make-believe

I convinced my little brother that the Easter Bunny had to help Santa on Christmas Eve since there were so many houses to go to in only one night, and told him to leave out carrots too just in case. Which he always did.

I always hated turning off the lights before I went upstairs. I imagined things coming out of the dark behind me, coming to get me. Needless to say, I always sprinted up the stairs so they couldn't get me. I am 26 years old, I know there is nothing behind me, but I still sprint up the stairs at night after I turn the lights out.

I had two imaginary friends, Tommy and Stacey. Stacey looked the way I wanted to look, with dark hair, brown eyes and freckles. I thought glasses were cool, so Stacey wore glasses. She always did everything right. Tommy looked like me, with blond hair and green eyes - except of course he wasn't me, because he was a boy. He always got in trouble. When my mother said "Don't stand on that chair; you'll fall and crack your head open," I told her "Tommy fell and cracked his head open once."

Tommy and Stacey lived in a big house with lots of other children and no adults. The basement of their house was called the "rooty ground" - growing out of the floor were huge tub-shaped roots filled with bubbly water, like natural hot tubs that the kids could play and swim in (I don't know where I got this idea; I'd never even seen a hot tub).

One day I announced that Tommy and Stacey had died. They sat too close to the fireplace (I was always warned against this but never understood why), and died of "fire sickness". Occasionally after that I wished that Stacey would come back to keep me company, but she never did.

When I grew up, I met the real Tommy and married him.

I used to believe…

My parents always told us that the witches came out when the sky turned pink in the evening. This was their way of making sure we made it home before dark. (I tell my kids the same thing!)

I used to be absolutely terrified of Father Christmas entering my room at night. I would leave my stocking in the garage and dad would open the door a little to let him in. To this day I'm still not particularly happy about large, bearded old men entering my room while I sleep.

I remember watching the evening news on tv as a young child when the top story was, "Illegal Aliens." I was so scared. I ran and told my mom that space aliens from Mexico are now here in America.

I used to believe…

When I was in the second grade, I believed that Satan and Santa were the same person. I was so convienced of this, I told everyone else in the second grade that Jolly Ole St. Nick was really the devil. It was the similarity in spelling that caused me to believe this. Needless to say, my mother received numerous phone calls that year, demanding to know why I was telling thier children this horrid tale *chuckles*

I used to believe…

being an only child i used to create my own make believe world to keep me company. i used to think that all my friends had this magic potion which on drinking could make them invisible. they would then come to visit me and although they could see me, i couldn't see them. but somehow i always had this feeling that they were around. and if i wanted to go the bathroom or change my clothes, i would close the door quickly so no one could come in and have a good laugh. i still somehow find it difficult to let go of this feeling. wonder why my friends can't just share that magic potion with me. :(

I used to believe…

my grandfather gave us a phone number. he said that it was santa claus's phone number. i didnt know what his phone number was and i didnt think of that. whenever we would call that number, he would answer with a HO HO HO, because he had caller ID. for years and years my sisters and i would call santa and talk to him about god and the tooth fairy. apparently they liked to go bowling a lot together.

I used to believe that ghosts lived in any room that was empty of furniture or people in my house so I was always afraid to go into an empty room. I was afraid of leaking ceilings, too, as they were very scary-looking. Man, I was really a strange kid!

I used to believe that the wind was full of fairies and that if you stared long enough and sat really still you would be able to see them moving people and things around. I also believed that tornadoes were gremlins who were mad they couldn't be fairies so they wanted to destroy everything the fairies made nice.

I used to believe…

When I was young I had an imaginary friend named Fred who was a goldfish that was put under a spell and was forced to walt around the earth on his tail because he had eaten to much fish food.

I used to believe…

When I was a child, my dad convinced me that, as a baby, he and my mom found me next to a space ship crash. The ship was from Geekatron, therefore making me a geek. He would occasionally take me out into the woods to show me the "crash site" (a huge fallen tree) and, while watching "War of the Worlds," I got so upset I cried when he told me it was a documentary about the war that killed my "real" parents.

I used to believe…

Imaginary friends (2) "Beanda" and "Lube" from three through six. Refused to allow anyone to sit next to me, as they were there. Served them food. So much a part of my life that relatives knicknamed each other "Beanda". I (female) was the first of four children, 3 female, one male, almost nine years senior to my next sibling. I was raised among adults, primarily. Started school at 5 and 1 month, the norm was 6. Have above average intelligence. Great Grandmother provided most care. She was a New York "Superintendant" and managed apartments. I was very big into real estate rentals from the age of 16 through 50. Hope this helps your research.

I used to believe that my Dad's snoring was a tiger in my parent's room. I was too afraid to get up and walk down the hall because I knew it would get me. I had some tough nights sitting on the edge of the bed having to pee but too afraid to go to the bathroom.

I used to believe…

When we were kids, my dad used to tell us that if we did not behave at Christmas, he would give our gifts to a little boy called Henry who regularly only got a turd from Santa at Christmas.

I used to ponder how cruel it was to give a little boy a turd for Christmas. I mean, getting nothing would be better than opening your gift wrapping and finding a turd inside.

I used to have an imaginary friend named April. She looked just like me and had the same name as me. As an only child, if someone did something wrong, my parents always knew I was the one who had done it, so I would say that "April" did it. At first, my protests led to confusion for my parents, thinking that I was suddenly referring to myself in the 3rd person, but they figured it out after a while and started punishing both "Aprils" when "we" would do something bad.