When Women Were Dragons

Alex Green recounts her earliest memory of seeing a dragon when she was just four years old. At this point in Alex’s life, Alex’s mother, Bertha Green, is hospitalized for chemotherapy and cancer treatments, though the child Alex is not yet aware of this. Her family does not explain why her mother is gone, nor do they say when she will return home—if at all. But across the street from Alex lives an elderly woman who lets her help with gardening and tending to her chickens, something she loves to do. One day, Alex hears screaming and loud rumbling sounds coming from the garden, and when she goes to investigate, she sees a dragon sitting on the ground. The dragon acknowledges Alex, presses a talon to its lips, and flies away.

Alex’s mother returns, though the silence surrounding both her illness and the dragoning across the street remains firmly in place. Marla, Alex’s maternal aunt, a mechanic who previously supported Alex’s mother through college and who once flew planes in the US Air Force and Army Corps, arrives to take care of her sister and Alex while Bertha recovers from chemotherapy. Alex recalls her mother being small and frail when she returns home again; in Alex’s young eyes, she is unrecognizable. Although Alex is grateful to be with her mother again, her father is quick to find excuses to leave, often going away on “business trips,” which everyone except the young Alex understands to mean that he is really with his mistress.

Meanwhile, Marla stays in the household to clean, cook, and support her sister. Alex remembers an instance in which Marla rubs her sister’s muscles and radiation scars while she and Bertha discuss poetry, school, and marriage. Alex overhears them talking about the myth of Tithonus as told through Bertha’s favorite poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Bertha thinks the greatest tragedy of Tithonus is that he is shriveled and forgotten: kept but unloved. This idea causes Alex inexplicable discomfort, and she wishes that her aunt would leave, because as a child, she thinks that if her aunt leaves, everything will go back to normal and her mother will be well again.

In an excerpt from “A Brief History of Dragons,” a paper published in the Annals of Public Health Research in 1956 and then redacted, Dr. Gantz describes the first written record of a dragoning dating back to 310 BC, recorded by Timaeus of Tauromenium. Timaeus is a Greek historian, and in this excerpt summarized by Dr. Gantz, he records the dragoning of Queen Dido. This is the first of 25 examples from history (and their attempted erasure) that preceded the Mass Dragoning event of 1955.

The tension between Bertha and Marla intensifies as Marla’s presence (and her constant allusions to Bertha’s success as a mathematician before she married and had children) becomes too much for Bertha to endure. The sisters explode into an argument, after which Bertha tells Marla to be “normal,” meaning that she should wed and have children, before she tries to come back into their lives. Marla leaves, though the sisters still attend church together, adorned in fabrics woven together with knots stitched by their ancestors and by Bertha. Alex remembers her aunt wearing slacks, not dresses, and recognizes that Marla was resisting gender roles even then. However, Marla does eventually marry a man named George who has an alcohol addiction. Alex’s memoir also hints at the impending Mass Dragoning of 1955, in which Marla is destined to participate regardless of the conflict within her own family.

Alex’s cousin, Beatrice, is born to Marla and George and becomes the light of Alex’s life. When Aunt Marla and Uncle George come to visit, Alex joins the adults at the dinner table, silent and reserved, though she’d much rather be playing with Beatrice. One evening, Alex is stuck between all four adults as they engage in an argument about Bertha’s education and excellent math skills. Marla defends Bertha while Bertha herself avoids the subject, and Mr. Green laughs at the idea that women should go to college or become accountants. Marla asks Alex her own thoughts about whether she thinks her mother has special powers. Confused, Alex responds that math isn’t magic—it’s only math. Marla corrects her in an attempt to ensure that Alex understands that women are powerful. Uncle George laughs at this idea, and Marla shuts him down with only a look, seemingly arresting his behavior through magic. When she releases him, he stumbles out the door and disappears for a week.

Another excerpt from “A Brief History of Dragons,” an eyewitness account from Dr. Gantz, describes the transformation of Mrs. Norbert Donahue, formerly Dr. Edna Wood. First, he sees her teeth elongate. Then, her pupils change shape and her skin splits to reveal wings. While she transforms, Dr. Gantz attempts to capture her experience, but she says very little. The only thing she says is that “Everything, is, just, too, damn, SMALL [sic]” before telling Dr. Gantz to run (34).

In February, Alex is playing outside while her mother takes time to herself inside the house. Alex remembers sometimes looking in on her mother during this time and seeing Bertha tying knots endlessly. Even Alex’s red mittens are adorned with these knots, and Alex notes that the bracelets that Bertha has made for Marla also have similar knots. However, when Marla visits this time, she isn’t wearing her bracelets. Marla goes into the house, inviting Alex inside to watch Beatrice while she talks with her sister. While Alex hears very little of the actual conversation, she remembers the knots in the home untangling and reforming, even the ones on her mittens. This phenomenon ends after Bertha yells “ENOUGH” and Marla leaves, saying her goodbyes to Bertha—not to Alex or Beatrice—and as Alex watches her go, she tries to remember whether her Aunt Marla’s eyes were always golden.