She walked out of the hair salon feeling satisfied. She patted her freshly cut fringe. Now it would be just right. From today, it wouldn’t be so obvious that her nose was big. The side-swept fringe even looked cool, not childish at all. When she got home, the first thing she would do was tie her hair up high, hoping it would look good that way too. She walked down the street proudly, feeling relieved that the witchy nose was gone.
Anna stared at herself in the mirror for a while, disappointed, before pulling the hair tie out of her ponytail. Oh well, it looked better down anyway. Who would have thought that her stupid nose would stick out at every opportunity, as if it were proud of how well it had grown over the years? She brushed her hair and tried to find comfort in the fact that at least with her hair down, she could show her face more confidently. Who cares if she couldn’t tie it up on top of her head? That would look childish anyway.
She leaned her head against the bus window, absentmindedly watching people get on and off. She was tired, even though exam season had just begun. When she saw the girl with thick fringe and a big nose, she straightened up in horror. “My God! Do I look like that too?” It had been four years since she had cut fringe to hide her nose. And now she was realizing that she had made the worst decision of her life on that beautiful, fragrant spring afternoon?! She had been so happy struggling with blow-drying her hair to the side. How hard she had worked to look like a cool teenager rather than a goofy one after the Sunday hair wash with the help of mousse. So much effort, so much suffering just to look even more ridiculous from the side than before! How many years would it take for these cursed fringe to grow and for the memory to fade?
Anna occasionally recalled the trauma from twenty years earlier, the one she experienced on that particular bus. That girl probably had no idea how unflattering her hairstyle was. Maybe she didn’t even care because she liked herself that way. Shane, Anna’s hairdresser, had laughed when he heard the story, explaining that bangs were tricky and didn’t suit everyone. Why hadn’t the woman who cut her hair back then stopped Anna from making a fool of herself? Maybe she hadn’t even thought about discouraging the excited teenage girl who had been thrilled at the prospect of her long-awaited makeover. Why would she have? Anna had truly been happy with that hairstyle. As for that invisible hand that slapped her in the face four years later… well, no one could be blamed for that.
The heatwave had tested everyone’s patience and endurance for more than a week. What bothered Anna the most was how her neck constantly sweated under her hair, even though it wasn’t thick or heavy. Eventually, she couldn’t take it anymore. As if she were doing something forbidden, she slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Carefully, so as not to make any noise, she took out a silver-colored comb. Taking a deep breath, she tied her hair up so high that the ponytail wouldn’t touch her neck. To her surprise, nothing much had changed when she looked in the mirror. The same 42-year-old woman stared back at her as before the super-secret operation. Her nose wasn’t any bigger or smaller. Her face hadn’t changed at all. She half-believed what she was seeing. She hadn’t turned into someone desperate to deny her age. She didn’t look older or younger just because her neck finally got some air.
Feeling at peace with her appearance, she stepped out of the bathroom. Her eleven-year-old daughter was waiting for her excitedly with a picture.She eagerly showed her mother what hairstyle she wanted. Asked if she would look good with spiky hair instead of her current long one, Anna answered honestly: “Let it be whatever you like. It’ll grow back soon anyway. Then you can either cut it again or try a different hairstyle.”