Page 151 of Brambles and Bellflowers
The paper beneath me blurred.
I was drawing.
I knew this moment.
But I didn’t.
I hadn’t remembered it until now.
“What are you drawing?”
Miss Kay’s long, red hair fell over her shoulder as she leaned over my desk. “It’s beautiful.”
“A dragon,” I replied. I stuck my tongue between my teeth and put the finishing touches on its wings.
“That’s unique,” she remarked. “You’re supposed to draw a picture of your hero. Most of the other girls drew princes. What made you choose a dragon?”
I froze, my heart racing.
What good was a prince? They were still people. And I didn’t like people much—especially boys.
“I want a dragon.” The words left my mouth before I could stop them. I pressed the crayon down harder. “So he can eat the bad guys.”
Why couldn’t a dragon be my hero? What was wrong with that?
Miss Kay’s scary face softened. She touched the edge of my desk. "What bad guys, Bianca?"
My throat closed.
The words—the truth—were there, somewhere, buried in the back of my mind, screaming to be free. But I couldn’t say them.
I didn’t even know why.
Instead, I squeezed the crayon until my fingertips ached.
“Why does your dragon also look like a duck?” she asked instead.
I could suddenly breathe again. That was easy.
“Because it can kill them.”
Didn’t she know? Ducks were scary. I’d seen one chase a full-grown man at the lake once. Kieran told me people used swans instead of guard dogs because they were deadly.
I hated them.
I hated them so much.
Miss Kay didn’t answer. She just looked at me.
And then— Mr. Richards was so angry, angrier than I’d ever seen him. It hurt so, so much until—finally—I went to sleep.
And when I woke up, I was somewhere else. They never let me go to school again.
“Bianca!”
A voice sounded through the darkness—Damen—as the earth above me shifted.
The classroom was gone, and the scent of glue and crayons was replaced by damp soil and blood. Right now, in this place, Ididn’t have to hear them. The roots stretched and curled around me, threading through the soil, reaching upward—listening. Through them, I could feel the vibrations, the movement, the shift in weight above.
