The "S" Factor

Snakes, spiders, and sharks: so, this morning I made a realization about my fears. I have huge issues with the first three nouns in this post. However, I don't think it is due to the fact that snakes have fangs, spiders may bite, or sharks have rows upon rows of sharp teeth. Although, these factors are the possible end result of my fear, there is something else that each share, which terrifies me even more. It was earlier this morning, 6:00 AM to be exact, when this reality hit me like the glare off of a windshield.
My morning routine is incredibly foggy until I am well on my way to work; in fact, the first few minutes is literally a fog because I don't wear my glasses in the shower and I put in my contacts after the shower. Today, was no different...unfortunately, that last statement was incorrect. It started pretty normal with rolling out of bed, almost tripping over Charley as I closed the bedroom door, making my way to the kitchen and hoarsely saying "Charley, pray." Then, I fed him and made my way back to the bathroom. I took off my glasses, stepped into the steaming shower, and then, through the vapor, I caught something out of the corner of my terribly blind eyes. Please, understand, I wouldn't recognize someone standing 6 feet away from me; however, I know what my house looks like, including my shower. Normally, there is not a dark shape on the top right corner of the see-through shower curtain, but this morning, there was. I froze, turned around slowly, squinted (still fighting sleep), and realized it was a Silverfish. (See picture below for help to understand the creepiness of the situation.) As all this is occurring, I have in the back of my mind the fact that Scott had to close last night. This meant he didn't get home until at least 11:30 PM, maybe even after midnight. So, I stuffed my fist in my mouth to stifle a scream and BOLTED. Amazingly, I had the clarity of mind to turn off the shower. Wrapped in my towel, I stood staring at the shower, knowing the Silverfish lurked in the now upper left corner. I grabbed my bottle of facewash and wacked at the curtain, certain that had knocked him into the shower, but I had to check. Having to check? Major mistake. Carefully, I lifted back the curtain and suddenly it was up and over to the front side. At this point, my ability to quietly contain the situation disappeared as I let out a blood-curdling scream and promptly ran into the living room in search of a shoe. As I came back to the bathroom door, I heard my poor husband's groggy mumbles. I am sure he thought I was being attacked by a robber; however, when he walked, ummm, leaned into the bathroom with half-closed eyes and attempted to look at me, I think he realized it was something else. I apologized profusely as he used the shoe to smash the life out of the Silverfish. He saved the day. It's the little things. Then, as he stumbled back to bed he asked "So, when we finish the basement do you want to get it sprayed for bugs?" My reply "Yes, go back to snoozing, hon."
Back to the title of this post. You are thinking the "S" factor is the common first letter these organisms share, although that is a good guess, it's wrong. Instead, the "S" factor is speed. I think my fear for these not-so-delightful creations is their speed. Yea, Silverfish are small, but those suckers can move. Once a shark has you in his blood radar, you're a goner because he can book it to your location within seconds. Spiders use those eight legs and their fancy web tactics to basically fly through the air with ease. And, snakes? Well, haven't we all seen the Discovery Channel's nifty slow motion camera's that allow you to see the snake actually strike versus the real time version where it's all a big blur? Yep, it's the "S" factor, which strikes fear in this little girl's heart. Thank God for Scott, my other S factor, who saves the day, again and again.