make-believe

I used to believe…

When I was little I never bought the whole Santa Clause story but I did believe in the Tooth Fairy.

Every time I lost a tooth I'd be awake when "she" came in to put money under my pillow and take my tooth away.

I was always tempted to turn around and catch her in the act but I was afraid that she would bash me in the head with her magic wand, so I stayed put.

I used to believe…

When I was six, I had an imaginary friend that my little neighbor Julia also started seeing.

We named him 'Boz' He would play with us and make forts. Boz was a big friendly hairy creature, similar to Sully from the movie Monster's Inc., but Boz was brown in color.

I miss Boz, he has disapeared from my life, along with a lot of the magic of my childhood.

I called her the tooth-berry. And with my mothers' poor hearing I was never corrected. I believed that it was the 'tooth-berry' until the ninth grade when the classroom discussion turned to childhood fantasy figures. I had a quiet revelation. Geesh, that whole time I thought she lived in a vineyard. Now it makes sense why I never received any grapes.

i used to be scared that at night, alligators would walk our street. there were wild animal sounds at night, i asked my mom what they were and she answered, "Teenagers"

I used to believe…

When I was in pre-school, my friend's mother told me that she and all the other Irish people around turned into leprechauns on St. Patrick's day. I believed her - I didn't know what a leprechaun was, so I assumed that they turned into green bunnies.

I used to believe…

My mother told me that the reason she woke up naked some mornings was because the clothes monster came at night and took all her clothes. Being a shrewd child, I figured that it accounted for the strange noises at night in their bedroom. I finally got it when I was about 10.

I used to believe that my nightlight stopped ghosts from haunting me, because ghosts only come out in the dark, and that sleeping with my blanket pulled up over my neck (even in summer) would prevent vampire bites. Which makes perfect sense, considering the well-known vampire aversion to gingham.

I used to believe…

When I was small, my mother and grandmother had huge iris gardens and they told me that faeries lifed in the top enclosed part of an iris flower. I'm 50 and still believe it.

I had three imaginary friends, Mike, Volk, and Amy. I did everything with them. I played gameshows with them. They did everything. I even got a "family portrait" taken with them on the couch. (It looks silly, me sitting alone on the couch.) There's even a conflict as to what they were called. I say they were Mike, Volk, and AMY, my parents say it was Mike, Volk, and NUMBERS. It will never be resolved.

I used to believe…

For only one day, I went to a local church's daycare (around 4-5 at the time). All I can really recall is seeing a rather large, somewhat old lady (this is in retrospect) in a white dress. I thought it was a ghost, and was scared to death. My mother had to come and take me home, then find another daycare as I refused to go back to "the place with the white ghost".

I used to believe…

When I was a child, my best friend at the time convinced me that if I weren't a Catholic when I died, I'd come back as a fiery monster and kill everyone I loved. This _really_ upset me, crying and everything... but it didn't convert me, thankfully.

I used to believe…

This may not have anything to do with anything, but when I was little i had an imaginary friend called Mr Snozberry. He was lovely, very good at telling jokes as I recall. Anyway, when I was about five and a half he commited suicide. I'm not joking, he had a very nice funeral, all his friends were there, Mr Raspberry, Mr Strawberry, Mr Gooseberry....

I used to believe…

my best friend told me that when she was young, her imaginary friend was a doctor that lived under the kitchen sink and ate tomatoes. She was a strange child then, and she's a strange teenager now.

I used to believe…

when I was little, I used to have an imaginary friend who was a dragon by the name of Fossie. She used to be able to grow to any size, from being in my pocket to being big enough so I could fly away on her back. She lived up in the clouds, and when it rained, she was actually watering her garden.

I used to believe…

My sister and I used to pretend there was a giant skunk that followed the family car, floating along behind us like a giant Macy's Day float. His name was Saywer.
Whenever we went across the bridge between our part of town and West Lebanon, Sawyer, sinking like a giant nimbus cloud, would hover in mid-air to take a sip from the river.
During this dilemma we peered anxiously through the rearview windows, our kiddie chorus peeping the chant, "Hurry up! Hurry up!", while we waved with as much exertion that a 5-7 year old can muster.
He usually finished lapping by the time Mom or Dad quieted our chatter. Then Saywer rejoined our journey , and then and only then was it all right to go on home.
More than anything, we didn't want him to be left behind.

I used to believe that if I slept with any piece of bare skin showing from under the duvet I would die. I don't remember how I realised this was wrong, but evidently it was.

Also, my cousin told me that I would be killed by a ghost if I was still awake past midnight.