Monday, July 8, 2013

Purrsonal Stories: Stairs, My Mortal Enemy

 

I have nightmares about stairs.

These staircases in my dreams usually have no railings, are super steep, and have spaces between the stairs. *shudders*

But I have a good reason for not liking stairs. I tend to fall down them.

In middle school, we had a back stairway leading to the second floor. In seventh grade, I had most of my classes on the first floor, except for one. We also had three minutes between classes. If I wanted to get from the upstairs' class to my next class and have time to stop by my locker and get my books, then I had to walk very fast. I was always the first person out of my class, and I raced down the stairs. I fell--twice--that year down the stairs. The first time I slid down the stairs on my behind, my books went flying everywhere. I bumped all the way down to the bottom. The second time, I tumbled head-over-heels and landed at the bottom of the stairs on my feet. I held my books the entire time.

But my trouble with stairs didn't end there. In college, we had an underpass to get from the campus to the parking lot. The sun was shining in my eyes--I have light sensitivity--so I couldn't see one day, and I fell down the stairs, wrenched my shoulder really good. It's been over ten years, and I still sometimes have problems with that shoulder.

Those are just a few times I've fallen down stairs. I tend to go rather carefully down stairs, if I have to go down them. I've even scooted down step by step on a staircase I was terrified to go down.

Really, I'd rather avoid stairs as much as possible. I think they're out to get me.

Do you have problems with stairs? What's your "mortal enemy"?

15 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Landed on your feet - impressive!
I don't have any problems with stairs, but anytime I have to fix something in the house it becomes my immortal enemy. I am NOT Tim the Tool Man.

Christine Rains said...

Ouch! I have no luck with stairs either. I've fallen down my share too. I've walked into more walls, though. I swear they move just to get in front of me!

Kyra Lennon said...

"The second time, I tumbled head-over-heels and landed at the bottom of the stairs on my feet. I held my books the entire time." - LOL! I'm impressed - maybe you should have tried your hand at gymnastics! :p

I've never fallen down stairs,but I'm not crazy about them either!

Rachna Chhabria said...

I am extra careful on the stairs, have tripped just once. I use them as a form of exercise.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

The only stairs that spook me are the ones in Georgetown featured in the movie, "The Exorcist."

Natalie Aguirre said...

I've outgrown most of my fears but as a kid I was terrified of escalators and body parts of dolls when they came off. Funny the weird things we're scared of.

Dianne K. Salerni said...

I bump into chairs. Constantly. It's not a mortal injury kind of thing, just bruising.

Chairs are always inching away from the table where they belong, trying to get me to stub my toe or bash my arm with their knobby backs. Don't even get me started on how my students put their chairs upside-down on their desks at the end of a school day and the legs grab me when I walk past.

My husband says that my head is always composing stories, which means I don't exist completely in our dimension -- thus the chair bumping thing.

He is being kind. I am just a klutz.

widdershins said...

OUCH!!!!!

M Pax said...

Ouch indeed. I have dreams about school and lots and lots of stairs, and I never seem to take the right one.

jaybird said...

Oh my gosh you poor thing! Falling down the stairs at school, not once but twice? Dang!

I can relate to this and your fear because I'm the type of person who trips on flat surfaces; so um, yeah, stairs scare me too! Especially the kind that are all open and you can see all the way down to the bottom! I really HATE that kind.

Cathy Keaton said...

I used to be so scared of the steps at my high school way back when because people would CROWD them so badly, someone would end up falling. Or, the rain would make them slick. I think I was so terrified of being embarrassed if I fell.

But, I really don't fear stairs anymore. I think my fears must be about elevators now because I'll sometimes have nightmares about being trapped in them while they suddenly fall.... Yeah, that's terrifying!

Anonymous said...

Falling down stairs sounds very painful... no wonder you avoid them. Poor thing.

Heather R. Holden said...

Yikes! No wonder you hate stairs. My eyes are light-sensitive, too, so I imagine I'd also dread going down the stairs if faced with a bunch of sunlight at the same time!

Unknown said...

Oh no, Cherie. I would have nightmares about stairs too if I was you. I'm sorry you still have shoulder trouble, ouch.

I have a lot of fears and "mortal enemies." I'd say the oddest on my list though might be birds. It started when I was five. An afternoon hammock nap resulted in my falling out and landing in a group of chicken's who had sought shelter from the sun beneath me. My disruption didn't sit well with the rooster of the bunch, who chased me around the yard pecking my bottom (ouchy)!

In addition, I've had more than one friend introduce me to their "sweet little bird" who ended up biting me.

Lastly, I watched a Turkey chase my friend across camp one year.

Moral of the story: birds and I don't mix =) lol

Great post today Cherie; thank you for sharing.

nutschell said...

i'm acrophobic so narrow, steep and very high stairs do scare me
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com