'Paranormal Activity 3': A Lesson from my Little Brother

I come from a family of all boys. Surviving in my house means you've got to know when it's OK to squirm and when to shrug your shoulders and roll your eyes at their shenanigans, like it's no big deal.
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Scary movies have never really bothered me.

In fact, I'm that kid who can watch something scary and then turn off the TV and all the lights, and then close my eyes and go straight to sleep.

Now, I have to say that I've never seen a scary movie at the theater, simply because I don't really get it. I mean, if I wanna see a scary movie, I'll do it at home. I'm not gonna pay to be scared in a dark room filled with 60-plus strangers who may or may not be vicious axe murderers.

So how did I end up at the movie theatre, the other day, watching Paranormal Activity 3, you ask?

Well, I'll tell you.

One of my brothers has been watching the entire Nightmare on Elm Street series lately. (I think he wanted to get into character in order to be Freddy Krueger for Halloween.)

Anyway, somehow, I ended up watching the movies with him. And sure, I was a little creeped out, but that was all fake. I knew it couldn't actually happen, so I wasn't scared.

In fact, I actually kind of liked the series. And I finally understood why people liked being scared. It's like a going on a roller coaster.

Now, that being said, what I still don't get is why people would pay to be in a dark room with 60-plus strangers who may or may not be vicious axe murderers. I mean, no way!

So, the day after Halloween, I was in the car with my brother, Sloan, and I started talking about Paranormal Activity 3.

Why? I don't know.

But then Sloan suggested we go see the movie.

Of course, I wasn't crazy about the idea. But put yourself in my shoes. Sloan is 12. And there's no way I was gonna let my little brother be braver than me. No way.

(You see where this is going, right?)

Besides, I sat through the Nightmare on Elm Street movies without even one nightmare. Could Paranormal be so bad?

I soon found out that yes, yes it could.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Back to the car, where I realized that I wasn't wearing contacts. My vision isn't that bad, so I can go places without them, but it is hard for me to watch a movie without them. So my dad dropped off my brother and my mom to get the tickets and seats, then drove me home and back as fast as possible.

Now, the reality of what was taking place was not lost on me. I mean, here I was, going all the way home to get my contacts so I was actually putting in time and effort so I could pay to be scared in a dark room filled with 60-plus strangers who may or may not be vicious axe murderers. Awesome.

But, you know, I couldn't chicken out at this point -- not in front of my little brother.

You may not know this, but I come from a family of all boys. So I've spent a good part of my life... well... pretty motivated to be just as tough as they are. Not that I can't be a girly girl when I want to. But surviving in my house means you've got to know when it's OK to squirm and when to shrug your shoulders and roll your eyes at their latest shenanigans, like it's no big deal.

So, about a quarter of the way through the movie, I started to cry. Yep. That's right, cry.

I know, I know. I was truly, literally -- crying. I hugged my knees and curled up next to my dad, but I was still crying. What can I say?

I hung in there for little while longer, and then, I couldn't take it anymore, and I told my dad that I had to leave. Like, now. I even offered to just leave by myself, so he could stay, and I would go get frozen yogurt across the street.

But then, I looked over at my little brother, and he was enjoying the movie!

And I just couldn't do it. I couldn't let him be braver than me!

So I stayed...

...For another 20 minutes.

And then, it was too much. I told my dad that I had to leave, and he said okay and came with me. (My dad is pretty awesome like that.)

So we started the long "walk of shame" out of the theater (and I'm sure that those 60 axe-murderers were silently laughing at me because I couldn't take it). But as we were walking out, I found my eyes glued to the screen.

Wait, what? Why was I still watching?!

Then I realized that I couldn't just miss the ending. I mean, I haven't seen the other Paranormal movies, so I was pretty sure there was gonna be a happy ending. (And I really needed one of those!)

So we stood in the aisle way and watched the rest of the movie from there.

Like, really? Who does that?

But I wasn't the only one. There was another kid, probably a year younger than me, who came to stand in the aisle, too. So okay, it wasn't just me.

After the movie was over, we went to have frozen yogurt, because yes, I was serious about that. Then guess what I did. I went home, sat on the couch, and watched Paranormal Activity 1 and 2.

Seriously, what's wrong with me?

But I wasn't that scared at home. Of course I had all the lights on.

Well...

That night was the weirdest night of my life. I could not turn off the lights -- don't even think about it!

So I tried to sleep with them on. But that didn't work. Then my dad came to turn off my lights, and I started crying again. Way to be brave, Benni.

I buried my face in my pillow (because that always makes things better), and made my dad turn the lights back on. He turned on half of them and let me keep my TV on.

He was walking out of my room, and I said, "Dad. I can't sleep with that in my room." And I pointed to my Justin Bieber cardboard cut-out.

I know, pathetic!

So my dad offered to take it out to the hallway. But duh, Dad. If you put it out in the hallway, it's just gonna end up back here in the morning! Were you not there during the movie? Ghosts move things.

So he took it to the garage and locked the door.

Problem solved.

It's been a couple of days since my Paranormal 1, 2 and 3 experience, and I wish I could say that things are dandy now.

But that's not quite true.

I still wash my face one eye at a time so I can watch the mirror and make sure nothing's behind me.

I still play music 100 percent of the time in my room so I can't hear any strange noises.

And I still sleep with the TV on. (Don't worry, now there's a timer that turns it off after a certain amount of time. Save electricity!)

Worst of all is that I've been having nightmares, too.

But I have to say that, in a way, I'm glad I went to see the movie in the theatre.

Not because it was really great and it blew my mind, or whatever. I mean, it was a good movie and it got into my head, which is exactly what the filmmakers were trying to do.

But looking back on the whole situation, I'm glad that I did it, and that I stayed through the whole thing (even if I was in the aisle for part of it).

And I have my brother, Sloan, to thank for that a little.

I mean, I don't think that he had any idea what kind of challenge he was putting me through. But just the fact that he was totally unfazed by the whole experience and he was actually enjoying it somehow made me persevere and stick with it, more than I would have without him there.

Now, I know it was just a movie. But I also know that, when you challenge yourself in the little things -- and succeed -- you are actually building muscles you'll need later on in life when the really big, really important challenges come along.

All of which means that, even though watching the movie in the theatre may not seem like that big a deal, in the long run, it's probably gonna be one of the reasons why I do things even when I'm nervous or not sure of the outcome.

And when you put it that way, the movie takes on a little more significance.

But back to today.

Today, I am happy to report that I think I've found a solution to my nighttime freak-outs. For the last few nights, our biggest dog, Rosco, has been sleeping in my room. And guess what? No nightmares, even with all the lights off! I mean, if there was something in my room -- according to Paranormal Activity 2 -- my dog would warn me. So I feel better now.

The weirdest thing is that I can't wait for Paranormal Activity 4.

And I just might watch it from the aisle --unapologetically!

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