The following is another guest post, this one written by 11 year-old "Princess"
(It is also posted on her blog, which is closed. I chose to publish it just as she sent it to me--no Mommy editing.) I thought it was remarkable writing. Also it's very interesting to peek into her mind.
October 30, 2014
The Case of the Missing Hair
“Ok, I need a panda on each of my thumbs.” a blonde woman at a nail
salon says to the man doing her nails. He carefully draws pandas on each
thumb with stencils and nail polish. The lady nods approval, then
requests,”Now a dolphin on each pinky.” The man musters a trained fake
smile.
The man stencils out dolphins on the small nails. “Ok, Lindsay, is that
all?” he asks professionally. “Yes, thanks. Wait, no. some designs on
the rest of the fingers.” Lindsay says, flipping her golden hair. “Ok.”
the man sighs, keeping his false smile on.
The scissors sound on the twelve year old boy was reassuring. “snip snip” went the scissors, in perfect time with the clock. Together, they
made a beat. Never did one lose count. The blonde hair releases from the
scissors grasp. “I want to be bald.” the boy says casually. “Ok Lock.”
the barber says, giving up from arguing with the boy.
An old man walks into a produce aisle of a supermarket. He picks up an
apple from a stand and mutters,”Not fresh” as he puts the apple down.
“‘Ello, Deev! Want some ‘elp pickin’ fresh fruit?” shouts one of the old
man’s friends. “Its Dev. Not Deev. Its pronounced Dev.” Dev says,
smiling.
“Sure, Dev.” the friend says sarcastically,”do you need ‘elp?” Dev
gratefully responds,”Thanks. i need a dozen apples, a pomegranate, some
oranges, and bananas. I’m off to get some turkey.” Dev walks off while
his friend picks the fruit from the stands. As Dev waits in line, his
eyes wander to a newsstand. He Inserts a quarter and withdraws a paper.
He retrieves his turkey, and strolls back to his friend. He pays for the
fruit, and drives home. When he reaches the door to his house, he walks
in and lounges on his recliner to read the paper.
“People all around Lushville are losing hair!” the front page on the
paper Dev was reading boomed. He sighs and touches his head. “still
there.” he mutters. He stands up and walks to the kitchen to get a cup
of cocoa. then he sits back in his chair. “Ring, ring, ring!” goes Devs
old receiver. He picks up the ancient telephone, and answers it.
“Hello, Dev! This is Lindsay. I’m at the nail salon right now, and Lock,
my child, is down at the barber shop. What are you doing?” Lindsay asks
Dev. “Oh, just reading the paper. People around Lushville are losing
hair.” Dev replies tiredly.
Lock had been catching falling hair into a cardboard shoebox. He had all
of the cut hair of his families in his box. “i want to be bald!” he
repeats. Lately his box had more hair, and odd enough, different colors.
His whole family was blonde, and in his box there were browns and
blacks. “Thats strange. Its fuller than it was when we last had our hair
cut.” Lock ponders. “all done, kid.” the barber says.
Lock hops off his chair and wanders into the kitchen. He feels his head
and comments,”Wow! smooth as a pebble.” Lindsay drives home, and
screams, dropping her groceries. “YOU ARE BALD!” “Ya, its cool, mom.”
Lock replies, smoothly. “Get in the car NOW!” Lindsay screeches,”We’re
going to get you a wig!” Lock runs into his room and slams the door.
“But mom! Bald is the new ‘thing’!” Lock insists. Lindsay gives up and
mutters,”I give up, you win.”
Lock peeks out of his room and then says,”All clear. The Mominator is
gone to shower.” He sneaks out with a folder and onto his bike. He
cycles to Dev’s house, and knocks on the door. “Knock knock!” Dev opens
his ancient door. “Why, hello Lock! what a pleasant surprise!” Dev
exclaims. “Hi, im doing a fundraiser, and i was wondering if you would
sponsor me.” Lock says.
Dev nods and thinks. He runs inside and grabs his wallet. Then Dev gives
Lock one hundred dollars. “Thanks, Dev! My mom says hi!” Says Lock,
cycling away. “‘Have fun!’ She says. ‘Earn money for your school’ she
says. Hmph. This is all nothing but hooey balooey.” Lock snorts. “The
school can rob a bank, as far as i'm concerned.” Lock grumbles. “knock,
knock!” Lock pounds on the door of a neighbor’s house. A bald sobbing
woman appears.
“Did it happen to you, too?” the lady asks through tears. “What? Oh the
head? No, i got it cut today.” Lock says, shrugging. The lady hands Lock
fifty dollars. Lock stuffs the money in his folder and pedals home. He
climbs up the stairs to his room and looks at his box. He carefully
takes the lid off, then drops it and screams. “MOM, COME QUICK!”
“I can’t now, honey!” Lindsay shouts. Then she whispers under her
breath, “Its probably something dumb.” Then she strolls into the kitchen
and grabs a glass of water. “Might as well make dinner.” she mutters.
She walks to the fridge and pulls out a salad. She chops up some
tomatoes and puts them in with the leafy greens. Then, a big, grizzly
spider appears in front of Lindsay. “AHH! I HATE SPIDERS!” She
screeches. She feels her head and then screams louder. her head was as
smooth as a pebble.
Dev sits in his chair, still reading. He spots a lump under the rug and
ponders, “Hmm. thats odd.” Suddenly, Dev’s head felt cold. He touches it
and nearly has a heart attack. His head was just like Lock’s head. Bald.
A “knock knock” comes from the door. He numbly walks over to answer it.
“My family lost their hair!” A bald neighbor wails. Dev was shocked. Why
had it happened to him, Lushville?
Dev called the police. “911, what is your emergency?” the grouchy lady
on the other end of the phone asks. “My-my hair is gone!” Dev replies
shakily. “Dev, sir, you're the grand 100th caller of today. Join the
club, of BALDNESS!” with that, the lady hangs up.
Dev goes to his bed and closes his eyes. He dreams about everyone with
hair smiling. Dev was in the middle of the smiling crowd, his hair
slicked back. Then he woke up. Two weeks had passed, and it happened
again. The hat shop had run out of hats. Dev was in his chair, watching
television on his black and white tv. Dev reclines in his chair, but
half way down, the chair stops. It was jammed.
He looks under his chair and gasps. A monstrous ball was the source of
the jam. He leaps out of his chair, and the ball scoots away, knocking
over a lamp. Dev reaches for a wooden chair, and chases the lump.
Eventually he gives up. “augh!” Dev shouts, a war cry. As Dev tries
again, his eyebrows come out of his head and slice through the air.
Then, they disappear. He turns red with rage and throws the chair at the
ball, killing it.
He takes the carpet, and expecting a rat, finds...
Everyones hair! Dev gasps again. He calls Lindsay,”I found your hair.
and everyone elses hair.” Dev whispers into the telephone. Dev hops into
his old station wagon. Then he has an idea. He pushes down on the gas
pedal, and clunks down to the department store. He struggles out of the
car, and goes inside the store.
He browses until he finds what he’s looking for. He waits in line, as a
customer says,”Your bald too, eh?” as Dev puts his item on the conveyor
belt, he nods. “What’s with the superglue?” asks the man. “Oh, you’ll
find out.” Dev replies. He drives home ecstatically.
Dev goes to sleep, then wakes up. He calls the mayor to call a meeting
with all the bald people. “Who wants their hair back?” Dev shouts into
the microphone. The whole crowd produces a shockingly loud,”WE DO!!”
Lock went to the meeting too, after he uncovered a secret he needed to
tell the bald people of Lushville. “Dev, may I come up to talk to the
people?” Lock asks. “Sure, i guess.” Dev says unsurly, while helping the
teenager up. Lock stands up steadily, and rushes to the microphone.
“I did my research, and used the scientific method, to find out that
the hairus lumpus, also known as the hair thief, or lump, was magic.
Long ago, in a place where people loved their hair more than their
children, it took shape. The lump was created by the greed produced by
the people. The people soon began losing their treasured hair, and soon,
all of the people of that island were bald.”
The crowd stays stunned. Lock continued,”As time passed by, the
people’s hair never grew back. They all soon passed away, with nothing
more to live for. The lump grew on, gaining power. Then, one day, a man
called Jones burned all the hair, except for one strand. That strand
lived on, with dark magic, seeking revenge and power. It found its way
into my box of hair, and corrupted it. The lump was going to take over
Lushville. When Dev killed it, he saved peoples hair in the future.
Three cheers for Dev!” The crowd gasps at the news, then cheers. Dev
then says,”Thank you, lock.” A line forms around the stage, as Dev glues
everyone’s hair back on.
It turns out that the people of Lushville wouldn’t have their hair grow
back again. Lindsay was In her chair, reading “The Book To Success When
Cooking Dinner” When suddenly, she groaned. She looks at her legs, and
her attitude changes. She remembers that her legs were bare, and always
would be. She jumps out of her chair and shouts for joy,”Yahoo! Now we
don’t have to shave our legs anymore!” Life went back to its old self
for Lushville.
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