Writing exercise:  Write a story about someone that has an unusual phobia. Write a scene that causes that character to face his fear.

Surfing Spiders

It was mentioned in passing, sandwiched between the usual banter filling the smoking area daily. It wasn’t a surprising fear as fears go. But learning that this woman who carried herself with a confidence rarely seen in 29-year-olds was actually afraid of large bodies of water was both entertaining and intriguing. There was no explanation for it, she said. She just didn’t like being on, crossing over, or swimming in large bodies of water. It wasn’t my deep love of the ocean that made this difficult to comprehend. If any one of my other friends had confessed to this phobia (is there even a name for it?) I might not have thought twice about it. But this was Olivia!

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