Conscious

I sure that at some point in your life someone must have told you that you always need to be aware of your surroundings. Growing up in the city, I heard these words of wisdom day in and day out. So whenever I went out, I heard the sound of Mama’s voice in the back of my mind saying, “ Be conscious. Use your head.” I didn't know exactly what she meant by conscious, but i just assumed it meant good. And I was usually very careful, until one day I came across a dangerous situation.
One day after school, a few of my friends and I were playing hopscotch in the schoolyard. It was a nice day, so we didn’t really want to go home just yet. But we became bored with this game and set out to find something fun to do. As we walked down the road away from the safe haven of school, I noticed the neighborhood start to change. The planted flowers and trees turned into pavement and little sprouts of grass shooting out of the cracks. The playground and friendly faces turned into boarded up windows and nasty stares and shuts from the older boys. I got that feeling in the pit of my stomach, you know, the one you get when you know something is wrong.
“ I don’t think this is safe. Lets go home,” I tried to convince my friends.
“ No don’t be such a baby,” they replied.
When we turned the next corner, we came face to face with a man. He had on a big jacket and something in his right hand. “Want a smoke, girls?” he asked with an evil grin smeared across his face.
At the time, I didn’t know what he wanted, but I knew that something wasn’t right. Suddenly aware of their surroundings my friends turned on their heels and made a dash back up the hill to the playground. I followed at a steady pace, just wanting to get away from him.
Now I know what Mama meant when she said “conscious.” She did in fact mean god, but she also wanted me to be alert, the siren in my mind going off wen something isn't right.