Emo Garbage . . . FOR GRADUATES

I remember hearing as advice, "Do one thing every day that scares you." I imagine it was from some moronic book like "Wisdom - FOR GRADUATES" or "Chicken Soup - FOR THE GRADUATE'S SOUL". Or maybe it was from the movie, "The Graduate."

Hmm.

Anyhoo, last night I watched "No Country for Old Men" and it was a masterpiece of fear and pain that didn't leave you feeling like you've been out in the sun for too long (as is the wont of other flicks). We finished it at midnightish and I gathered up my belongings for the bike ride home. I turned down offers for rides (they were going the opposite direction) and left.

I turned onto the road after two cars passed and quickly realized that I could see less and less as they drove farther away. Soon I could not see the road at all, and began to nervously expect rednecks to barrel around the blind corner that I approached. After having watched the movie, I also began to entertain the thought of serial killers coming up behind me and killing me with an air tank.

I prayed as I pedaled, my words becoming not much more than a whisper for fear of disturbing the quiet around me. There were no cars, only temperature changes. And I was alone.

It was not the looming threat of potholes throwing me off of my bike and into a ravine that scared me. It was not the killers waiting for me in the bushes. It was that I am alone.