12 days for a trip across the sea
A trip of wonders to the greatest degree
London, Paris, Venice, and Rome
5,000 miles away from home

Picture upon pictures taken there
4 days in, in London's flare
4 am on the early train
Our bags are packed, making fain

It's getting late in the hotel
And we try not to dwell
On the fact we hear the voices
Of the boys in our group making poor choices

They are laughing in the hall
Hotel tag? What a squall
I open the door to say, "Go to bed!"
So that tomorrow they do not have tired heads

It is not the boys from our group
It's young adult men who tower and stoop
Their faces turn before I make a sound
We make eye contact and I whip around

My head only peaked out the door
An awkward encounter, so we swore
A knock sounds at the front
Was it our roomate or a stunt?

We ignore and try to prepare
And yet the knocks seem to blare
It is not our roommate, as they cover up the looking hole
They are laughing at our toll

They know a teenage girl is in the room
The deadbolt is locked but they've made a tomb
It's me and her vs. 5 stout men
Our room feels like a glen

A trashcan and 3 ceramic mugs
To defend ourselves from the thugs
And only a metal water bottle
To aid in our fight of a bash and throttle

In a panic I call the head
She came moving on a tread
The men went off in a grumbling
And I stood behind the door a bumbling

Terror seeped from my bones
And my fate lifted from the stones
A hero draped if wonderful glory
So that my life would not be another forgotten story

She teaches at the middle school
People unknowing of her tuile
She lives a hero's life per say
Unkowingly making lives a gay

Heros like her are around me
In our community unknowingly free
Heros like her are normal and kind
Their paths around me intertwined
And so I live amongst those who shine
As they live next to mine