairly easily. I had been at this party with a friend of mine and her asshole boyfriend, and as we left the party, I opened the door and the cold literally took my breath away. I couldn't take a breath, grabbed my friend's arm, said "get me to the hospital" cause I knew it was bad. Her boyfriend hauls me into the car and says to my friend, "oh, it will be okay, she just needs to warm up". All this as my eyes are rolling back in my head.

My last conscious thought of that night was, "wow, I'm dying and he thinks I just need to warm up? Fuckhead."

Thankfully, my friend listened to me, and I woke up in ICU the next morning with a tube down my throat and two very anxious parents looking down at me.

My friend's boyfriend became her husband. She became my ex friend.

bramblewitch said...

Hey everyone, thanks!

Lutefisk, it passes lot quicker than you would expect! I thought I would never get over it and now I know i've forgotten a lot of it.

Elsie, what a story, I never knew that asthma could be triggered by cold weather. I wonder how that works.

mooshki said...

Elsie, your story reminds me that I still want to know who that bitch was who served her allergic friend peanuts!

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