Title: Childhood Fears
Author: Lola
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters, just the story!
A/N: Special thanks to Marcy for editing my story—twice!
Chloe froze and swallowed the scream threatening to erupt. Her heart was racing and felt as if it might leap from her chest. Beads of sweat formed small pools on her forehead and threatened to spill over as her small brow furrowed in fear. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the task ahead of her
I must be brave.
Even though she had faced this terrifying monster day after day, she always had to give herself a pep talk just to make it through the whole ordeal. Slowly, she opened her deep chocolate eyes and drew a great breath. Holding the air inside, she jumped off her cousin's pink and purple cabbage patch big wheel and turned it to face the other way. She decided to chance a quick look over her shoulder to see if her attacker was close at hand.
It moved.
The air escaped her lips emitting a high-pitched scream.
Honeyed ringlets flew behind her as she sprung back onto the big wheel and peddled as fast as her tiny legs could pump, not stopping until she reached the safety of her aunt and uncle's front lawn. She rolled off her big wheel struggling to catch her breath. Only then did she look to see if the terrifying monster had pursued.
Chloe breathed a sigh of relief and dusted her tattered overalls when she saw it scamper up the Belcanto's tree two houses down. She brought a grimy hand to shield her eyes, watching until she could no longer see its long bushy tail.
"Chloe Elizabeth Sullivan," her aunt called, letting the screen door slam behind her.
Chloe winced at the use of her whole name. She was in trouble now.
"What on earth are you hollering about?" Ellen wiped her hands on a rumpled dishtowel. "I could hear you all the way from the back of the house. "
"But, Aunt Ellie—"
"Don't 'But, Aunt Ellie,' me. You know Lucy is taking a nap." Ellen gestured to the house next door, "And Mrs. Butler just came back from the hospital last week. You could have woken her up as she's trying to recuperate from her surgery."
Chloe's lips began to tremble and Ellen softened, "Why don't you come inside and color for awhile. Lois' bus will be here in a couple hours and then we can all go to the park down the street."
Chloe glanced back at the tree. The squirrel had come back down and was scurrying across the sidewalk. Chloe gasped and bounded up the front steps to her aunt.
"I'll get my coloring books."
Stupid squirrels!
Chloe reached in her crayon box for the red crayon.
They ruin all the fun.
She began coloring Minnie Mouse's dress and sighed. She loved to play outdoors and one of her favorite activities while staying with her aunt and uncle was riding Lois' big wheel. Lois was a pro and Chloe loved practicing to be just as good. She wanted to do everything her bigger cousin could do. Unfortunately, Lois' family lived in a wooded neighborhood and Chloe was always running into squirrels.
Chloe didn't understand why other people thought they were so cute. She thought they were demon possessed, with their sharp teeth and long scraggly claws. She remembered the first time she ever saw a squirrel. At first, she too had been fooled….
Chloe had been trying unsuccessfully to get her two-year-old cousin to play dolls with her. She sighed and wondered when Lois would be home from kindergarten. Lois was way more fun to play with.
"Chloe! Lucy! Come here!" Ellen called from the back door. "Look at this!"
"Coming, Aunt Ellie!" Chloe dropped her doll into its cradle and skipped to the door as Lucy toddled behind. The girls stopped short at the glass door where Ellen was spraying cleaner and wiping away the many fingerprints.
"What is it?" Chloe pressed her nose to the door and Lucy followed suit.
"Girls, I just cleaned that spot." Ellen sighed and handed Chloe the dishtowel and the cleaner.
As Chloe began squirting the cleaner on the door, she became sidetracked, watching the cleaner form rivers flowing toward the ground. She dropped the towel.
Ellen knelt down to the girls' levels and scooped up the dishtowel before Lucy could get it into her mouth. "I wanted to show you the squirrel."
"Where?" Chloe suddenly looked up.
"Swirl! Swirl !" Lucy squealed.
"Right there," Ellen pointed. "See it running across the fence."
"Ooooh," Chloe breathed. "Can I pet it?"
"Me too!" Lucy chimed and stuck her thumb into her mouth.
"Oh no girls, I'm afraid not. Squirrels are wild animals." Ellen wiped the forgotten cleaner across the door.
"That's okay. I don't mind." Chloe hopped back and forth from one foot to another.
Lucy's thumb dropped from her mouth and she tried to mimic her cousin excepted she bounced more than hopped and squealed with laughter.
"No, Chloe, you don't understand. Wild animals aren't safe to pet." Ellen smiled at her daughter's attempts to behave like her cousin and folded the dishcloth.
"Why not?" Chloe nearly lost her balance and bumped Lucy almost sending her to the ground. Chloe regained her balance and steadied her cousin.
"Well, because they might bite you."
"It will not bite me!" Chloe defiantly placed her hands under her arms and her younger shadow mimicked. "And if it does, I wouldn't mind."
"I would mind," her aunt countered.
"How come?"
"For one thing it would hurt you and for another thing some wild animals have diseases."
"What's a disease?" Chloe's brow furrowed in confusion. Lucy laughed at Chloe's expression and tried her best to copy the look.
"Something that makes you sick, like the flu."
Chloe made another face causing Lucy to laugh even harder. "What kind of disease would a squirrel have?" Chloe awed, "Do squirrels get the flu too?"
"Oh, I don't know, Chloe!" sighed her aunt. "Squirrels have diseases like rabies."
Chloe's head tilted and her nose scrunched. "What's rabies?"
Lucy who thought Chloe's expressions were beyond hysterical laughed so hard she began to hiccup. Soon the hiccups became uncontrollable and Lucy began to cry in frustration.
"Rabies is like what Old Yeller had," Ellen scooped Lucy into her arms and began to rub her back. She looked at Chloe, "Enough with the twenty questions!" She shifted Lucy so that her head could rest on her mother's shoulder and raised her free hand before Chloe could ask what twenty questions were.
She rose and resumed patting Lucy's back. "Why don't you go outside and ride Lois' big wheel for awhile."
Chloe watched as her aunt walked Lucy towards her room before turning to gaze out the window.
Squirrels could have rabies?
Chloe had recently watched the Old Yeller with Lois. It was shortly after her father had brought her to stay with her aunt and uncle. Her dad told her she would only be here for a little while. That he and her mom had to fix something. Chloe didn't completely understand. All she knew was that her mom had been acting strange lately and now she was staying with her cousin's family.
That first night Chloe had been really missing her mom and dad. She was happy to see her favorite cousin but after spending the day with Lois, Chloe wanted to go home and sleep in her bed and be tucked in by her mom and dad. Chloe was feeling sad and missing her mother.
Trying to get Chloe's mind off of her parents, Aunt Ellie had suggested that the girls watch a movie. She told Chloe to pick one out while she put Lucy to bed. Chloe remembered how she and Lois had carefully looked at all the videos, determined to make the right decision. When Chloe saw the movie with the dog on the front, she knew it was just the right movie. After all, she loved dogs and she thought this one was just beautiful.
Lois hadn't been as sure. She said that she didn't like dogs and that she was allergic. But Chloe really wanted to watch the movie and Lois could never say no to her little cousin, so they put it in the machine and began to watch.
Aunt Ellie had come in half way through the movie. When she saw what the girls were watching, she tried to talk them into picking another movie. She told them that this one was sad, but the girls would hear nothing of it. They were already fully engrossed in the story of the kind old dog, even Lois. Her aunt had been right. Chloe remembered the sad scene where the wonderful dog had to be shot because he had rabies.
If a squirrel bites me and I get sick with rabies, will I have to be shot too?
Chloe's eyes became wide in fear. She looked up and saw the squirrel jump from the fence to a near tree. Seeing the squirrel for what it really was, she noticed it's pointed fangs and claws that looked like sharpened knives. She wondered if the bushy tail was really made of needles.
I bet it would really hurt if I got hit with that tail.
"Chloe," her aunt called, interrupting Chloe's thoughts. "I thought you were going outside."
And so began the daily battles…..
Chloe sighed as she looked at her completed picture of Minnie Mouse baking a birthday cake. She wished that she could figure out a way to go outside and have all the squirrels disappear.
Chloe left the crayons sprawled on the floor and went off in search of her aunt.
"Aunt Ellie?"
Chloe peered into her aunt's darkened room. Her aunt was on the phone immersed in conversation, cigarette in hand. Chloe ruffled her nose, reacting to the smell. "Gabe, I'm so sorry. Are you sure that's the best thing for her?" She paused, "Of course, she can stay here as long as you need to—"
"Aunt Ellie, I made this for you." Chloe tugged her aunt's sleeve and waved the Minnie Mouse picture.
Ellen jumped, realizing suddenly that Chloe was in the room. "Hang on a minute," she said into the phone. She then placed a large smile on her face.
Ellen took the picture. "Chloe that's beautiful. I'm on the phone right now. I need you to go outside and play for awhile."
"But—" Chloe's eyes widened.
She shifted the phone against her shoulder. "I promise, we'll go to the park just as soon as Lois gets home." She waved her hand, "Go on now. I really need to take this call."
Defeated, Chloe left her aunt's room and headed outside.
Lois climbed off the school bus and raced towards her house. She couldn't wait to get home to tell Chloe all about what she had learned in school. She wondered if her mom would take Chloe to come and see her classroom. Lois wanted to show her the caterpillars her class was watching. Who knew that beautiful butterflies came from these little worm looking things!
Lois stopped short when she saw her cousin running down the sidewalk towards her house with both hands held over her mouth, terrified. Lois threw down her backpack and was immediately at her cousin's side.
"Chloe what's wrong?" She placed her hand on Chloe's shoulder.
Chloe could no longer contain herself as tears spilled down her rosy cheeks. She threw her arms around her bigger cousin. "Lois, the squirrels are after me. Please don't let them bite me." She was becoming hysterical. "If one does bite me and I get sick, promise you won't shoot me like Old Yeller!"
"Chloe, what are you talking about?" Lois patted Chloe's back. "Take a deep breath. In and out," Lois modeled just like her mom did when she herself was upset. "That's it. Now why don't you tell me why you are scared."
Lois led Chloe to the steps in front of the house. Chloe hiccuped and turned to her cousin, "Your mom said that squirrels have rabies and when Old Yeller got rabies his family had to shoot him." Chloe wailed, "I don't want to be shot!"
"Chloe no one is going to shoot you."
Chloe continued to cry.
"Chloe, look at me. I mean it. They'd have to go through me to get to you. I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you."
"Promise?" Chloe sniffed.
Lois made an X across her chest. "Cross my heart."
"But what if a squirrel does bite me?" Chloe tried to get her breathing back under control.
"The squirrels won't hurt you."
"How do you know?" Chloe rubbed a swollen eye.
"Because we won't let them!" Lois' gaze shifted towards the squirrels down the street as she continued to rub Chloe's back. A car rounded the corner and stopped in front of the house with the squirrels. It honked twice. Lois watched the scene unfold and smiled.
"Chloe, I have an idea." Lois ran to retrieve her backpack. As she walked back to her cousin she unzipped the bag and began digging inside. Her brow furrowed as she searched for the mystery object. Lois sat down next to Chloe and began pulling out all kinds of papers and treasures from school.
Chloe watched, confused. "What are you looking for?"
"This!" Lois triumphantly held up a whistle that was painted like a duck's head. It was yellow and even had silly eyes on the side of it. She placed her lips on the orange part that was supposed to be the duck's beak and blew a high, shrill whistle.
Chloe grinned. "That's a cool whistle. Where did you get it?"
"My teacher gave it to me. I got to pick a prize from her treasure chest today for being a good helper." She handed the whistle to Chloe. "I'm glad you like it. You can keep it."
Chloe's smile got bigger. "Really?"
"Yep." Lois began to stuff all the loose papers back into her bag. "You can use it to scare the squirrels away. Whenever they get too close, just blow the whistle and they will go running."
"Are you sure?" Chloe glanced uneasily at the squirrels two house down.
"Yep. Watch I'll show you." She grabbed the whistle from Chloe's hand and raced towards the squirrels.
Chloe watched in horror. "Lois wait! They might bite you!"
Lois stopped a few feet in front of the squirrels placed the whistle in her mouth and blew the most beautiful whistle Chloe had ever heard. To Chloe's amazement the squirrels went running. They scampered up the trees and ran far away from Lois.
"Lois, you're the best!" Chloe ran to join Lois. It was then, at the young age of four, that Chloe knew her cousin was the bravest person in the whole entire world and no matter what, Chloe would always be able to count on her.