Dragons

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