The Little Girl at Ocean Park

I'm scared of heights. I had always dreamt of falling down the stairs as a child. I could not go down the stairs without holding onto the handrail or grabbing onto someone. When there's nothing to hold onto, I would bend my body forward like an old lady. I remember one time when I had to climb the wide stairs that lead to a certain Chinese temple. My family was ahead of me. I was so scared that I hunched over the steps and my hands had almost touched the ground. I saw some tourists looking at me curiously.

I don't really consider myself an acrophobic. I am only particularly afraid of stairs. I'm not that scared to look out the windows of tall buildings; I have been to observation towers such as the Tokyo Tower and Seoul Tower, which are much higher than any flight of stairs; and I'm not afraid of flying on a plane. As I grew older, I have learned to control my fear. I can even climb or go down the stairs without grasping the handrail. That's a big improvement!  
During the Holy Week, we went to Hong Kong for a short vacation. We decided to go to Ocean Park since we hadn't been there for a long time. Ocean Park, like Disneyland, is a place where you can act like a child. If you have been to Ocean Park, you probably have gone to Ocean Theatre. It's a huge theatre where you can watch seals, sea lions, and dolphins perform some tricks. Just like in any theatre (or stadium), you enter from the top, and you go down the stairs as you go nearer to the main stage. As we started to go down the stairs to find seats, I froze. I realized how steep the stairs are. I told my family to go ahead of me so they can block my view to make it less scary. I made a few steps and was stuck there. I couldn't go any further. I was so scared. I carefully went back to the top. My dad was coaxing me to go down with him. But I was too cowardly. I fiercely shook my head as I was trying to hold back my tears. I stood there stubbornly as I watched my family settling into their seats. I watched people, young and old, bravely went down the stairs. How did they do it? Eventually, my family left their chairs to join me on top. We watched the whole program from there, standing. 

Overall, the trip was fun. I felt like a kid as I looked in amazement at the gigantic aquariums and the cuddly pandas. However, seeing those stairs had indeed brought out the little girl in me.