The Benefit of Skepticism

Belief, something I think we’ve all struggled with at some point.

The events I’m about to share happened to me when I was eight and ten. I was the most gullible kid, you could have met. Lots of kids believed in the standard mythological figures. Such as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. While I also believed in these fairy tale creatures, I also had many more I thought were real. For example, my parents told me of one named “ The Academic Alchemist”. He was a sorcerer that rewarded kids that did well in school.

He was one of many fables my parents made up, for me. One other was, “ Store Susan”. She was a fairy that would give kids who behaved in grocery stores, treats. I’m sure you can tell by now, that my parents made them and others up, as a means of positive reinforcement. My older brother, however, made them up for a different reason. Said reason being, he was a jerk and liked to mess with me. Although, I wouldn’t judge him too harshly. I’m sure many of you can relate to having an older sibling who liked to mess with you in a similar way.

However, he took it further. The monsters he made up for me, kept me awake for nights on end. Usually, this was to manipulate me into doing something for him. Like,” Cleaning Carl”. He was the ghost of a falsely executed janitor that would suck up kids in his vacuum and take them away, they didn’t clean. I…