Anonymous
“No, not today, let her keep it long as she wishes” Joe protested against his wife.
”I don’t like how long it’s getting, no four year old should have long hair like hers, besides I’m taking Tom to have his haircut so I may as well take Molly as well” Dina stood her ground against her husband.
”Dina, Molly loves her long hair-“ Joe again tried to stick up for his young daughter who was naively upstairs, unaware of the argument over her hair.
”That’s enough Joe, a haircut will do her good” Dina ended their argument as she stormed upstairs to get the two children ready for their cuts.
”Mommy, what are you and daddy fighting about?” Molly asked as Dina came into her bedroom.
”Oh nothing sweetheart, get your coat and shoes on and come downstairs though because I’m taking you and Tom for a haircut” Dina told the young girl before reminding her older son to do the same.
”Mommy, I don’t really want my hair cut” Molly stated in the car on the way to the salon.
”That’s a shame then, because I’ve booked you an appointment” Dina glared at the blissfully unaware young girl in her rear view mirror.
Once the trio arrived at the salon, Tom and Molly hopped out the backseat and followed Dina into the salon.
”How can I help?” The receptionist asked as the bell chimed.
”I’ve got an appointment for Tom and Molly at 11” Dina told the receptionist.
”Perfect, it will just be a few minutes if you want to take a seat” the receptionist told the three of them.
Dina guided the two children through to the waiting area where she sat down and picked up a magazine.
”Hey Mol, I was thinking about something like this for you” Dina told Molly as she showed her a picture of a model with hair cropped above her ears, in line with her bangs with a closely shaved nape.
”Oh, but I like long hair mommy” Molly gulped as she fiddled with the ends of her chest length hair.
”I know sweetie, but you’re starting school soon and most of the kids will have short hair and it will be far more practical” Dina told Molly.
”Who’s next?” a hairdresser came and yelled out.
”Tom that’s you, just get your usual okay?” Dina instructed her son who went off with the hairdresser with no fuss.
Molly sunk back further into her seat and brought her knees to her chest as she thought about how short her hair was going to be.
Soon enough, another hairdresser called through for the next client and Dina was dragging Molly back to the chairs.
Dina lifted Molly up into the chair and stood back to allow the stylist to have a look at Molly’s hair.
”So what are we doing today?” the stylist asked as she began to brush through Molly’s hair.
”She needs it short for school, so I want to cut it into a bowl-cut above her ears, with a shaved nape” Dina instructed the stylist.
”Quite the change then!” the stylist smiled before tying Molly’s hair into a low ponytail with an elastic.
Suddenly Molly felt her hair releasing from her head as the stylist chopped through the ponytail.
”There you go mom, now I’m just going to spin you around and wash your hair” the stylist told Molly as she handed Dina Molly’s 12 inch ponytail.
As the stylist rubbed the shampoo into Molly’s remaining hair, she began to relax as she breathed in the soft rose tones of the shampoo and conditioner.
”I’m just going to prop you back up again and we’ll tidy up the rest of your hair” the stylist told Molly as she put the chair back in sitting position and faced Molly to the mirror again.
Molly stared at herself in the mirror, her hair was now hanging around her chin, how much shorter was it going to get?
The stylist began sectioning Molly’s hair before picking up a pair of scissors.
She eased Molly’s head down to her chest and began skipping at her hair. Although Molly couldn’t see yet how much hair was coming off, she could tell it was short by how loud the scissors were.
Once the back was finished, the stylist moved onto the sides and slid the scissors into Molly’s hair, above her ear. ‘Surely it wasn’t going to be this short?’ Molly thought until the scissors closed, dropping hair down onto the cape, leaving Molly’s tiny ear exposed.
Molly stared emotionlessly at herself as the stylist moved onto the other side, loping off the rest of her hair before moving on to chopping bangs across her forehead, in line with the rest of her cropped hair.
”What do you think?” the stylist asked Dina as she spun Molly around to face her.
”It’s perfect!” Dina beamed as she examined her daughter’s freshly chopped hair.
”Do you want me to do a number 1 or 2 over her nape?” the stylist asked as she unwound the cable of the clippers.
”A number 1, I’d like it nice and short” Dina told the stylist.
“Honey, these aren’t going to hurt one bit, they just make a funny noise” the stylist told Molly as she flicked the clippers on.
Molly softly smiled at the stylist before she clipped the number 1 guard on and began mowing the clippers up Molly’s neck, right up to where her hair now sat in line with the top of her ears.
The stylist did the same up Molly’s sideburns, blending the weight line slightly as she went.
Once she’d finished clipping Molly, she pumped some mousse into her hair and began blow drying it, ruffling her 3 inch locks in every direction.
”Right that’s all done now, what do you think honey?” the stylist said as she switched the blow dryer off.
Molly stayed quiet for a moment as she brushed her hand against her now fuzzy nape.
”It’s quite short” she mumbled as she checked her new crop top out from every direction.
”It’s perfect, thank you!” Dina beamed from ear to ear as she led Molly out to the front desk to pay for her haircut along with Tom’s.
”Come on kids, let’s go” Dina ushered the two children back out to the car.
Molly hated how the wind blew against her newly exposed neck and was quick to jump into the car.
The drive back home was silent, Molly unhappy with her new hair and Tom staring at his younger sister’s drastic chop.
Once they arrived back at the house, Molly jumped out the car and made a beeline for her room, straight past her father.
”What the fuck Dina? Why have you had it cut so short?” Joe began giving Dina a mouthful once the two kids were out of earshot.
”She didn’t protest against it and it will be much easier to manage now” Dina shrugged.
”It was never hard to manage in the first place!” Joe protested.
Upstairs, Molly stood in front of her mirror, fussing over her new hair, trying to find a way to make it look longer.
”Molly, are you okay?” Tom asked his younger sister as he walked into her room.
”I hate my new hair, I want my long hair back” Molly sobbed into his arms.
”It’s okay, mom did the same to me, but now I love having short hair, you’ll grow to love it too” Tom tried his best to reassure the four year old.
”No, I want long hair, and you’re a boy anyway” Molly cried.
”That doesn’t mean I wanted short hair, when I was your age I had longer hair but then mom made me buzz it off and since then I grew to like it and I think I suit it quite well” Tom chuckled.
”Maybe” Molly sniffled as Tom patted her hair down.
