Fraidy Cats

[Music] hmm [Music] know what a frayy cat is lots of kids call people names like that seems to me they're just scared of being scared when i think about it it's sort of silly because i know what a freight cat is i'm one but it took a while to see you know lots of things scare me like some of my grandma's stories [Music] ran through dark woods his way lit by the demon head [Music] [Applause] [Music] perhaps your fire will warm my cottage [Music] in the morning she was burned to ash what are you seeing in there boy are you dreaming it or is it dreaming you that was really scary oh what's so scary that gnome and his ugly face and the skulls but that gnome was in your head you made him up it's all you in there isn't it so what's so scary good night dear have you ever wondered what's really scary i mean when you think about it there are really a lot of scary things practically everywhere you look [Music] the question you see has to have your own answer do you know where to look what really scares you what's there what do you think of strange far away places castles dark forests monsters and creatures and far away on the edge of seeing like houses in the mist [Applause] deep you know it's deep where dreams pass they spin and twist and twirl and you can follow if you dare if you care for only if you care will you find fear and it's what you care that we want to know to see to hear to learn the cares and fears of [Applause] silent houses doorways waiting monsters limbs and faces their breath their patience their longing children's longing your longing there back to normal it's not so scary with the light but does it have to be dark to be scary does who it is make it more scary does it have to be halloween is something frightening because it's familiar or because it's unknown or is there something else okay everybody now close your eyes and imagine scary things our teacher gave us this project to do at home you know draw pictures and stuff it was a neat project when you think about it try it sometime you know there are different ways a person is afraid bet you didn't know that i do at least i do now boy did i ever think of some scary things how about your dad's drill going right through your finger and burners on the stove sizzling your hands off and light bulbs exploding how about your mother's butcher knife i mean think of it slicing through your finger i guess things like that are pretty gory but they're still scary and all of those things are kind of dangerous if you really look at them but other things aren't they just frighten you because they're kind of spooky have you ever tried to scare yourself like a joke i mean you know like when you're in a tent and you put the flashlight on your face [Music] my grandma told me about rolling my imagination around my head you know things like dark rooms old cellars and things under the bed but the trickiest part is a lot of the scary things are fun like i really like going on live the best part of all is the roller coaster [Music] uh that's the good thing about being scared you can like it especially when it's all over my grandma says it's like exercising feels good to stop and another thing about being afraid of cat your mom and dad big people they're a part of it like i draw really neat pictures at school my mother really hates them [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] nicholas i told you i don't want you watching that kind of stuff larry it's not good for him uh mom there's nothing scary about that it doesn't bother me don't let him watch it it'll put him off it soon enough mother that doesn't make any sense at all what could he possibly learn from that garbage i mean it's disgusting he might learn some important things that he won't learn by you turning things off oh mother leave off please oh yes i'm failing that's clear we've got so that i don't know anything anymore about being a mother for think the child instance have to learn the flesh as limits if the boy doesn't stand back and look at something violent frightening how do you think you'll learn to avoid it i don't want him learning it from that okay mister time for your homework ah i will watch this show i'll change it to something else right now finished why do you think children like so many horrid things he's learning a little bit about mortality you know parents are always doing that kind of thing they're always scared about what i do when i'm not even scared they always say it's for my own good even when it's not on the tv my grandma's really neat she buys me all these great things she really understands a lot she's sort of weird but i love her but parents are always chasing around worried about getting your brain warped or something they're afraid i guess mrs devere called me today and told me that you and freddie were playing around that train track again now i've told you i don't want you to do that i don't want you to go near there i'm not sure whether things like that is scary just because you can get hurt doesn't mean you're frightened fact is dangerous is fun we come out okay but boy my mother gets scared when you think about it half the time around your house your mum or dad's worried about something that's the worst kind of being scared parents do it all the time i do not my dad's not scared all the time but he sure can get mad again all right then i'm the one that gets scared no wonder kids get twitchy sometimes when you're with your friends you like to fool around a guy got two friends we like to hang around the harbor a lot we do a lot of dumb things but it's fun [Music] come on nicholas someone's gonna get hurt hello there i used to get scared in my bed it was okay when the light is on but in the dark boy i'd lie in my room and pretty soon i'd see things all those places you never looked at all day have things in them now you turn your back on them they move and you can hear them scratching you know they're just waiting to get you that can really scare you [Music] [Music] i could feel them moving sometimes under the covers as afraid they grabbed me and hold me and i couldn't get away one thing that is really horrible is when you have to get up in the middle of the night [Music] you have to walk through all those dark hallways [Music] some real strange things can happen [Music] [Music] hey [Music] it all still scares me now if i think about it now i have to concentrate a lot of things are really horrible i mean really really really grotesque when you're a kid it's fun to make people jump being jumpy is kind of fun too you really have to concentrate on being scared come to think of it you really have to concentrate on not being scared scared by sure i was who wouldn't be that storm was just about the worst i ever saw my tug wasn't built to weather that kind of water white water that captain told us about a story when he was really scared my crew thought we were all goners for sure so did i for a time but in that sort of situation you just gotta keep your mind on what you're doing it's not but one thing to do plow right ahead and plow we did today my money's a wave broke right it's funny even big people can get scared barreling through but we got through it all right because everybody kept their heads you can always get through any scary things as long as you know your business do you see what i mean that's the point if you're not afraid sometimes you could get hurt it's silly not to be frightened that's how you learn to do it right and sometimes things aren't worth worrying about that's the trick i didn't get be frightened but don't worry boy this scary stuff sure can be confusing anyway all the kids in my class finally got a chance to tell the scariest things i'm scared of witches witches i'm afraid of dungeons and old castles vampire bats when i'm really far away from everybody and the winds howling through the trees and that well i'm scared of if you go on a trip or somewhere and then you come back and your parents are all died monsters dinosaurs a zombie i'm scared of pirates rattlesnakes when they're planning to eat you a giant stepson godzilla a cobra snake garliss frankenstein grandma we over scared when you were small feeling small is part of being a scared nicholas something or somebody whatever's happening at the time if it seems so big that your heart starts pounding and who you are way down deep inside feels carried away so far so fast that you're lost do you feel that small then you're scared nicholas what do you mean i mean my little man being scared gives you a good chance to learn to learn about yourself you could say you telling yourself something sure grandma but some things i mean you know like when a dog bites you or falling out of an airplane what about them but those things make you roll the scariness around inside there they make you play a little game inside that bean of yours so that you learn the difference between scare and hurt sometimes too late if you're not careful i guess when i get older i'll get scared more now that if you face your fears you won't some people never seem to learn the right thing they seem to like to keep themselves tied up in fright you should use your fears to learn you know the real things that scared me had a look about them a certain feeling and believe me when i tell you i know what a real fight is but those ones you don't really know till afterwards so what do you think my grandma says all the scare is really me i can understand it sort of creepy things are kind of weird but i think they're kind of interesting too [Applause] don't you wonder why do you look at things that have lost their life i guess it's maybe you don't want to die why can't people live forever it's when you think about it you get scared the thing is nobody tells you they all say that's okay or that's silly to be afraid of only my grandma makes any sense she says if you don't have some frights you won't see the things you should really be frightened of unless you don't know who's both that is nicholas you don't know whose vote that [Music] is [Music] nicholas come on [Applause] i really wouldn't do that if i were you nicholas come back come on nicholas don't go on so far nicholas come on you're going out too far nicholas hey look at me [Music] stop rocking the boat i'm a captain [Music] [Applause] nicholas [Music] captain [Music] [Music] all right kids come down those [Music] now all right kid okay keep back it's gonna be all right that's it you get a mouthful good job oh that's terrible stuff an old lake you'll be all right now that'll be all right just a bit of a scare that's all that's a good boy just a bit of a scare that's all that's a dumb thing to do you shouldn't do that okay come on i gotta get you dried off more i'm not once upon a time there was a little boy who was really scared he thought about it all the time he thought about it so much that he decided after a particularly good scare that he should do something about it so he decided to visit a kindly old witch who lived in a nearby castle and she told him the great secret known to the initiates of the ages always to be discovered by boys at the age of eight that a good scare is like taking a dare you have to shiver a little in order to care and i care about you nicholas that's my grandmother my mom says she's a character anyway there you go you've got to learn a little fright then you grow but it's in you not the thing that frightens you that's true you know that's neat you feel good when you're not scared anymore makes you think about things and you know there are a lot of things you should be afraid of i know and when you know something like that kind of makes you feel like celebrating [Music] you