Den of the Beastly Bear
Hi Folks!
My daughter Princess Bear is a bona fide "Scary Movie" nut! Now when I say scary movie, I don't mean the Wayan's brothers horror spoof movies, oh no.
I mean slasher/possession/paranormal/ghost movies!!!
Being 22 she missed out on some of the classics, like "The Exorcist", the original "Evil Dead", or the beginnings of both the " Friday the 13th." and "Nightmare on Elm street" franchises.
As her father, of course I've made sure to introduce her to them.
After the X-men movie fiasco (read about that here), I was surprised that a scant handful of years later she would be so into scary movies, the scarier the better.
I think she was 14 or 15 when the movie "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" was released. When it became available on HBO she asked if we could do a Daddy/Daughter movie night to watch it. Of course I said YES!
You see it had to be Daddy/Daughter, because as much as Katie LOVES these movies...Kathy HATES them!!!!
So Momma Bear went to bed, we popped some popcorn and set in to watch...
Despite it's PG-13 rating the movie is pretty intense...
Several times I looked over to Katie kind of squirming on the couch.
I told her a couple times we could shut it off and finish it another day (meaning in daylight) but she said no, that she was fine...
Now the irony in this whole situation is that while she dearly loves scary movies....she's a huge fraidycat!!!
I have the windows of our bedroom blacked out because I work second shift, and sunrise at 5:30-6am just doesn't "get it" when you went to bed at 4!
See, Kaitlin must pass our bedroom to get to hers. She will walk normally down the hall until she gets to our open bedroom door. Then....run past, only to walk normally again once past.
When I asked her why she does this she said:
"I don't know...it's just "creepy" being so dark when the rest of the house is light, it doesn't bother me at night."
So, the movie is finally over and it's about 1:30am...
and Katie is hesitating about going up to bed.
"What's the matter?" I asked her.
"Hmmm? Oh nothing..." She replied...still dilly dallying in the kitchen, on her way to the stairs...
"You know, if these movies scare you so bad you can't go up to bed by yourself...maybe I shouldn't be letting you watch them anymore..." I said.
"Nooooo Dad, I'm OK....I'm going up right now..."
And up she went.
Less than a minute later I heard her bedroom door slam...running feet...and a herd of elephants fought their way down the stairs at an alarming rate!!!
As Katie slid around the corner, her stockinged feet almost going out from under her on the hardwood floor...I saw she was white as a sheet!
"Dad, there's something in my room!!!" She stammered out.
"What?"
"There...is...something...in...my...room!!!"
"Kaitlin Renee!!! That's it!!! No more scary movies before bed!!! Now go to bed, you're too big for this foolishness!!!" I told her.
"Daddy, please....I swear to God there is something in my room!!!" She pleaded.
"Like what?" I asked.
"I don't know, I didn't wait to see...come look...."
"Alright, but if there's nothing up there you're done with the scary movies!" I said as I followed her up the stairs.
When we got to her bedroom door I could see the light leaking out from under her door into the hallway.
Kaitlin stayed well back as I walked to her door, I turned and looked back at her....and opened the door.
As soon as I was in the room I saw what was causing all the fuss.
A bat was making the circuit of her room...looking for a way out.
A BAT?!?
How in the Hell a bat got into her room is a mystery to this day, as I stepped back out of her room Katie was at the end of the hall...near the stairs in case she had to run...lol. Wringing her hands.
"Did you see it? I wasn't imagining it right?!?!?" She asked.
"No you didn't imagine it...you have a bat!"
"A bat?!? Ewwwwwwwwwwww!!! Where did it come from?"
"I don't know Bug (Katie Bug being one of her nicknames) but what's important now is getting rid of it! Grab me a bath towel out of the linen closet."
She tossed me one, coming not one step closer to that door.
I opened the towel, and stepped back into the room.
I watched as the bat continued making laps around the room. Timing it just right, I tossed the towel and brought the little guy to the ground. Being careful not to hurt him, while simultaneously keeping from getting bit as bats are the #1 carrier of rabies in Michigan, I unfolded the towel.
When I had him secured, chittering his disapproval I opened the door back into the hallway.
"Did you get it?" Katie asked peeping around the corner of the stairway.
Odd that she moved farther away knowing it was just a bat....and not some winged demon, come to eat her soul!
"Is that it?" She asked indicating the towel "What are you gonna do with it? Is it still alive? Are you gonna kill it? How big is it? Can I see it?" She peppered me with questions.
"I'm gonna take it outside and let it go...yes you can see it...it's not much bigger than a mouse..." I tried to answer.
As we went downstairs I asked Katie to grab me a pair of my heavy work gloves, she helped me put on one, then the other and I gently extricated the bat from the towel.
With the gloves on I no longer feared being bitten and was able to hold out a wing so she could touch it. Let her feel the softness of it's fur. Now that she saw how tiny it was she had lost all fear. When I told her they eat their weight in mosquitoes each night she said:
"Let him go...I hate mosquitoes!!!"
So I slowly opened my hand, let him gather himself...and gave my hand a little toss, and he was away! Off the decimate the mosquito population!!!
As we made our way back inside, Katie said:
"I told you there was something in my room....I still get to watch scary movies right?!?"
Chuckling, I said "Yes you still get to watch scary movies...now get up to bed ya little monkey!"
I got a kiss and "Love you" as she headed up to bed.
What are the chances?
Of all the nights, and all the movies watched, that little bat picked that particular night to find his way into our house?
Be Well Folks!
Beastly Bear
I think she was 14 or 15 when the movie "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" was released. When it became available on HBO she asked if we could do a Daddy/Daughter movie night to watch it. Of course I said YES!
You see it had to be Daddy/Daughter, because as much as Katie LOVES these movies...Kathy HATES them!!!!
So Momma Bear went to bed, we popped some popcorn and set in to watch...
Despite it's PG-13 rating the movie is pretty intense...
Several times I looked over to Katie kind of squirming on the couch.
I told her a couple times we could shut it off and finish it another day (meaning in daylight) but she said no, that she was fine...
Now the irony in this whole situation is that while she dearly loves scary movies....she's a huge fraidycat!!!
I have the windows of our bedroom blacked out because I work second shift, and sunrise at 5:30-6am just doesn't "get it" when you went to bed at 4!
See, Kaitlin must pass our bedroom to get to hers. She will walk normally down the hall until she gets to our open bedroom door. Then....run past, only to walk normally again once past.
When I asked her why she does this she said:
"I don't know...it's just "creepy" being so dark when the rest of the house is light, it doesn't bother me at night."
So, the movie is finally over and it's about 1:30am...
and Katie is hesitating about going up to bed.
"What's the matter?" I asked her.
"Hmmm? Oh nothing..." She replied...still dilly dallying in the kitchen, on her way to the stairs...
"You know, if these movies scare you so bad you can't go up to bed by yourself...maybe I shouldn't be letting you watch them anymore..." I said.
"Nooooo Dad, I'm OK....I'm going up right now..."
And up she went.
Less than a minute later I heard her bedroom door slam...running feet...and a herd of elephants fought their way down the stairs at an alarming rate!!!
As Katie slid around the corner, her stockinged feet almost going out from under her on the hardwood floor...I saw she was white as a sheet!
"Dad, there's something in my room!!!" She stammered out.
"What?"
"There...is...something...in...my...room!!!"
"Kaitlin Renee!!! That's it!!! No more scary movies before bed!!! Now go to bed, you're too big for this foolishness!!!" I told her.
"Daddy, please....I swear to God there is something in my room!!!" She pleaded.
"Like what?" I asked.
"I don't know, I didn't wait to see...come look...."
"Alright, but if there's nothing up there you're done with the scary movies!" I said as I followed her up the stairs.
When we got to her bedroom door I could see the light leaking out from under her door into the hallway.
Kaitlin stayed well back as I walked to her door, I turned and looked back at her....and opened the door.
As soon as I was in the room I saw what was causing all the fuss.
A bat was making the circuit of her room...looking for a way out.
A BAT?!?
How in the Hell a bat got into her room is a mystery to this day, as I stepped back out of her room Katie was at the end of the hall...near the stairs in case she had to run...lol. Wringing her hands.
"Did you see it? I wasn't imagining it right?!?!?" She asked.
"No you didn't imagine it...you have a bat!"
"A bat?!? Ewwwwwwwwwwww!!! Where did it come from?"
"I don't know Bug (Katie Bug being one of her nicknames) but what's important now is getting rid of it! Grab me a bath towel out of the linen closet."
She tossed me one, coming not one step closer to that door.
I opened the towel, and stepped back into the room.
I watched as the bat continued making laps around the room. Timing it just right, I tossed the towel and brought the little guy to the ground. Being careful not to hurt him, while simultaneously keeping from getting bit as bats are the #1 carrier of rabies in Michigan, I unfolded the towel.
When I had him secured, chittering his disapproval I opened the door back into the hallway.
"Did you get it?" Katie asked peeping around the corner of the stairway.
Odd that she moved farther away knowing it was just a bat....and not some winged demon, come to eat her soul!
"Is that it?" She asked indicating the towel "What are you gonna do with it? Is it still alive? Are you gonna kill it? How big is it? Can I see it?" She peppered me with questions.
"I'm gonna take it outside and let it go...yes you can see it...it's not much bigger than a mouse..." I tried to answer.
As we went downstairs I asked Katie to grab me a pair of my heavy work gloves, she helped me put on one, then the other and I gently extricated the bat from the towel.
With the gloves on I no longer feared being bitten and was able to hold out a wing so she could touch it. Let her feel the softness of it's fur. Now that she saw how tiny it was she had lost all fear. When I told her they eat their weight in mosquitoes each night she said:
"Let him go...I hate mosquitoes!!!"
So I slowly opened my hand, let him gather himself...and gave my hand a little toss, and he was away! Off the decimate the mosquito population!!!
As we made our way back inside, Katie said:
"I told you there was something in my room....I still get to watch scary movies right?!?"
Chuckling, I said "Yes you still get to watch scary movies...now get up to bed ya little monkey!"
I got a kiss and "Love you" as she headed up to bed.
What are the chances?
Of all the nights, and all the movies watched, that little bat picked that particular night to find his way into our house?
Be Well Folks!
Beastly Bear
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