Nightmare

I had a recurring nightmare as a kid, and it was stupid.

No, really, it was unbelievably stupid.

For some reason, and I have no idea where this came from except for the fact that I was maybe 4 years old, I would have this nightmare about a toilet that ate kids.  A kid would carry a toy into the bathroom and shut the door.  When the door was opened, the kid was gone and the toy would be floating all by itself in the toilet bowl.

This was, of course, terrifying.

One night it scared me enough that I had to call my mom into my room.  Once she was there, though, and asking me what was wrong, I realized that this nightmare was so dumb I couldn't possibly tell her.  I'd made enough of a fuss, though, that I had to tell her something.

I did the only possible thing:  I lied to my mother.

Thinking fast, I came up with the scariest thing I could slap together:  a bad witch showed up and made our house disappear.  It was the only thing as scary as a carnivorous toilet, and not at all embarrassing.

I told my story and waited.  Then I realized:  this is my mom.  At this age, your parents are infallible. She was going to see right through me.  I waited for my doom.

"That is scary, thinking all the familiar stuff is gone," she said.  SHE BOUGHT IT!  She bought my stupid lie without question!  I had stumbled upon a universal childhood fear and successfully convinced my mother that I hadn't been dreaming about killer toilets at all!

Of course, what I hadn't thought of was that it really is pretty scary to have a bad witch steal your house...