Waving goodbye to my shark fear

WHAT KATI DID NEXT: I am very proud of myself today and I would like to share the reason for this pride with you.

I hope you won’t mind. I am afraid of sharks. Alright, I’ll explain a little. There are a few reasons, I think, Freud might have other ideas, as to why I have this rather daft fear, when I live very firmly in a land-locked city, practically central to a country, but these two are the ones I cling to.

Firstly, when I was rather young and we were on holiday by the seaside.

My brother and I were out in a dinghy, on our own — health and safety having not written the pamphlet on the responsibility that parents should have most definitely taken regarding young children and dinghies.

Another young child, also sans parental guidance, had blown up a massive, and I mean double the size of me at the time, toy great white shark.

Now sharks aren’t the most attractive of animals at the best of times.

If you were going to pick an animal, even a very dangerous one, to give a great big hug to, then I imagine it would be of the lion/tiger variety and not the great white lot but this particular blow-up monster looked evil.

All bared teeth, six rows, with blood dripping off them and the steely black-eyed look of a watery killer.

This unguided child threw said blow-up predator on to our dinghy as my brother jumped out to try to swim us back to shore. We had drifted, what I considered miles, out to sea.

Having just learnt to swim, I screamed a heart-rending scream as this monster attacked.

I threw myself into the sea — I agree, not the best place to escape a fish — thus beginning the life-long, so far, fear.

Secondly, I saw “Jaws” and that just bit the final chunk out of the surf board.

I’m saying this because in “Finding Nemo” there is also a very big shark. It may be called Bruce, it may be a cartoon but I still found it very difficult to watch.

But watch it I did. Today. My child wanted to and who am I to say no.

I’m telling you this because I am very proud of myself.

What have you done today?