If a person does not remember their first memory of fear, it does not necessarily mean that they had a fearless childhood or was a fearless child. As children, we all think that we are invincible. It is in those naive moments when the child experiences fear for the first time that they learn and start to become the person they will be in the future.
As we grow older, we do not so much accustom ourselves to fear but we learn to cope and understand why we feel it steal a beat from our hearts and drive our minds into a chaotic frenzy. But as a child, where fear is new and unexplored, it is terrifying. Racing heartbeats and irrational tears which result from the smallest fright. A child does not understand this physical reaction to the fear, least of the the mental states that instantly transform.
For her, it was the fear of the dark. She shared the room with one other occupant which would in some cases provide security but she could constantly sense the predators lurking under her bed, ready to take her when she was most vulnerable. Even though in her young brain she knew that monsters did not exist, it still did not settle that itchy and suffocating dread that enveloped her heart. What was worse was that her untamed imagination ran rampant with vicious scenarios. These images were pitch black and empty. A void. However she could still hear the inhuman snarls, the tearing sounds of sheets and the feeling of being taken by an invisible predator.
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