The Salon Closed, A Barber Opened

It was just another harsh school day. It was just the stress loads of work that a 16 year old teenager had to do every day. There I was at home, in front of the study table doing the endless amounts of work for the day. Everything seemed slow and boring to go through. Pages after pages of work and only little progress seemed to have been made.
After about an hour of work, I decided to take a break from so much work. I lay down on my bed as I started stroking my chestnut brown hair. That�s when I realized something; my hair felt longer than how it was. I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. My senses were right; my hair was getting long. It was starting to touch my shoulders rather than my regular chin-length hairstyle. That�s when I decided that I should go get a haircut. I threw on a T-shirt and varsity jacket and a simple skirt then got out of the house.
I made my way to the local strip mall that was a few minutes� walk from my house. It was not much; just a small mall unlike the big ones that were downtown. When I got to the mall I walked along the aisles of the first level in search of the hair salon I normally go to.
When I reached the regular place outside the hair salon, I stopped for a while. There was another shop where the hair salon is supposed to be. I soon realized that it was a barbershop after reading the sign that states �unisex barbershop" that was written outside. There was a big glass window to the barbershop. I peeked in and saw two big barber chairs and a female barber (or barberette as some call it) sitting in one of them.
Being the rather curious teenager I was, I opened the barbershop door and walked in. The barberette stood up and walked towards me. She looked to be in her mid-20s and she was a slightly plump yet rather attractive woman. She had shoulder-length ebon black hair and she wore a nice blue dress.
�Hi there, welcome to my barbershop. How may I help you?" she greeted me with a smile.
�Uh, hi, I wanted to get a haircut but, uh, wasn�t there a salon here?" I nervously asked.
�Oh yes, there was but they had to close down so I replaced this place with my barbershop. Oh, but don�t be stunned by the word �barber", dear, I do girls� hair too. Why don�t you have a seat and I can give you a haircut?" she invited.
�Uh, sure," I accepted.
She went to the barber chair closest to the window and she spun the chair around to face me. She gestured to the chair as I walked towards it and hopped in. It was slightly bigger than the chairs that the salon normally had but the chair felt really comfortable and amazing. She spun the chair back to face a giant mirror.
�By the way, I�m Francy," the barberette introduced herself.
�Hi, I�m Bretta," I introduced myself.
�So what can I do for you today? Would you like a trim, or maybe something shorter and more manageable?" she offered.
�I was thinking of trimming it, but what would you suggest for something shorter?" I replied curiously.
�Well, something like above the ears so it�s easier to take care of. And with those gorgeous eyes you have I�m sure you�ll look a lot more attractive because with lesser hair your eyes would seem much more prominent," she suggested as she started stroking my hair.
�Hmm, that sounds interesting. Maybe something less maintenance would really help. Alright then, let�s do it above the ears. I think it is time for a something different," I accepted her offer with a big smile on my face yet a slight bit of nervousness in me.
�Great, now just relax. You�re in good hands," she assured me as she turned the chair to face the big glass window.
I sat quietly and waited for her as she went back to the dresser to get the tools she needed. She soon came behind me and flung a white cape with azure pin stripes above me, letting it settle on my shoulders as they covered my entire body. She tied the ends of the cape behind my neck to ensure it remained bound.
She then grabbed a spray bottle and started spraying mists of water on my hair, dampening it. This was a rather different process than the shampoo washes I get at the salon. She soon started combing my hair that barely touched my shoulders. I could hear her pick up the scissors as she pushed my head to right.
I felt the cold steel of the scissors just above my left ear and next thing I knew ~SNIP~ went the scissors as locks of my auburn hair plunged onto the cape that enveloped me at my lap area. SNIP, SNIP, SNIP went the scissors as more hair was severed. This continued till the hair on the left side of my head was above my ears. Francy moved to the right side of my head. She tilted my head to the left and conducted the same process that was done on the left side of my head as I felt both of my ears free of hair touching it.
She moved to the back of my head whereby she pushed my head straightforward, forcing my chin to my chest and only being able to see the pin-striped cape that shrouded my body and the mound of hair that was gathered at my lap area. Francy then started snipping the hair away at my nape area really close to my scalp as locks of my hair slid down my neck and onto the floor.
Once the back was done, she tilted my head back up and started combing the hair on my crown. She lifted up a section of hair and ~SNIP~ was all I could hear followed by locks of my hair raining onto the cape. Sections after section were snipped off as I kept wondering of how the cut was looking so far. The large mound of hair that was gathered on my lap could only hint me that it was going to be much shorter than how my hair was when I entered the shop. I could only stare out the window that I was facing and wait.
In due time, Francy started combing down a section of hair in front of my face. The cold steel touched a part of my forehead slightly above my eyebrows. I gently closed in my eyes and ~SNIP, SNIP; SNIP~ went the scissors as hair rained down past my face and onto the cape.
Francy then went around my entire head again and started snipping at the loose hair, evening the hair out. She did really quick snips around my head as tiny clippings of my hair rained onto the cape.
I soon heard her put down the scissors as I heard a container being unscrewed. Francy came around and started rubbing in a mixture into my hair whilst styling it.
�Alright, all done. Take a look at the new you,"  Francy announced as she turned the chair to face the mirror.
My eyes almost came out of its sockets as I saw my new haircut. It was much, much shorter than how it normally is. The hair on my sides was really short and away from my ears. My hair was roughly 2 inches in length on top and was parted to the right. Francy held up a hand mirror at the back as I observed my nape. It was really short as compared to how it used to be. I reached my hand out from under the cape and started feeling the nape and, gosh, did it feel really nice. Overall, my haircut was as short as a boy�s but looked very feminine and really did compliment my features. I gave a big smile of acceptance upon this new image of mine.
�Well I�m really glad you liked it. This is called a pixie cut. You don�t have to style it normally cos the bangs can already compliment the look. But if you do want to style, just grab some gel and ruffle it into your hair," Francy suggest as she undid the knot that bound the cape together.
She removed the cape off my body as she dusted in the air, causing the hair on it to rain to the floor. I got out of the chair and started rubbing my hand all over my new hairstyle. I realized that it was much lighter than how it was before.
�How much for the haircut?" I asked as I reached into my pocket for my wallet.
�Ten dollars," she replied.
�Wow, that�s way cheaper than how much the salon charged," I added as I paid her a twenty and told her to keep the change for such a wonderful job she did.
�You might wanna come back in 4 weeks� time to get it trimmed cos once it gets around your ears it�ll get really annoying," she suggested.
�Thank you very much for the cut, I�ll be sure to be back in 4 weeks," I said with a big grin on my face.
I happily left the barbershop as I made my way home. On the way home, my head felt really amazing with the wind blowing into it. It also felt really light and easy for me to carry around. When I got home, the first person that saw my new cut was my mom. She got quite a shock of her life when she saw me with really short hair. The next day at school, almost everyone didn�t recognize me because of how different I really looked. I got a lot of compliments and it really felt great.
Now, once every four weeks I�d go back to Francy�s barbershop and get it trimmed. I started to enjoy getting my haircut ever since. Whenever Francy was trimming my hair we�d talk a lot about current affairs. She even introduced me to the other barbers (barberettes actually) of the shop. I became a regular and Francy would always be expecting me when the time for a haircut came.

It was the first day of summer vacation. I didn�t how to start my summer as I just sat around at home. I stroked my auburn chin-length hair. It�s been a while since I had my haircut. I�d been trying to grow my hair out over the past few weeks from that pixie haircut I had because I missed having my bob. It didn�t seem like such a great idea at the moment because summer had just started and the temperatures just keep going up.
I�d normally go to the usual unisex barbershop and get my hair trimmed every four weeks, but now it�s been about 10 weeks since I last trimmed my hair. I really had to get a haircut if I wanted to beat the heat. Even in this bob hairstyle of mine, it still feels pretty stuffy. I really wanted to go to the barbershop and let my usual barber (barberette, actually), Francy, cut it back to the pixie style it was. But a part of me thought that it even the pixie wouldn�t be short enough to beat the heat.
Nonetheless, I still had to get a haircut. I decided that I should my summer with a good haircut. I threw on a pair of short jeans and a t-shirt and left for the barbershop. When I left the house, the summer sun blazed over me. My head felt really hot and stuffy even though I had such a short haircut. I hastily walked to the mall so that I wouldn�t get so much heat caught on me.
After 7 minutes, I had managed to reach the mall. The air-conditioning in the mall was really cooling unlike the blazing heat outside. I treaded towards the direction of the barbershop. In within a minute, I reached the barbershop. I peeked into the giant glass window to see the two regular barber chairs with a big mirror mounted in front of each of them. I could see Francy sitting by the cash register. I took a deep breath as I pushed down the handle of the hair and walked into the shop.
�Hey, Bretta," Francy greeted me as she got out of her seat and walked towards me.
�Hey, Francy, it�s been a while since I�ve had a haircut," I replied as I touched my hair.
�Yeah, why don�t you have a seat and we can talk about it," she invited as she turned her barber chair (the one that was closest to the window) to face me.
I nodded in agreement and went up to the chair. I placed a foot on the footrest and I sank myself into the chair. Sitting in the barber chair made me miss how comfortable it felt. Francy turned the chair 180 degrees and I was facing the mirror. She got out a comb and starting combing my chin-length hair.
�Wow, it�s been a really long time since you�ve had a haircut," Francy mentioned as she slowly combed through my auburn hair.
�Yeah, it�s been about 10 weeks. I was thinking of growing my hair so I didn�t come visit you for the regular trim every 4 weeks. But since it�s summer, I don�t think it�ll be a good idea to be growing it right now cos it�s already burning hot even though my hair is this short," I replied.
�Haha, well I agree with you. I�ll have to get Felicia to cut my hair short soon cos the heat can really be blazing. So, what were you thinking of doing? The regular pixie?" she suggested.
I thought of what haircut I wanted. The regular pixie I normally have may be pretty short, but I didn�t think it would be short enough since it was still really hot with my bob. Suddenly, an idea spurred into my mind.
�Hmm, I don�t think it�ll be short enough to beat the heat. I was thinking of something much shorter. Maybe like using the clippers all over?" I requested out of the blue.
�Oh you mean a clipper cut? That�s a bit drastic for a girl. You sure you wanna do this?� she asked.
I thought deeply to myself. Should I really do this? Normally only boys would get clipper cuts, but was I ready for something as drastic as this? Well, maybe there is a first for everything�
�Yep, I�m ready for something drastic. It�ll be for the better. I�ll be able to enjoy the whole summer with just little hair to take care of," I replied confidently.
�Okay, if you say so," Francy replied as she went back to the dresser.
She put down the comb and grabbed a sky blue cape. She flung above me as it settled on my shoulders and covered my entire body. She tied the ends of the cape and then turned the chair 90 degrees to the right to face the giant window. This increased the suspense so I can�t see any progress of the cut till the end of it.
�Now, here�s the nice flavour of a clipper cut; there�s many attachments for the clippers to determine how short your hair�s gonna be. I�ll give you a number of choices; 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0?" she asked.
I knew this was going to be some trick question. I honestly didn�t know what number was gonna determine how short or long it�ll be. My bet was that the bigger the number, the more hair was going to be cut off.
�Err, zero," I said nervously.
�Ok then. A zero clipper cut, coming up,"  Francy announced.
I was nervously shaking a little in my seat. I never had a clipper cut before. I waited anxiously for Francy in my seat. I stroked through my hair one last time before I was all going to be cut off. I could hear a drawer being opened as Francy retrieved something from it. Francy came around and in her hands held a pair of black clippers. I saw her thumb flick the switch with a POP followed by a �zzzzzzzzzzz� sound that filled the room.
�You ready?" Francy asked.
I lightly nodded in anticipation. Francy placed a hand on my head as she placed the clippers on right side of my forehead. Before I knew it she had pushed the clippers back into my crown. I closed my eyes in apprehension. With a quick hand she made a few more passes across the right side of my crown. Locks of my auburn hair tumbled down onto my shoulder.
She progressively made swift passes past my head and moved to my right temple. She propelled the clippers up my right cheekbone as hair plunged onto my right shoulder. The hair on my right shoulder slowly skated across the blue cape onto my lap area. Francy grazed the clippers across my right temple, slowly advancing to the hair-filled skin as I felt my head get lighter by the hair being clipped off. I could feel a cool breeze blow past the right side of my head, assuring me of the advantages of doing this.
�I was just wondering, how short is this zero clipper cut I�m getting?" I asked curiously as Francy continued to the nape area of my neck.
�Well, let�s just say it�s more than what you might be expecting," she replied as she pushed my head straight down, forcing my chin to my chest.
I didn�t understood what Francy meant by �more than what I was expecting". But I didn�t ask any more questions to just go along with the suspense. I felt Francy place the clippers on my neckline as she pushed the clippers up high into my nape. She rapidly made several more passes as I felt hair raining past my neck and onto the floor. Francy ran the clippers over my nape back and forth. This felt so good like someone was scratching my nape.
Francy carried on and placed the clippers on the left side of my forehead. Before I could even blink she had propelled the clippers into the hair on my left crown. She promptly made pass after pass as locks of my copper hair littered onto my left shoulder. More passes were made gradually towards my left temple while hair fell onto my left shoulder. The hair on my left shoulder gently cascaded across the cape and onto my lap area.
A rather large mound of hair sat idly in my lap. It felt so weird that all that hair was once stuck on my head. The mound of hair was the only clue I had as to how short my hair could be since I was only facing the giant glass window that showed the outside of the barbershop. Francy drove the clippers up my left cheekbone as the clippers severed the hair on my left temple, causing the hair to come crashing down onto my shoulders.
Not long after, Francy started to push the clippers around my entire head especially my crown. Little bits of stray hair fell onto my face as the clippers kept grazing about. The humming of the clippers eventually stopped. At this point, my entire head felt really cool with so much air ventilating it. I heard Francy put down the clippers. Right now I was wondering to wit�s end as to how short my hair was. By the coolness of the breeze I could tell it was a pretty short buzz.
�Alright, all done. Are you ready to see the new you?" she asked. I nodded excitingly.
�Alright, you�re so gonna jump out of your seat," she added as she turned the chair 90 degrees to make me face the mirror.
I bounced in my seat in shock. My entire head was completely shaved to the skin! Not a single bit of hair could be seen. I thought there would be little hair on my head like how boys normally had their clipper cuts. Part of me was really surprised because not a single strand of hair could be seen while another part of me felt really impressed with it because of great it felt
�So this is the zero clipper cut; NOTHING on my head, just like how zero hair is left. This is A LOT more than what I was expecting," I exclaimed, still in shock.
�Yep, but now here comes the best part; try touching it," she said as she removed the cape off me.
I reached my hands out and started placed a hand on my head. It felt so good! It was like touching another part of skin on my body. I caressed my head, rubbing it back and forth, enjoying this surreal experience. Francy flicked the cape in the air as my auburn hair descended to the ground with a �plop� sound. I got out of my chair as I looked at my whole self. This bald head really brings my eyes out. My head felt so, so good after so many years of keeping hair. I fished out my wallet from my pocket as I paid her twenty bucks and told her to keep the change.
�Thanks for the haircut, Francy. Wait, I think it was more of a shave, haha" I thanked Francy.
�Well I�m glad you like it. And hey, you won�t have to visit till what, a few months. And now you don�t worry about your hair throughout the whole summer," she added.
I left the barbershop and made my way home. While walking home, the blazing heat didn�t really affect me since the cool air of summer cooled me down while breezing past my bald head. When I reached home, my mom freaked out. She nearly fainted when she saw me hairless. I told her I really loved it and that it would be easy for me throughout the summer. It took her a while before she got used to me baldy look. When I first went out with my friends, they couldn�t even recognize me.
All in all, that bald look was something I never regretted. My head felt light and cool every day and I wouldn�t have to worry about hair till only a few months when my hair starts growing back out. Who knows, maybe I�ll shave it again next year?....