Intimacy issues are cured through mother/son incest
A brand new sleeping bag was tossed onto my bedroom floor.
“Pack your things, we’re going camping tomorrow,” my mother said with a firm sense of resolve.
“Camping?” I asked. “I thought you hated camping.”
“I do. My therapist found that out today and he suggested I give it another try. He wants me to get over all of my phobias. It made sense once I thought about it.”
My mother had been going to the therapist for the past several months. I never fully understood why, but it made her happy. I also would never criticize her for that either, since I was a psychology major in college. In fact, I was always 100% supportive of anything she did that involved self-improvement (not that I thought she needed it).
“Well, if that means we get to go camping, then I’m all for it.”
Her eyebrow rose. “It’ll only be for the weekend. Believe me, I don’t want to stay in the woods any longer than I have to.”
“The thought of you walking around the forest trying not to get your designer clothes dirty might actually be funny to watch,” I smiled.
“Don’t count on it mister,” she replied. “I’m coming prepared. I’ve already spend over $200 dollars on a new outfit and hiking shoes for this camping trip, that I’ll hopefully never have to wear again.”
“I’m sure we’ll have a great time.”
She nodded. “Thanks. I have no clue how this is going to turn out or what we’re going to do over there. But I have a good feeling about all of this.”
That sense of resolve remained on her face, and in the tone of her voice. This clearly meant a lot to her for whatever reason.
***
It was Saturday night and my mother and I sat around a campfire. We spent the afternoon hiking and sightseeing. I loved it, but my mother didn’t have the same enthusiasm.
“So now that we’ve spent a couple hours out here, are you a little less afraid of being in the outdoors?” I asked.
“Not really,” she said hesitantly. “But at least we’ve got to spend a lot of quality time together, right? I’ve been so busy lately since my recent promotion, and you’ve got your hands full with college. So it’s nice to be able to connect with each other again.”
“Good point. We haven’t done anything like this in a while.”
She nodded. “Well I’m glad that this trip hasn’t been a total loss. I can’t wait until we get back to the city where there’s power and running water and a clean place to live.”
“What’s this fear you have with nature anyway?” I asked. “I think that’s what you mentioned yesterday, that you had a phobia or something. You never told me that before.”
“It’s nothing you’d be interested in.”
There was a passive look on her face, like she wanted to move on, but that only made me more curious.
“Come on mom, I’m majoring in psychology for a reason. Maybe one day I’ll be in the shoes of your therapist helping people who really need it.”
“Fine,” she said with a small huff. “When I was a little girl, our family went camping. One afternoon we went out for a hike and we ran into a grizzly bear. It wasn’t a close encounter or anything, the bear was minding its own business across the river. But I remember absolutely freaking out and running for my life in the other direction. Since then I vowed to never return to the outdoors.”