All Gone

3pm

It was so bitter sweet. Choosing to give something up that I cherished so much. It may have been 29 degrees on July 28^th, 2017, yet, I had never had chills like I did that day. As I walked into the barber shop I felt the cool air conditioned, urban and modern vibration fill my body and with a deep breath in I could taste bleach and metal hair scissors. I felt as if I was trapped in my mind, almost like sleep paralysis. I wanted to wimp out but I couldn’t find the courage.  I look to my left and see my friend sucking on a cherry red lollipop. “Smile!” she exclaims excitedly. As the flash hits my eyes like a bright shooting star I squint and look away. I felt so nervous. The barber then started making his way over to where he sat me down, I began to cry. “I’m not ready. I feel like I am nothing without my long brown hair…it makes me feel complete.” Everyone stared at me and as I looked around the room I saw on absolutely stunning woman with pink hair, shaved sides, bangs, bobs and many more different hairstyles other than just long straight plain jane hair. With the hairdresser and my friend still looking at me, I left to the washroom.

3:15pm

Making my way to the washroom that was only ten steps away felt like five kilometers. I slowly closed the door behind me and slid onto the bottom of the bathroom floor keeping my back against the door. I cried alone in the washroom; The tears filling my hands like rain. The salty smell of tears filled my face. As I got up to look in the mirror my makeup had all washed off. Mascara under eyes, I took a paper towel to my face and like sandpaper I scrubbed off the residue of makeup. After five long minutes of looking at myself in the mirror, I took my hair out of it’s ponytail the elastic breaking as I release the hair. I felt a feeling of release when I took my hair out of its restraint. I took one last deep breath, breathing in the smell of citrus washroom cleaner I opened the washroom door. My friend was standing outside. “Are you ready to leave?” I smiled and walked beside her asking her to press record on her phone. She looked confused yet willing. I sat back down where I had started. The hairdresser made his way over. I smiled and he knew I was ready.

3:30pm

His tattooed arms pulled my hair back into multiple little ponytails. One by one he took his scissors out of his back pocket and snipped each little pony tail off. He then took his hand and rubbed all over my hair or lack of, to show me how short it now was. “You ready?” , the bearded barber asked. With my head down, I looked up just enough so that we could make eye contact. I slowly nodded. He finds his razor after shovelling through drawers making noises like a construction site. “Ah here it is.” He pulls out a small white electric razor. He began to buzz the rest of my hair off. “This is going to look so cool dude.” After about two minutes of highly anticipating the end of the haircut he was finally done. He turned the chair around and my eyes widened.” It-It’s all gone” I said under my breath, but I didn’t feel like any part of myself was gone. I felt full and like my soul was filled with sunshine and smiles. I felt like I was on top of the world, and my smile said it all. “You look beautiful” my friend said turning off the camera. At that moment, I felt like nothing in the world mattered except for me and my multiple ponytails we cut off that would contribute to a wig for someone who didn’t have a choice in shaving their head. I jumped out of the chair and gave my hairdresser a tight hug.

4pm

As I walked onto the busy downtown street I heard cars whizzing by honking at each other, I saw the sun shining upon my bald head and my reflection through the window of the salad bar beside the hair salon. The hairdresser followed my friend and I out with his phone asking if he could take a photo of the work he had done to my head. As I smile for the photo, a woman comes up to me and let me know how stunning I looked without any hair. My heart felt so full. I felt so happy to know people didn’t see me as some weirdo who shaved her head but instead they still saw me as a youthful, vibrant young woman. “Thank you it means so much” I exclaimed to the middle -aged woman. I walked down the city streets alongside my best friend and I never felt so free and awake. I felt like I was ready to conquer the world. We walked past restaurants each one leaving us with the scent of their cooking. We smelled Indian spices, soy sauce and sired tuna, tacos and poutine. As we walked past a man playing live music we stopped and danced with him as he riffed on the guitar. The music felt like it went through my ears and into my heart. Everything was just perfect that day. I felt not only alive but beautiful.

Narrative Essay Reflection:

For my next essay I will be sure to triple check over my essay for silly spelling and grammar mistakes. I also will work on making sure my narrative essay are shown and not told.

Something I think I did well was that I made it easy to read and follow along for readers and that I got to my points quickly without boring the reader.