Elementary, My Dear Bear

I love the element of surprise, don't you? Sure, everyone does. It's one of the most delicious things to watch in a movie, read in a story—how-to book—advertisement, or write into your story.

Hey, that reminds me— Pull up a chair and I'll tell you the tale of

THE TELESCOPE, THE BEAR MAN, 

AND THE SCARE THAT SHOT HIM OVER THE MOON

Once upon a time, a brother-in-law of mine with the physique and physiognomy of a great bear carted his ultra fancy telescope out to the country to the deep, deep dark. 

The better to see the stars with, my dear. 

He rumbled down a lonely road——all by his lonesome——out in the middle of nowhere——set up his telescope, and spied on the stars.

"Hi," a voice suddenly spoke right behind him.

Scared the-bear-of-a-brother-in-law to death! — (we'll call him Burt to protect the names of the non-innocent.) 

The "voice" happened to belong to a policeman who saw Burt driving out in the boondocks and followed to see if he was up to no good. He snuck up on Burt until he was right behind him and said, "Hi." 

The bear man shot into the sky in a spasm of fear and the policeman aimed the telescope into the deep, deep dark just in time to see Burt the Bear shoot over the moon. (Okay, so the last paragraph is entirely fabricated, but splendidly necessary.)

BY DANICA SILLS!

SO. There was— 

     Just a simple Hi.

     Just a harmless, protect-the-people policeman.

But how intriguing, how amusing to see that such non-scary elements in just the right situation struck terror in a bear of a man!

I love reading the unexpected in books, and I relish mixing it in my own writing. 

In my own experience, the fear springing from innocent-seeming surroundings is often the most terrifying— or exhilerating, whichever the case may be.

So— 

Read it, write it, live it. 

Give it a humorous ending, a truly scary one, or your own nefarious twist.  

Experiment with the element of innocent surprise.
Liven things up, make someone happy, be a little ornery (or a lot, depending on the scaree!)

And, oh yeah— BOO!