Stef
It was summer, but rain was falling steadily onto the streets.
Luna stared out of her bedroom window. She was fifteen years old and very popular among the students in her class. She looked like an ordinary teenager, wearing jeans, a fitted top, and tall boots that reached almost to her knees. Her dark blonde hair was long and slightly wavy, reaching all the way down to the middle of her back.
She had a six-year-old brother, but she hardly paid any attention to him. In her eyes, he was just a spoiled little kid.
Luna looked irritated.
Her parents had just informed her that her grades at school were far too low. As a result, she would have to attend a strict summer school program. They had discussed it several times before, but Luna had never listened. She preferred spending time with her friends and never bothered much with homework.
“Why?” she shouted at her mother. “I don’t want to go there! I want to spend the summer with my friends, go to the beach, and have parties!”
Her mother remained unmoved.
“Enough,” she said firmly, sending Luna to her room.
A week later, a letter arrived from the summer school.
Luna and her parents read it together. The letter stated that Luna was expected to arrive the following week. It also listed several rules. Students were required to dress neatly and presentably. Girls were expected to wear skirts or dresses. The final rule caught Luna’s attention immediately.
Hair could not be longer than ten inches.
“No!” Luna screamed. “They want me to look like a doll! There’s no way I’m cutting my hair!”
“You will have it cut,” her mother replied. “I’m calling a salon and making an appointment.”
Luna was convinced her mother was bluffing.
She wasn’t.
Later that morning she learned that they would be visiting a hairdresser that very afternoon.
Luna had never been to a salon before. Her friend’s mother had always trimmed her hair when necessary.
Two hours later she sat in the waiting area of a small salon while her mother sat beside her.
After plenty of arguing, Luna had eventually been forced into the car.
The salon was located on a quiet street and attached to a small house. Inside there was only one stylist.
Luna sighed.
She watched another customer having her hair finished. The hairdresser was a strong-looking woman wearing black jeans and a dark blue denim jacket. Her hair was cut very short.
The customer in the chair wore a neat bob haircut.
Luna watched as the stylist removed the cape and accepted payment.
“Who’s next?” the hairdresser asked.
“It’s your turn,” her mother said.
Reluctantly, Luna walked over to the styling chair.
“Well, what a lovely young lady we have here,” the hairdresser said warmly.
Luna sat down.
The stylist disappeared into a storage room and returned carrying a large black cape. With a practiced movement she draped it around Luna and fastened it snugly around her neck.
“You can call me Ellis,” she said with a smile.
Luna didn’t know what to say.
Her mother walked over and began talking quietly with Ellis.
“Her hair needs to be cut quite short,” she said, handing over a photograph. “Something like this.”
Ellis studied the picture and smiled.
“That would suit her very well.”
Luna couldn’t see the photo and suddenly felt nervous.
Ellis moved behind her and began brushing her long hair.
“Time to say goodbye to all this hair,” she said.
Luna remained silent.
Ellis gathered her hair into a large ponytail.
“Here we go, sweetheart.”
Instead of reaching for scissors, Ellis picked up a pair of electric clippers.
The buzzing sound filled the room.
Luna’s eyes widened.
Moments later, her long ponytail dropped to the floor.
Tears began rolling down her cheeks.
“There we are,” Ellis said.
Her mother nodded approvingly.
Luna stared at the fallen hair.
“My hair…” she whispered before bursting into tears.
“It’s gone.”
Ellis removed the cape and led her to another station.
She returned carrying a heavier silver cape and wrapped it around Luna securely. Then she placed a hair dryer over Luna’s head.
While Luna sat there quietly, Ellis prepared hair color.
Soon Ellis returned and carefully applied dye to Luna’s shortened hair.
Luna barely reacted.
Everything felt unreal.
First she had lost her long hair.
Then she had been wrapped in the enormous cape.
Now her hair was being dyed.
When Ellis finished, the dryer was lowered over Luna’s head again.
“Twenty minutes,” she said to Luna’s mother before taking a seat nearby.
Luna sat silently.
The dryer was too loud for her to hear the conversation taking place around her.
When the time was up, Ellis removed the dryer and guided Luna to the wash station.
The oversized cape made moving awkward, but eventually she settled into the chair.
Warm water flowed through her hair as Ellis rinsed out the dye and gently massaged her scalp.
For the first time all day, Luna relaxed slightly.
After drying her hair with a towel, Ellis removed the cape.
Finally free, Luna followed her back to the styling chair.
She looked into the mirror.
“Oh my God!”
Her eyes widened.
“My hair… it’s red!”
“Yes, dear,” Ellis replied with a smile. “Now sit down so I can finish the style.”
Before Ellis put the cape on Luna, she took a paper neck strip from a dispenser and wrapped it snugly around her neck. Then she swung the large blue cape around Luna’s shoulders. The cape was unusual: the upper part was made of denim, while the lower part was nylon.
Ellis fastened the cape with large denim buttons. Not just one or two—she secured several buttons along the back, making sure the cape was firmly in place. Luna felt completely covered by it. Then Ellis raised the chair so high that Luna’s feet no longer touched the floor.
Luna watched as Ellis picked up a comb and a pair of electric clippers.
“No, please! Not the clippers!” she protested.
Her mother stepped forward and told her to sit still.
“I want you to have a neat, short haircut,” she said firmly.
Ellis gently positioned Luna’s head and began working with the comb and clippers. Strands of red hair drifted down onto the cape as she carefully shortened the hair. Luna watched in silence while the haircut took shape, and before long the back and sides had been cut much shorter than the top.
When Ellis finally switched off the clippers, the haircut was complete. She brushed away the loose hairs, styled Luna’s hair, and then unfastened the buttons of the cape. Once the cape was removed, Luna stepped down from the chair and looked at her new reflection in the mirror.
Luna smiled slightly.
“It’s different.”
“That’s usually how new beginnings feel,” Ellis replied.
Outside, the rain had finally stopped.
As Luna walked with her mother toward the car, she touched her newly styled hair and wondered whether summer school might not be the disaster she had imagined after all
