I keep thinking about being 13
And walking to the drugstore with a friend
In November
At 8:00 in the evening
Our sweaters and laughter in our chests kept us warm
Our breath formed in front of us
Dragons
We were dragons
In that moment
Fearless and brave and everything strong
The breath that filled our lungs
Transformed into fire that vanquished enemies
Until they yelled
We were almost at the 7-11
When they promised they could give us heaven
To get into their jacked up truck
Boys who I remember laughed when we said nothing
My heart in my stomach but I still heard it in my ears
Fear thick in my blood
Exhaust in our faces
We forgot our plans
We ran
Into the nearest building
And watched the window
As they circled the block
Once
Twice
Three times
Looking for us
Calling for us
Next day
When I told my teacher
She asked me why we out so late
Their actions left unquestioned
As if our walking provoked them
As if this should have been expected
As if their actions were to be accepted
And I suddenly felt ashamed
I just wanted a Slurpee
So when she questioned me
I couldn’t find words
But I remember thinking
That we were dragons
Fearless and brave and everything strong
The breath that filled our lungs
Transformed into fire that vanquished enemies
Snuffed out
And kept quiet
By questions
By boys in trucks
By “just forget about it”s
And “don’t be so sensitive”s
But by God
That night
For a moment
We were dragons
About the Creator
Jinx Farrah
I'm a positively cynical 18 year old college student who makes sense of their life through the 26 letters of the alphabet, rearranged into what I need them to say.
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