HER HAIR GOT EVERYWHERE
A Little Story
By
Joaquin Torrans
I have a friend--she's really great,
whose story I have to relate.
You’d like her, my friend, everyone does.
She’s a happy person, chatty from her coffee-buzz.
Some girls worry that they’re fat,
That their noses are too big, or their chins are too small
My friend doesn’t have those concerns at all.
But there is one thing about which she is obsessive in her care:
her bright red ENORMOUS HAIR!
Really, I think she must have the hugest hair on all of Earth.
And she’s had it right from her birth.
Her mother told me once that Nikki was born a little late,
and she figured that was because her hair needed a longer while to incubate.
Of course, the doctor said that can’t be true,
but doctors always say things like that when they haven’t got a clue
as to why things happen the way they do.
He said that she was unusual, though.
You see, most kids are born with hair that’s black and fine,
but Nikki’s looked like a ball of twine.
The doc was nearly scared to death as he tried to start her breath.
With all that hair he couldn’t find her butt to pat (don’t worry—it’s how they do that). He pushed in this way, and then in there,
but all he could find was hair!
Eventually, though, perhaps from all the patting to and fro,
she started to cry, and a friendly, clever nurse began to comb her dry!
And then, her mother said, right after that,
Nikki’s hair got REALLY big and fat.
Her poor mother had a time, trying to keep that hair in line.
It grew faster than she did, faster and more than any kid.
One night Nikki raised such a squall!
Her mother rushed in and found that the crib was now too small.
When Nikki began to crawl, their dogs were frightened of the big red ball.
And as a toddler, she had to learn to walk with care,
because so many things got knocked over by her hair.
It wasn’t her fault she had such a mess of tress,
just as no one’s to blame if they’re tall or not.
But her mother emphasized that Nikki was still responsible
For all the havoc that her hair wrought.
So, little Nikki learned the hard way to keep her hair in stay.
(And to this day, she molds clay—she’s still trying to replace her mother’s favorite vase!)
When Nikki started school, she learned that some kids can be cruel
You see, her hair attracted so much attention from everyone
that some were jealous, so they made fun.
She could see that she was different, and it really made her grieve.
And for a long time she was embarrassed and sad.
And seeing her that way made her teachers feel bad.
The depth of her despair about her hair is difficult to conceive.
When she was old enough to read,
and her hair was so big it had its own seat,
Nikki’s misery was complete.
But she was so smart and so sweet,
that her teacher couldn’t stand to let her sadness grow.
Miss Blotkin wrote a note that made Nikki positively glow.
It read:
Don’t worry your pretty little head,
The things that made us unique
are always easy to critique.
We have to make these special traits our own,
and love ourselves—and others, too. Forgive them;
show them the humor isn’t lost you.
And if you do, then other people will love you,
no matter how your hair has grown!
The tears that were always near dried right up,
and from then on she really brightened up.
Nikki got some books on hairstyles, and some ribbons to tie it up,
and with her hair off her face, the world seemed to lighten up.
Of course, her hair still got bigger every day,
but it never again made her sad that way.
She just set her mind to what to do
when her hair got up to whatever it got up to.
Like her first time at the zoo:
The day was hot and humid, too,
so her hair got all frizzy and stretched out really far.
In fact, it stretched out right through the bars!
And though she tried to hold it back,
it scared the lions, who fled as from attack
and cowered in the grass until Nikki had gone past.
Things got hairy by the aviary, when some starlings tried to use it for a nest.
And the peacocks thought it was some kind of test.
The biggest male from the peacock flock spread his tail feathers
in competition with her crimson locks.
The other peacocks then cooed really loud,
and so he sauntered off, quite proud.
But the orangutans knew just what to do,
for you see, they have long red hair, too.
Instead of climbing to the top of her tree, as orangs are wont to do,
the big female pulled off two twigs, about chopstick-size
and she thrust them out before Nikki’s eyes.
By now, of course, Nik could take a hint, and into her hair they went.
The twigs worked just like a trellis does,
supporting her rosy hair and holding up the fuzz!
One time Nik and I went camping, and we had quite a scare.
We left out the food and it attracted a big brown bear.
As we hid in fear, protected only by a thin nylon veneer,
he took a swipe at the tent
and FOOMPF! out her hair went
with such a sudden hurry
that the bear ran off, frightened of something so big and furry.
During her last year of high school, Nikki went downtown to see a play.
But before the curtain went up, the man behind her leaned in to say,
“Excuse me, Miss, but could you move your hair?
“These tickets were so expensive, and my wife and I can’t see down there!”
Nikki felt bad that her hair was in the way;
she didn’t want them to miss the play. So she moved to the very back row, so that everyone could see the show.
The couple who had been behind her were so impressed by her graciousness,
that at intermission they bought her one of those sodas that are mostly ice,
and told her, “We wish everyone acted so nice!”
Those kind words made her feel so warm, she thought,
“Boy! Was I lucky to be born with such a special form!
“I’m so grateful that Miss Blotkin helped me see myself as I ought!”
And then she wondered,
“What can I do to help other people feel this good, too?”
Then the lights flashed, signaling it was time for the second act of the play.
And Nikki knew that would be her way.
She went to college that next fall, choosing Dramatic Arts to major in,
because that’s the field that plays are in.
There’s a moral in this story, I’ve been telling you.
Her hair, you see, while never doing exactly what she wanted it to,
helped her find herself and what she wanted to do.
And to like herself, too.
See, that’s a very grown-up thing, you being comfortable with you.
-30-
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