Davenport, IA – Telling him it’s “very natural,” a local father assured his son that the Chuck E. Cheese band nightmares he’s been experiencing are just a part of growing up.
“Your body is changing,” the father said in a private moment. “And this is something that happens. You grow up thinking the Chuck E. Cheese band is kind of fun and silly, and then one day you see them differently – as the manifestations of all your primal fears.”
Though the boy has had recurring nighttime visions of the animatronic band, he has struggled to make sense of them.
“I keep waking up and feeling really weird,” the boy said. “Then I remember stuff. Like in one dream I was with my grandpa and his skin melted away and Jasper T. Jowls was underneath. Or the one where Mr. Munch baked me into a pizza and saved my head slice for last. Dad says it’s okay though, I guess.”
Thinking about the nightmares, the boy’s father can’t help but crack a smile.
“The years fly by, right? One of my first had ol’ Chuck locking me in a ball pit filled with bees while ‘Octopus’ Garden’ played over a speaker,” the father said. “I felt ashamed at the time, but I don’t want my son feeling that way. Being terrified of robotic animals is part of what makes us human.”
While the boy maintains the nightmares still confuse him, his father believes that will pass in time.
“Last week I caught him watching Country Bear Jamboree clips on the Internet and just screaming,” the father said with a wink. “He’s going to be all right.”
