The Story of the Young Woman Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was

 The young woman

Didn’t know what fear was

So she talked to her mother

Who sent her

Into the old cathedral

Once inside

The Ghosts of the Cathedral

Came down

To try and drive her out

But she didn’t know

To run from them

And so she stood firm

And asked them

Where she could rest

For the night

The Ghosts of the Cathedral

Had never seen anyone

Stand up to them

So they guided her

To a room in the catacombs below

But told her

That a terrifying monster

Lived in the catacombs

And that if anything should happen

She should be sensible and flee

For monsters are not ghosts

And can do real harm

The young woman

Listened to them carefully

Thanked them

For their kindness

And then lay her head down

For the night

A few hours later

She was awoken

By a deafening howling

And gnashing of teeth
And when she opened her eyes

She saw the most hideous monster

That was worse than anything

She had ever heard about

Or read about

In storybooks

The Monster of the Catacombs

Asked her if she was unaware

That monsters love to eat

Young women

In the dead of night

When they’re foolish enough

To try sleeping

So close to something

So dangerous

The young woman did not know fear

So she told the Monster of the Catacombs

That there was plenty of room

For both of them

And why was he being so inhospitable

When the Ghosts of the Cathedral

Had been so charitable?

The Monster did not know

That it was the Ghosts who had sent

The young woman down to his dwelling

And so he assumed the young woman

Must be very close with them

And while the young woman

Was not scared of ghosts

Or anything else

Monsters do not tend to trifle

With the spiritual

The Monster of the Catacombs

Explained to the young woman

That while he would not eat her

Or harm her in any way

He was a very loud snorer

And surely she couldn’t expect to sleep

With a giant Monster snoring

In such close proximity to her

She agreed with him

But she didn’t know where else to go

So the Monster of the Catacombs

Invited her to climb onto his back

And he carried her

To the darkest forest

Where he lay her down

In a pile of leaves

And bid her good rest

But told her to beware

The Friddlefrot of the Forest

That is scarier than any monster

And twice as menacing

The young woman thanked him

For finding her a place

Much nicer than a catacomb to sleep

And the Monster went on his way

Shortly thereafter

The trees trembled

And the owls scattered

As the Friddlefrot of the Forest

Approached the young woman

But saw that she was very sleepy

And didn’t seem to be thrust awake

By the presence of the creature at all

The young woman explained

That yes, she could not be afraid

And would the Friddlefrot please let her sleep

Since this was all to do with learning

How to be afraid

And since that wasn’t going to happen

She would either prefer to get some shut-eye

Or do battle of some sort

But which would it be?

The Friddlefrot had never had to battle anyone

Because being so intimidating had always meant

That people ran from it at sight

And since battle was not an option

The Friddlefrot of the Forest decided the only choice

Was to curl up alongside the young woman

And keep her warm throughout the night

Since letting her sleep in the cold

Seemed very cruel

The next day the young woman

Walked back to her home

And told her mother

That she had tried very hard

To learn what fear was

But nothing had worked

Not the Ghosts of the Cathedral

Or the Monster of the Catacombs

Or the Friddlefrot of the Forest

Her mother told her

That perhaps as she got older

She would learn what fear was

But she couldn’t think

What would do the trick

The young woman thanked her mother

For trying and went to her room

To write down the story

Of her great adventure

In the hope that perhaps

It would show other young women

That perhaps it was possible

To be a little less

Afraid