I always knew I would die in a shower.

I feel as if the comforting, warm water pouring down upon me is a false sense of security. I always feel as if something is lurking nearby. I come up with scenarios in my mind all of the time— maybe a serial killer broke into the house and my loved ones are dead. Maybe the shower will overflow and I, unable to escape, will drown. Perhaps the shower will become sentient and strangle me alive. As preposterous as these might sound, they are the thoughts that flow my head each and every day.

Even if anyone managed to catch my demise it’d be too late. To make up for that, I make preparations. In case it’s a killer, I always check my surroundings every three minutes and make sure I have something I can use as a weapon. Be it a bottle of soap, a hairbrush, or even a small pair of scissors for trimming my eyebrows. I have them all within an arm’s reach. If it’s the shower becoming sentient or drowning, then I make sure to have a loud bell inside my shower so my roommate or a neighbor could attempt to rescue me.

Although I was dreadfully fearful, day after day, nothing bad would happen to me. After years of doing this, one day, I decided to shower in a different area. A different shower in my house, where there were no possibly dangerous objects or loud bells. I believed I could overcome my fear of being slaughtered in my most vulnerable state by being in the calming water.

The first five minutes everything was fine. I trembled with fear as I stepped into the water, but I was perfectly fine. Naturally, I turned up the temperature for the water so it would be hot and relaxing. At first, I felt comfortable. The sixth minute is when things started to change. I started hearing a knocking sound. I had assumed at the time that it was probably the wind or my roommate downstairs. I stayed in the shower even though I was dying to get out. I would not give into the thoughts and I would conquer my fear. Three more minutes passed. Silence. Another minute passed.

When it had been nine minutes, I heard breathing from outside the bathroom door. I made the water warmer for my own comfort, and as I did so I felt as the was steadily getting closer. I believed that I was so afraid that I must’ve been hearing things. I now know that I had once again deluded myself into thinking everything was safe.

More time passed, and I had already spent fifteen minutes in the shower. I turned the temperature of the water up. Fifteen became twenty and twenty became forty. The water became consistently warmer to make me feel more at home. I would not give in. I would not give in. I would not give in. The breathing outside became more erratic. The noise downstairs became more intense. The sizzling became louder. You may be wondering what the sizzling was. I looked down at my arm and steam was rising from it. My skin was completely burnt, as well as the rest of my body. I was scorching hot, as if I had just come out of the oven.

My charred skin was peeling off little by little and falling down to my feet. I fell to the cold, hard floor, helpless as my body burned. After all, I didn’t have my bell and it would cause too much pain to scream. I could not move. How could this have happened? I was so alert. I knew nothing was near me. I knew nothing could have happened. Was the breathing outside something supernatural that cursed me? Did I accidentally drink poison earlier in the day? I knew I was safe, and that there was no one around. I was the only one in the shower. I didn’t do anything wrong. . . did I?