Fear

Everyone has fears. Some fears are phobias brought about by frightening experiences. If we know what our fears are we can choose to face them or avoid them.

Sometimes we know we are afraid but do not know why. This kind of fear you cannot face, or avoid. The best we can do is try to deny this type of fear. What doesn't exist can't hurt us, right?

In the life of Mr. Evan Coby fear was a relentless stalker. He never had a restful night's sleep in his life. The only rest he had ever known came from sedatives. Even then, dark evils invaded his dreams.

The thought of suicide brought thoughts of unspeakable horrors into his mind. If he thought safety existed anywhere he'd kill to find it. It seemed nothing would ever convince Evan Coby that endless suffering and doom could ever end.

Then one day something unexpected did happen. The door to his apartment got stuck. In frantic fear that some evil had locked him in, Evan frantically pulled at the door handle, yelling for help. His grip failed and he fell backwards.

He was found unconscious on the floor with a large bump on his head. A week later he awoke at the midcity hospital.

"Where am I and who am I?" Evan asked the nurses and doctors.
"You're Evan Coby", they all told him. His name did not seem familiar to him. It didn't seem to matter, because he felt unexplainably happy and at peace. Everything except his name felt good and right.

Two days later he was released. His home seemed a bit dull and dreary, but after opening the windows, and cleaning the place up, it was wonderful.

After a good night's sleep, Evan went to visit all his neighbors to try to reconstruct his forgotten life. Very few of them even recognized the now confident, neatly dressed, and shaved Mr. Evan Coby. All he could learn is that he never left his apartment, never had any visitors.

In the following weeks. Evan Coby made many new friends and even started a romantic relationship with Miss Leana Andrews. She lived just across the hallway from his apartment. It wasn't long before he decided that he would ask for her hand in marriage.

The night before he proposed, Evan awoke in an unexplainable sweat. As he sat up, he saw a figure crouched in a dark corner.
"Who are you?" he asked in a demanding voice. Something about this person felt familiar.

"Leave me alone!" shouted the shadowy figure. Then it faded away like a bad dream. Evan decided that it was indeed a strange dream, and put it out of his mind.

Six months later Mr. Evan Coby and his bride to be Miss Leana Andrews were walking down the aisle of St. Frances Cathedral when Even tripped and hit his head on the steps to the alter.

After his vision cleared he once again became possessed by fear. He ran screaming, down the aisle, out of the church and into the street.

There was a crash and another scream!

Soon the street was crowded with onlookers and police. Evan Coby's body had such a ghastly look of fear on it that not even his tearful bride to be could stand to look at him.

A five year old child and his mother, who was at the wedding, looked on from the top Cathedral steps.
"What was he so afraid of mommy?" asked the child.
"Fear", answered his mother. "Just fear."