“Carrie! Time to go!” Aunt Jessica yelled up to Carrie.
Carrie sighed as she ran her fingers through her long blonde locks before grabbing a pair of shoes and running down the stairs to meet her aunt.
”What’s taking you so long?” Aunt Jessica huffed as Carrie sat down to put her shoes on.
“I was brushing my hair” Carrie mumbled as she tied her laces.
”Well it’s a good job it’s all coming off today then” Aunt Jessica stated.
”What, I thought you said I was just having a trim, like usual?” Carrie protested.
”Nope, it’s getting too much work, now let’s go” Aunt Jessica instructed Carrie as she dragged her out the front door.
Carrie stayed silent the whole drive to the mall, thinking about her mother who had recently passed away. She always used to take the time to brush through her tangled locks and ensured she always looked pristine.
”Get out the car, let’s go” Aunt Jessica told Carrie as she opened the car door for the 11 year old.
Carrie dragged her feet as she followed her Aunt into the mall.
As they got to the hair salon, Carrie paused outside as Aunt Jessica kept walking.
”Carrie, what are you doing?” Aunt Jessica sighed as she walked back to the young girl.
”Oh- I just thought, never mind” Carrie shook her head, thinking somehow Aunt Jessica had forgotten about the haircut.
”Oh you thought you were going to the salon, no the barbers are much cheaper and faster” Jessica laughed as she took Carrie’s wrist and guided her down to the barbershop at the other end of the mall.
Carrie took a big gulp as the pair arrived outside the barbershop. The sounds of the clippers and blow dryers plagued her ears as her aunt dragged her in.
”How can I help you ladies?” one of the barbers asked as he came to the front desk.
”My niece needs a haircut” Jessica told him.
”We don’t cut long hair here I’m afraid” the barber apologised.
”Oh no, she’s going short” Jessica told him.
”Okay, in that case follow me” the barber grinned as Jessica ushered Carrie along behind him through to a big leather chair.
”Right up you get then” the barber told Carrie as he swung the chair round.
Carrie uneasily made her way into the chair, barely having time to settle down, a black cape had been thrown around her neck, encasing her to the chair.
”So what are we doing today?” the barber looked between Carrie and her Aunt.
”Just a trim” Carrie tried to request until Aunt Jessica interrupted.
”She needs it taken short, straight under the earlobes with short bangs and a shaved nape” Aunt Jessica stated.
”No!” Carrie yelled out.
”Fine, if you want to play it this way then the barber will cut it shorter, stay quiet and it stays under your ears” Jessica warned Carrie as she took a seat next to her.
The barber swiftly got to work prepping Carrie’s hair.
”Ready?” He asked as he got his scissors out.
Carrie stayed silent as Aunt Jessica gestured for him to go ahead.
He pushed Carrie’s head down to her chest, and combed the back section of her hair down, sliding his scissors across the section.
Swiftly, with each snip, 20” sections were slipping down the cape. Once the barber had finished the back section, he moved round to Carrie’s right side and pushed her head to her left shoulder.
Again, he combed down to just below her ear and took her long locks straight off, leaving her neck exposed.
As he moved to Carrie’s left hand side, she gasped as she realised how short her once waist-length hair now was.
The barber pushed her head onto her right shoulder and again chopped her remaining long locks off, all Carrie could do now was watch as they slipped down the cape in front of her.
”How short did you want the bangs?” the barber asked Aunt Jessica as he sectioned off a v-shaped section over Carrie’s forehead.
Jessica got out of her seat and pressed her hand to the middle of Carrie’s forehead.
”Right about there should do her good” Jessica stated before taking her seat again.
Carrie knew the bangs would be unattractively short but she knew not to try and protest otherwise the rest of her hair would be chopped even shorter.
The barber moved his comb down to a centimetre above Carrie’s eyebrows and with three swift cuts Carrie finally had sight of her finished cut. It truly was awful.
As she went to slip out of the chair, a firm hand pushed her back.
”Not done yet love” the barber stated as he grabbed a pair of clippers. Carrie shuddered as he flicked them on, the soft vibrating getting louder as he pressed them against her neck.
The barber pushed her head down and began shaving the back of Carrie’s neck, all the way up to the weight line of her haircut.
Once Carrie’s nape was cleanly shaven, the barber dusted the remaining hair off and flicked the cape off, spilling the rest of Carrie’s long locks onto the floor.
”How’s that for you?” the barber asked Aunt Jessica as he spun Carrie round to face her.
”Much better, thank you very much” Jessica said as Carrie got out the chair.
As Jessica paid for the haircut, Carrie watched as her hair was swept away into a trash can and she put her hand up to her now exposed neck, and felt her fuzzy nape.
”I just need to grab a few things from the grocery store and then we can go home” Jessica told Carrie as they left the barbershop.
Carrie stayed silent as she followed her through the mall to the store.
”You’ve not said anything yet, do you like your new hair?” Aunt Jessica asked Carrie as she got a cart.
”No, it’s so ugly and far too short” Carrie complained.
”I think it’s lovely, it shows off your features much better and the length is perfect and far more manageable” Jessica shrugged as they made their way into the store.
Once the two were back home, Carrie ran upstairs to her bedroom and sobbed as she examined her hair in the mirror.
It was going to take so long until it would finally grow back, even a year until it was below her shoulders again.
