Is signed

I’ve always been fascinated by phobias. Not just fears, but phobias—an irrational terror towards something. Usually, there’s a backstory, a trigger that explains why it developed.

In my case, my phobia is called thalassophobia: a fear of the sea. But, as I’ve mentioned, phobias aren’t something you’re born with; they appear over time.

When I was a child, my favorite movie was Disney’s The Little Mermaid. I loved the idea of being a mermaid. In fact, I used to spend summers at my grandparents’ beach apartment, and if I wasn’t in the sea, I was in the pool.

One day, while watching TV, I switched channels and stumbled upon a movie called Deep Blue Sea. I vaguely remember it being about smart sharks, though I’m not entirely sure… I just know it was about sharks. And, as these movies tend to go, there was the typical scene with the shark’s open mouth taking up the entire screen as if it were about to devour me. It terrified me.

As if that wasn’t enough, sometime later my parents bough