These are the things that live in my head.
There were dark things that lived in the nooks and crannies in my room as a child, and they only came out when I would go to bed at night. I couldn't see them, but I knew they were there. They were faceless and gray, covered in dust and lint, coming and going from dark and desolate places.
I would lay as still as possible in the hopes that I would dissolve into the blankets and bedsheets, become one with my pillows, because I knew they were watching.
Always watching.
Just watching.
And as they watched, I'd fall asleep in my frozen state.
In the morning my grandmother would come in and find me still in bed, afraid of getting up because there might be a muma under my bed, ready to snake out and grab at my bare foot. She'd look under the bed, swatting the floor underneath with her hand, and cheerfully declare that there wasn't anything under there except dust bunnies as she'd pull one out to show me.
I on the other hand knew that those weren't dust bunnies. That was the stuff that the mumas left behind, the stuff that rolled off their gray cloaks.
For Illustration Friday: linked. Three linked figures representing my childhood fear of dust bunnies.
Oh my God- these are scaring the crap out of me, and I'm an adult!
ReplyDeleteWow, this makes for an amazing story- and you are a great writer as well as an artist- to actually make me feel the creepiness!! Wow! You are great!!! :)
When I was young, I wasn't creative enough to be scared of Mumas- I was convinced murderers were EVERYWHERE!!! lol.
I like your style and flow of pen. The story of course sends that shiver up my spine.
ReplyDeleteI think they lived at my house too and I never new if it was better to keep my eyes open or shut and I dared not move cause they could only get you if they knew you were awake!!!! AHHHHHHH!
ReplyDeleteLove love love your work, bella!
Very Nicely Done. I love your consistent style. Your line work is so clean and accurate. I find your work inspiring I'm going to follow you. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to here what you think of mine:
http://brittanyforrest88.blogspot.com/2010/04/link-illustration-friday.html
Mumas must be what lived in my house as a child. They would give me that creepy feeling when I was shutting off the last light downstairs before heading up. They would seemingly beat me to my room and I would run into my room, jump into bed, and shut out the light in one swift motion. Once I lay still for a while they would go away. Funny, I had a lot of dust bunnies under my bed. LOL
ReplyDeleteI love the artwork. You have really captured dust bunny like creatures who lurk in the darkness. Great work!
Nina: Thanks so much for the awesome comment! Ha! I think murderers being everywhere is a good one! Better be scared of murderers than dust bunnies!!!
ReplyDeleteSujata: Thanks! Glad the story gave you shivers! :)
Kylie: Hehe! I think they lived at all the kids' houses. Some of us were just better at detecting them! ;0) And isn't it strange how many of us (kids) would freeze-up and lay still if we thought there was something in the room with us? It must be a primal-intuitive sort of thing, you know, dinosaur goes after a caveman and the caveman plays dead? (Okay, here I go on a tanget, and totally far-fetched... and yes yes, cavemen didn't exist when dinosaurs did LOL!)
Brittany: Hey, thanks! I'm going to check out yours right now!
jb: Thanks! Glad to know I wasn't the only one who was dealing with mumas. ;0)
That is so cool. I used to be scared of these as well, except mine had little yellow eyes. :) Beautiful drawing, and wonderfully imaginative and well-written little story.
ReplyDeletei want these things to live in my head tooooo!!!!
ReplyDelete