Rapunzel's Hair - Short story by Rati J.- Silver Swans

Something like that happened to me the other day.
I was in the first standard, barely five or six years old and was watching TV at my friend’s house. She was the same age of mine and lived next door. I had completed my homework and we both sat watching Princess Rapunzel’s story. Princess Rapunzel had very long hair with which she was able to lift a person from the ground to the window of her tower.
I turned my face to Neelu, my friend. Even she was looking at me, but then we took off our eyes together, because we knew what was cooking up in our heads. When the program was over, we hurried towards the mirror and stood there bending our heads on one side expecting to see our hair reaching at least up to the waist … but no use… We both had blunt cuts, so the hair barely reached our shoulders. Again we exchanged looks from the mirror wishing that our thoughts were not the same …

We didn’t speak much and I left her house saying bye. I knocked the door of my house and my mother opened it. I slid in, dragged my mom to sofa and asked.
‘How can I grow long hair?’
She was startled and understood that I was up to something. Moms are really moms!
She said, ‘you need to eat all the vegetables, cereals, pulses and should not say “NO” to bitter gourd, salads, sprouts, beetroots, carrots, all the fruits, eggs, milk, so on and so forth… If you do JUST this, you’ll have very long hair.’
Hush… Bothered but still curious about Rapunzel, I asked, ‘And then can get long hair… like Rapunzel?
‘Yes, but it’ll take little time’ she said.
I was overjoyed because I had found a solution before Neelu, and at the time of dinner, I ate all the vegetables in my plate taking my mom’s words too literally, that I needed the “little” time. While sleeping, I prayed to God to lengthen my hair and went to sleep dreaming all about the hair of different colors.
The Sunday morning was not satisfactory. I stood in front of the mirror to see whether my hair had grown a bit… but it was the same as yesterday… unchanged. I was very disappointed and angry with my mom that she made me eat all the tasteless vegetables. I went to Neelu’s house after getting ready and asked without letting her know my intention.
‘Do you like Rapunzel’s hair?’
‘Yes, do you also want to grow hair like her? Neelu asked, turning all that into a flop show of mine.
‘Yes, I want to.’ I confessed.
‘I have an idea, but don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret. ‘She said taking me towards veranda and then to the ground.
‘Neelu, my mom told me to eat all the vegetables including bitter gourd to grow my hair. Did you ask your mom?’
‘Yes, yes even she told me the same, but I think they’re fooling us… My brother told me a secret.’ She whispered.
‘What secret?’ I asked eagerly.
Neelu began, ‘he said, cut a lock of your hair and sow in the soil and keep watering. And once they grow, cut from the roots and stick with glue to your head and water your head three times a day till they’re implanted.’ She shared vivaciously in one go.
‘But how does he know? Does he also want to grow hair like Rapunzel? I asked.
‘No, no, he’s in the third standard and he knows a lot more than us. His science teacher told him. Even her hair is long. She must’ve done the same’. Neelu said.
‘Oh, yes! You’re right. We shall do it, but keep it a secret. Otherwise the ladies from our colony will reap our planted hair and run away.’ I expressed my concern.
‘Yes, yes, we will plant them there in the corner.’ She said pointing to the place behind her house.
In the afternoon we came to the spot with my scissor and her brother. Her brother, Avi cut a lock from our heads and gave us. We were planting our hair separately under the guidance of Avi, who was standing behind us, hands folded. When finished, we watered the place and made a circle in the soil around it to recognize the place.
‘Now, do not look back after you start walking to your home, otherwise the hair will never grow and you’ll have to eat bitter gourd every day. And, do not forget to water the hair plants every day. And after ten days, start oiling them with groundnut oil because they will grow from ground. The ground needs oiling just like your scalp. Five tablespoons will do.’
Avi said, in a bossy tone.
Neelu and I obeyed him, as though he was some sort of priest and we were poor victims of hair loss. We went to our homes with our exclusively fashionable hair-cuts, without looking back as referred.
Our sweet homes were definitely going to welcome us after the adventure we had done…
The next day, after heavy shelling at home, Neelu and I were standing quietly on the bus stop, waiting for our school bus. Our moms were chatting animatedly but we were tensed. None of us uttered a word. Neelu and I exchanged looks and looked down. Soon, the school bus arrived. We sat next to each other and saw a poor guy entering the bus. OMG! It was Avi. What a difference! He was tonsured… completely…
‘Dad punished him,’ Neelu revealed, watching the horror look on my face. Avi went to the last seat hiding his tears. How sad it was to see our priest peeled out like a chicken. Now he, himself needed the lock cutting treatment… But alas! … He didn’t have any!