“That was quite an intense movie,” he said, as they wandered out into the street.
“Oh I don’t know,” she said. “My theory is that they make those movies to take everyone’s mind off of the really scary stuff.”
“Like what? What are you scared of?”
“Well, snakes, for one. Imagine if we knew there were snakes in the theatre, crawling under our feet. I’ll bet we wouldn’t even have noticed whatever was on the screen.”
“Point well taken,” he said. “Snakes are scary.”
“And butterflies of course,” she continued.
“Butterflies?”
“They look all pretty, but up close they’re just creepy crawly bugs with fancy wings. Don’t tell me you’ve never noticed.”
“Um,” he said, feeling a little lost.
“Exactly!” she said, taking his silence for agreement. “All those stories about butterflies coming out of somebody’s mouth. It’s enough to give you nightmares.”
“I guess they…” he started, almost relieved when she cut him off.
“And don’t even get me started on Mickey Mouse. Absolutely terrifying.”
“Mickey Mouse?” he said weakly.
“Well, of course. Have you ever noticed that however he turns his head, those ears are always facing you? I’m telling you, it’s demonic.” She turned to look at him. “Are you ok? You seem a little pale.”