The Odd Family's Book of Bedtime Stories

The Hair Do

Some girls liked to spend hours on their hair. Gracie did not. She preferred to simply do what needed to be done and then move on. She hated brushing her hair but especially hated doing anything more to it. She had never even attempted to straighten it or put it in curlers. Instead, Gracie enjoyed putting her hair up in a messy bun. It was simple, in style, and it kept her hair out of her face.

After a while of doing this every day, she realized that no matter what she did, the bun always looked the same. That was the beauty of a messy bun. If she hadn't done anything to it and it was the same bun from the day before, no one knew. So she made a decision. She would take her time to make it look as nice as possible. Then, when she had finished, she covered it in hair product so it would stay in place.

This method worked like a charm. In the shower, Gracie put a plastic cap over her hair. Every few days she would spray some dry shampoo on it to help with the smell. She also found that more product helped with the eventual itching. Sometimes people would look at her hair strangely and she would pull her hood over it but, mostly, no one noticed.

No one noticed until Gracie's mother came to wake her up for breakfast only to find that Gracie had passed away in her sleep. Black widow spiders had found the perfect nesting place in the girl's hair and could only multiply with nothing to stop them. When she had reached up her sleep to scratch at her scalp, they had began biting her. She had never even had time to realize what was happening.