standing in the shower (the horror, the horror)

The other day I'm standing in the shower, thinking (don't worry, this will be rated G--the good bits are covered in soap suds) and the air temperature shifts down noticeably, as if someone had entered the bathroom.  Which, of course, wasn't really possible since I was home alone at the time.
So why the change in temperature?
Well, of course there had to be some sort of burglar or murderer or something (is what I'm thinking).
Now, panic wasn't even an emotion that crossed my mind.  Fear, did, however, but not the version that is associated with being scared.  The concept of fear is what came to the forefront, and the realization of what would really scare me if some unknown individual entered the bathroom:  the fact that someone was there.
 
Okay, so follow this:  you're in the shower, alone (under the water, and at home), and someone opens the shower curtain and commences to stab you with a knife (ree! ree! ree!) [cue newspaper, black ink spiraling down the drain].  It's not the knife that scares you, it's that fear that someone is right there all of a sudden.  Yeah, the knife hurts, I'm sure, but that first shriek stems from the shock of revelation that someone is there who shouldn't be there. The weapon would be the afterthought, not the initial fright.
Which, one would think, wouldn't be the case, right?
[See what Psycho has done to us?  Why would there even have to be a weapon?  It would be just as terrifying if someone whipped the shower curtain aside and they were holding a cucumber.  Perhaps more frightening, in fact . . . ]

The mind does strange things to us.  Someone once noted that scary movies--horror movies, thrillers, suspense, pick one--would be nothing without the soundtrack.  Much of the suspense is created and escalated with musical accompaniment.  A sudden cut in a scene is assuredly accented by a sharp change in the music, whether it be in tone or level.  Without that, it's merely a change in scene.  It's the aural embellishment that our mind processes and causes us to be scared.


For years I've had a fear of looking out a window at night and out of the darkness have someone looking back in at me.  Even had nightmares before where this very event occurs.  And watch out for those clean windows, because you can startle yourself with your own reflection (not that that's happened to me, once . . . someone, you know, told me it happened to them.  Before.  Years ago.).

Fear of the unknown.  It's irrational.  Irrationality.  Our fears are unfounded--they are constructs that we create ourselves . . . What was that sound?; What if I fall?; Why jump out of a perfectly good plane?; What if he says no?  We are truly limited by our imagination--but in a negative way.  Our minds play tricks on us, all the time and every day.         
Let's throw a saddle on it and show it who's boss.