A farmer’s daughter

Farmer Ernest Gladstone ran a farm that was very remote. His family had ran the farm for practically a millennium. Every generation was the same. The eldest son, which was always the first born, would inherit the farm and at the age of about eighteen, he would venture to the nearby town or farther to get himself a wife. He then would come back to the farm, taking the reins from his father, and raise his family on the farm.

There was no plan for when the eldest child was born a girl so it was very big surprise when farmer Ernest laid his eyes on Riley, his eldest daughter and heir. At first, Ernest asked his darling wife if they could try again. His wife reluctantly agreed but was adamant that Riley was the first born and thus, the heir of the farm. And it would be wrong of Ernest to deny her the right to own and run the farm after he passed.

Again and again, Ernest and his wife made love every night before bed but no seed was planted in her belly.

Ernest had to accept reality. Riley was his one and true heir but just because she was a girl doesn’t mean he had to treat her any differently. Better yet, she might be a big help to the family.

Riley lived happy and free on the farm, running through the pasture and caring for the animals. She loved the farm. It was her one and true home.

One day, when Riley was eight years old, the girl’s father came by the girl on the swing and said,”Come on, we’re going to town”

”Where?”the girl eagerly jumped off the swing and grabbed her papa’s meaty hand. Her dad didn’t answer as the two made their way towards the family truck. The girl’s mom came out of the house and stood on the porch, hollering,”She’s a girl, Ernest. Not every tradition has to be followed”

”She is my daughter”,her father called back,”So yes, it does”

The girl’s mother sighed, threw up her hands, and went back inside. Riley was confused as her papa started up the truck and headed down the road. She mulled over the words as the truck ever grew closer to the town. Everything inside the town was so new to Riley. She loved staring at it all as it passed her window.

Soon, the truck’s wheels came to a stop outside a barbershop. It looked ancient and Riley was a bit scared of the building. She didn’t why her papa brought her here.

”Um… what are we doing here?”Riley asked sheepishly.

”It’s time you got you’re hair cut”,her papa replied,”Now, come on”

Riley didn’t want to but she forced herself to tail behind her father into the shop. The smell instantly hit her nostrils, very potent cologne. A man in a white shirt came up to Riley’s father and started talking to him.

”Here for a haircut, Ernest?”the man chuckled.

”My daughter here is getting her first haircut”,her papa smiled in reply,”Like my dad brought me here for mine and his dad brought him here for his”

”She’s a girl but I digress”,the man shrugged,”Come on back little missy and we’ll get you going”

The girl was prodded to the chair by her father. She nervously climbed into the chair and sat still as the man wrapped a cloth around her neck tightly. Then a cape was flung over her dark-blue dress that fell around her knees. Her twin braids hung limply behind the chair.

”You want it traditional, is that what you had said?”the man asked Riley’s papa,”Two on the top and one on the sides?”

”Yes, sir”,he replied.

The man shrugged again and got straight to work. He grabbed his scissors and quickly snipped off each braid like they were butter. Riley looked down at the cut braids lying dead on the checkered floor as the man grabbed the clippers and applied an attachment to them. The clippers came on with a flick of the wrist. Riley felt as the clippers went around her head, mowing her down to short stubble. When everything was covered in Riley’s dishwater hair, the man brushed off the girl’s head with his giant hand before going on to change the attachment.

Riley looked at herself in the mirror. She could hardly recognize herself and looked like the boys on tv. Her hand slowly felt up her head. All the shortness sent shivers down the girl’s spine. It wasn’t a bad feeling but not a good one either. The man came back to the chair and took control of Riley’s head again. His clippers came live and scaled the sides, buzzing the stubble even shorter. When it was all done, man shut off his device and removed the cape, shaking off the hairs that had accumulated.

”There we are”,the man smiled proudly at his handiwork,”What do you think?”

”This is a haircut fit for my daughter”,Riley’s dad answered the question asked to Riley,”I’ll bring her back every eight weeks of so for a touch up”

The girl hopped down from the chair looked down at all the cut hair as her papa paid the man. Then, her dad grabbed her hand and the two started towards the front door.

Riley’s mom was not pleased with Riley’s new haircut. She always tried to feminize her daughter’s short hair with bows and headbands. The girl never really liked to have hair clipped short but her dad kept bringing her back to the barbershop to have it redone.

As Riley continued to grow up, she wanted longer hair like girls on tv but her papa was adamant that his daughter had to have short hair. Her mother would console her and threatened to shave her own hair off when Ernest rejected his daughter’s pleas.

One evening, as Ernest was coming in from the pasture, the farmer was met at the kitchen table by his wife carrying out the main course. All of her brunette hair, he married her for, was shaved off. The farmer was silent as the family ate until he asked,”Why? When did you have time for this?”

”You shouldn’t leave your razor out for your wife to shave her head with”,Riley’s mother said curtly while answering the second part of the question,”And why? You should know why. You make our daughter get her hair cut off every eight weeks and you have the audacity to not let her grow her hair out”

The farmer had to accept defeat. He reluctantly let Riley grow her hair out but only let her hair grow not longer than her earlobes. To Ernest’s dismay, his wife grew fond of the shave and continued to shave her head. He begged her to grow out her hair but she refused.

When Riley was eighteen, her journey began. She travelled into town and found a boy just her age and the two hit it off. The flames grew into a fire. They were married within the year and had a beautiful, baby girl the year after.

Poor Farmer Ernest.

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