Mid afternoon brought a peaceful feeling of relaxation mixed in with silence.
The mall parking lot was almost empty and low, heavy clouds were hanging over the emptiness giving it not an eerie air, but a cosy one, like being covered by a huge, fluffy duvet.
Selene, Lenny to her friends, was resting in one of the empty hair dresser’s chairs and was watching the outside through eyes half closed.
Mid-afternoon, right after lunch, was one of the slowest times of the day. People were either having a nap (what she wished she could do), or working away in their, homes or offices.
Lenny was used to the rhythm of the day, and was startled when a woman appeared, as if of nowhere, and crossed the threshold quickly like she was running from something. The bell above the door rang hysterically unhappy of being abused.
The woman, who looked extremely young, Lenny could now see, stopped abruptly in the middle of the room letting out a great sigh.
‘You have to help me!’, her voice was desperate but firm.
Lenny jumped up pointing to the empty chair.
‘Of course, have a seat! What type of hair cut would you like?’
The woman took a step closer and spoke again.
‘No, you really need to help me! Help- help me! Real help!’, the determination in her voice was fading away.
Lenny understood what the woman wanted, she had seen it on her the moment she had walked in the door, but Lenny could not openly admit it, this was the world they lived in, a world in which witches did not exist, were not acknowledged and their magic was just new age mambo-jumbo.
‘I understand.’, and from her tone the woman saw that she did indeed.
‘Have a seat.’
The young woman sat down, Lenny went through the entire ritual of placing a protective cotton apron on her, combing her hair, spraying it with sweet smelling lavender mist, and then when the woman was almost asleep in the chair, Lenny uncovered the mirror.
The young woman startled at the reflection looking back at her. It was still herself but different, looking in a way that she had never seen herself before.
The image in the mirror resembled a very old, faded picture of a woman crumbling under the weight of her life. Her clothes were mismatched and neglected for, her hair matted, her skin sallow and her eyes lost, lacking light.
Lenny saw the image too and continued to comb the young woman’s hair, while humming in a soft voice an awakening tune.
While the woman stared at the reflection she could see the details clearer. She could see that the woman was extremely thin under her grey clothes, she could see that her hands were red because of all the washing, and the circles under her eyes had become permanent because of the chronic fatigue.
The more she watched the reflection, relaxed under the spell of the hair dresser, the woman understood that what she saw was how she actually felt. It was her inside.
She felt tired, so tired, and burdened, so burdened, she felt lost, so lost within herself that she could not find her way back from the shadows.
‘A change is needed, let’s change the color, and maybe add some loose curls?’, Lenny’s voice was mostly stating an intention than asking a question.
The woman nodded watching herself fascinated and heartbroken in the mirror.
As the cut hair started to fall on the floor, so the woman’s body in the mirror seemed to be less burdened. As new color shone in the tired hair, so the woman in the mirror seemed to regain some of her vitality.
Under the patient care of the hair dresser, the woman saw how her reflection also started to transform, and although she was still thin and tired and a little bit lost, she had found a little ray of light to walk on towards herself.
When the woman left, with a spring in her step, Lenny sat back on the chair and looked at her own reflection in the mirror before covering it.
Lenny smiled at the old crone having tea and a scone.
‘You deserve it!’, Lenny whispered.