Bruce Banner is bored, sitting on the sofa, right next to me.
The room is mostly empty except for a CRT television with a basic connection and the old sofa.
It is a big room.
We are alone, and I am frightened.
I know his alter ego, The Hulk. He knows I know and the truth sits between us uncomfortably.
In that respect, the room is not as empty as it seems.
Our boredom is a palatable cloud of air, wisping itself around the air we breathe in and out.
Our mutual anxiety in this situation is tangible, a force gluing us to the cushions of this old sofa.
The room is nearly empty, but we are suffocating in the manifestations of our own unbalanced minds.
“I’m not afraid of the Hulk.” I say, aiming for a light conversational tone.
Bruce picks up the cue and opts for nonchalance. “No? He is a monster.”
The light from the television flickers against his skin, and we make eye contact.
The truth between us expands in size, pushing us apart.
We now know that we both are only pretending to watch the television violence, senselessness, bad math, ill-planned marketing strategies, inferior products, and hypocritical cries for fundraising. Any one of those television basics could break the tenuous hold on our sanity.
We are holding onto a thin golden thread woven from the basics of etiquette and the wonders of meditation. We are ignoring the pictures flickering across the screen.
Bruce Banner is bored, I am fearful, and our heightened emotions clutter the empty room.
“The Hulk can’t help what he is. But you… you shatter and he’s freed. I’m afraid of you. You are prone to breaking, and I’m afraid I am, too.”
“You are more afraid of two bored, anxious nerds than of a rampaging, super-sized beast?” His face is wrinkled in confusion.
He doesn’t understand and his lack of comprehension is just one more reason to fear him.
There is nothing in the world more frightful than a bored, shatterable mind.
Except maybe the reflection of yourself in the eyes of a person with one of the minds in question.
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The Daily Post Prompt: You’re locked in a room with your greatest fear. Describe what’s in the room. http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/daily-prompt-fear/
Now that’s scary!
oh! I can see that. really
Unfortunately, so can I.
The Bruce Banner fear is one I’ve had since childhood.
But it’s only the silly old mind. Just a collection of random thoughts that arise and fall away, arise and fall away, and is in fact located exactly no-where.
It’s only problematic if you believe it’s you
Boredom’s only boredom. And I’d love to have the mind shattered. So shattered into such tiny fragments that I can watch it as a nebula cloud drifting off into the infinite universe.
Oh I love the comments on my blog. Like this one!! So pretty and poetry unto itself. “Arise and fall away!” sounds like a meditation.
Yes, you’re right… as long as I remember that my mind is a healthy one, perhaps I can be less fearless of the shattering process.
Hahaha! I had fun reading this. Thanks.
You had me with Bruce Banner. I am so happy you’re a blogger. Makes my day.
Happy New Thursday!
You hit it head on! Your second to last paragraph… powerful and true.
I know, unfortunately…. so many atrocities have been committed by a shattered mind… but I guess like Alison says above, shattering can be beautiful, too. Maybe it really just has to do with the mind in question.
What a quality scenario, brilliant!
I love your storytelling.
I was going along just fine and then I saw what was going on. My brain went 1984, fear, shatter, breaking, rampaging monster, bored mind…oooo that was cool.
Yay! I’m glad you liked it. I don’t write fear-based things too often so it’s always nice to know that it came across well. Everything I write tends to end up frightfully chipper, whether I want it to or not!
Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
Absolutely wonderful! So glad I stumbled upon your blog!!! Thank you!
What a lovely thing to say!
I’m glad we stumbled upon each other!! Thank you for reading and commenting!
And with the last line … Zing! (I didn’t see it coming) Well done.
And the question of which one of you is more breakable – and more threatening…
Good one!
Exactly!!! You should be worried that you understand my mind, haha!
Thanks for reading!
BWA-ha-ha!
Great take on the challenge which I ignored because I was afraid of it
haha! I can see it now– locked in a room with daily prompts!! The horror!!
Really, it’s bad enough that they are stalking me via my inbox. Speaking of stalking, I am following you on twitter these days
Great work, Rara! You are a fabulous writer.
Wow. This is excellent.
Thank you! And thank you for your link back to this post– I’m flattered!
You are a genius. I’m serious. I am in awe of this, you use something so silly to draw out and discuss such a serious and poignant topic. Holy rap, color me impressed!
Your perception is a little scary.
“The Dragon rose up from within him… drawing power from his anger, movement from his thoughts.”
Love the quote, it fits perfectly and so well said! It’s yours, right?
(In case I ever grab it, I want to credit it properly!) 
Thanks for reading!
Yeah, that’s from my book. It seemed to fit in with your Bruce nightmare, so I tossed it out there.
Your blog is a pleasure to read. Pretty glad I stumbled on it.
Your mind is incredible
Aww, Leisa, thanks!
Welcome!!!
I’m with Ponderings – Really good writing, really perceptive idea to explore – Rara is the Bloggers Swiss Army Knife!
haha! It’s another possible tagline for this blog!
Thanks for reading, Panda. 
Thank you for entertaining my “bored, shatterable mind.”
Oh good, another bored shatterable mind. I figure if we’re all entertaining each other, we’re safe, right?
Scary thoughts – all minds are shatterable at a certain point, they are all frail and prone to breaking; and based on the mindless drivel that seems to pass for entertainment across the lands these days I’d say that boredom is at epidimic proportions… *shudder*
(Another fantastic post.)
Yes, it’s hard to be entertained by media– especially when you’re talking about basic news and commercials. They function to break the zen of the watcher… and throw anxiety and fear at you from the screen. I don’t know what’s worse, the boredom of it or the fact that it’s trying to cause the shattering of a mind. Very scary. Thank you for reading and commenting!
I liked this a lot. I think greatest fear is usually one self. It’s easy to hurt and destroy yourself with out realizing.
So true. I think maybe we’re most scared of ourselves because we know ourselves more than anyone else– a sort of “ignorance is bliss’ phenomena. Thanks for your insightful comments and for reading!
It’s just how I see myself as well. I’m my own worst enemy and critic. And always hun. You’re writing matches my personality
I loved this — quite thought provoking.
Masterful..
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Interesting thoughts. This reminds me of conversations/arguments I have with my friend all the time. I always loved the Hulk and Bruce Banner from the tv show growing up. I am not sure if this is a bored, shatterable mind talking, but great writing as usual.
My biggest fear would be people who don’t get your reference….
haha, that would be truly terrifying!!!
Thanks for the smile, Raur. Well done!
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