The Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, and the leprechauns were easy to let go of—I wasn’t more than 8 or 9 when I realized that they didn’t really exist. That was okay—I could deal. But Santa was harder. Each year I would begin to doubt as my Jewish friends asked “do you really believe in Santa Claus?” But every year my faith would be reaffirmed when my sisters and I found huge presents, extravagant presents, presents my parents swore they would never buy us in the living room on Christmas morning. I was only when I saw the link to an order form for one of my presents in my internet’s history that I was forced to face facts. There was no Santa. I was 12 or 13, then.
I waited anxiously for my Hogwarts letter the year my grade turned 11. Then, since I am one of the youngest in my class, I waited another year. No letter. I had never truly thought there was a Hogwarts or that I was a witch—still, some small part of me had been genuinely hoping for it. My friends pretended to be crushed that their letters never came—I was as dramatic as any of them, but I actually was crushed.
The TV show I had been following for the past several months became extremely dark in the 3rd season—everyone’s lives seemed to be falling apart as the main characters were abused by invaders and each other. Marriages were falling apart—my favorite character was showing the early signs of insanity. I felt slightly depressed for weeks, spending hours on weekdays trying to work out how the season could be resolved. “You know it’s not real, right?” Asked my sister. “Don’t take it so seriously.”
I think there is a line somewhere. I don’t believe in the Yeti, or the Loch Ness Monster. I don’t even really believe in ghosts—I’m not superstitious.
This is what I have so far-- I'm still trying to figure out how to finish it and if Ishould try a different direction.
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This is really good! I like the theme that you have going. One suggestion I have though is that I think you should say what TV show you were following...and then maybe at the end come back to the things you were talking about in the first paragraph? Because now you have so many different...objects? that you don't believe in, maybe you can repeat them a little to tie them all together. But really good!
ReplyDeleteI love this! Definitely keep what you have. Maybe talk about how you wanted them to be true because you felt connected to them? You wanted to be a part of their world? I don't know if that makes sense but it seems like you believe in things that you want to be true because they make your life more more interesting and mysterious, which the Yeti doesn't do. I know that probably doesn't help much but I really like what you've written so far.
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