Everything about the way Karyn moved seemed to have changed... At least for an outsider looking in. As we continued our walk to the mall, I started to catch the subtle tells that only a best friend could catch. A sideways glance. A widening of her eyes. The way she bit the inside of her bottom lip. I started to wonder just how much her confidence was performance. Of course, that question faded away the moment we passed the threshold of the mall. With a woosh of air, we passed through the automatic doors into that gauntlet of fashion and femininity. At least that's how it seemed to me. I shuffled while Kare strutted.
As we walked through the department store that was the south entrance to the mall, Karyn began to stray from our path. Something caught her eye in a nearby shelf that I was deliberately ignoring... "You know, we could probably..."
"No... No no." I cut her off. "I'm getting my hair chopped, then we're figuring out the stone. I'll go shopping with you after that."
Kare sighed, rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms, but after a second of appraising me nodded in agreement. There was something else there as well, something ambivalent about her demeanor, but I couldn't make it out.
"I... get it..." Karyn stated reluctantly, "Even if I think it's a travesty to what we are..."
I paused for a moment, and glanced up at her. "And what are we?" I asked with sharp punctuation.
"I..." She paused. "Never mind." she concluded.
"Because I'm a man, for fucks sake..." Jon hissed.
I could practically hear her teeth clenching, but all she did was nod.
We kept walking until the salon was in sight.
"You know, I don't get it..." Kare spoke up again. "Even if you are a girl... This..." She lifted her arms and gestured to her body. "It's... bliss." She concluded with a whisper. "Every second since we met the ravens."
"Varricks" I corrected.
"Sure, Varricks," She continued. "I just have so much energy, and confidence... Don't you feel any of that?"
"Not really," I shrugged. "If anything, It's the opposite."
She nodded.
"Are you sure?" The stylist asked. She'd introduced herself as Lacy when I settled into the chair, and had been chatting on excitedly about all the ways I could style my hair until the moment I asked her to take the clippers to it.
"One hundred percent." I asserted. I'd wanted to go to the barber shop a little further down, but Karyn insisted that a stylist would be less conspicuous, and I was inclined to agree... Of course, it wasn't until after I'd already sat down, that I realized that I'd be paying twice as much as a clipper cut. Still, I gritted my teeth, glad at least that Karyn and I were talking again, and not wanting to rock the boat even further.
"You just have such gorgeous hair... It's so silky." The young woman fluffed my hair, adding healthy body, before letting it glide off her fingers, and settle around my neck. "I know you worked hard to take care of this."
"I just need a change." I stated, growing irritated with her hesitancy.
"We get a lot of girls getting short cuts after a bad break up." She kept playing with my hair while I scowled. "Or going to college, hey it's fun to try something new."
"I really just want a clipper cut..." I stated, ignoring her prompts. "Like a guy's cut." I insisted.
Karyn spoke up. "Trust me, I've tried to convince her, but she's got her heart set on it."
"What is it that you want out of this hair cut?" Lacy asked.
"Short hair..." I replied with exasperation.
"Is it just that it's hard to manage, or..." Her voice trailed off.
"Really, I just want a cut that looks like a guy's cut."
"Ok!" The stylist agreed, as if summoning up her will. "Well, How about you trust me to give you something as easy to care for as a guy's cut, but it won't be totally mannish, you know?"
"No, I really just want..." I began, before Karyn interjected.
"That's perfect." She leaned in, and whispered in my ear. "Until we get this figured out, you're going to have to at least be passable as a girl when you're not wearing your glamour! If you're worried about negative attention, try looking like a butch lesbian in highschool."
I glared at her, but she just stood back up and crossed her arms saucily.
Rolling my eyes, I complied. "Fine."
Karyn sighed. "Good, I'm going to step out and check on something."
I raised an eyebrow at her demeanor as she said that. There was something restless about her energy, both physical and mystical.
"Don't let her chop it all off!" Karyn insisted of Lacy as she made her way out.
Lacy agreed with a laugh. She gave a forlorn sigh, as she ran her fingers through my hair a few more times, tied it up in a pony tail, and wielded her scissors.
*Snick!
The pixie cut was painfully cute. My subtle curls gave the top stylish little twists and flips, which had been feathered to one side with an asymmetrical bang. My head felt big and my eyes felt bigger. Like I was some bobble head. I ran my fingers through it a few more times, messing it up. "Can't you take a little bit more off the top."
Lacy instinctively brushed my feathered bangs back to the side, giving the style and personality once again. "There's not much more left to cut!" She insisted, with the emotional fatigue of a Michelin chef being asked for chicken nuggets for the 10th time.
I bit my lip nervously. The girl in the mirror was almost a tomboy, but seemed too soft, and graceful, and shy. She had none of the bravado needed to round out the personality I used to see in Karyn... Damn it all if she wasn't so cute. I'd hoped to stamp out every trace of that.
My introspection was interrupted as I caught sight of something back out in the mall... It took me a second to realize what I was seeing wasn't with my normal human eyes... Something was weaving a spell, and a powerful one at that!
"I-It'll have to do!" I relented.
Lacy sighed, and showed me to the register as she chatted on about how to style my short hair. It wasn't that I was ignoring her, but every second I spent paying her resulted in the weave growing larger and larger. As I handed Lacy the money, I saw the weave erupt with light, and strike out... No, Strike someone! I practically sprinted out of the salon, mussing up the pixie cut as I ran.
The third eye, I realized, had no proper depth perception, as I could hardly tell where the weave was within the mall. It was like telling the distance of a candle light in the dark, with one eye closed. All I could see is the light, dimmer or brighter. After a moment of frantic looking, I realized where the source of the weave was located.
I sprinted off in that direction, as I saw the weave intertwine with more souls. Sometimes it struck like a bolt, other times, like a gentle hand molding clay. What was common between the two was the change I saw in the afterimage of the human souls it touched.
As I neared the hub of the mall, I realized with dread what I was looking at... A fountain. A fountain filled with coins... with wishes... Water spouted up dramatically from the fountain, sprayed by faucets I knew the fountain didn't have, and rain poured from a spout in the ceiling that I knew wasn't there. The surface of the water now bloomed with glistening lilies. The humble fountain had become a shrine, and there before it, dancing in the throes of a dramatic dervish, was Karyn.
She wore glistening blue and gold robes that swirled around her. Her eyes shimmered bright gold, with her expression showing only the passion of the moment. Her humble bindi had become a full on headdress, glittering like sunlight on the waves of a rushing stream.
I watched as her dance slowed to allow her to dramatically grasp the light from her headdress, and lower her hand in an offering gesture, palm up. A trail of illusory hands and arms followed the same path, each grasping light and offering the energy, palm upright. A radiant flower began to bloom in her hand, glowing brighter and brighter as each of the illusory hands caught up with the first, adding their power to the first. She leaned over to her hand, and pursed her lips, then with a puff of breath, the weave of magic struck out, wrapping around a young couple who watched on in confusion. A moment later, they vanished.
"SHIT!" I cried. "Karyn!"
She didn't seem to hear me, so I bolted towards her, frantically trying to interrupt her supernatural performance.
I flew at her, nearly striking her in a Heisman worthy tackle, only to find myself grasped in her hands, and gently spun around, as if I were nothing more than a scarf on the wind. Worse still, I felt a shudder of energy rush over and through me as I joined the weave. My mind turned off.
Does the stream think of where it flows? Does the ocean deliberate on chasing the moon?
I spun and danced with her.
A measure, a beat. A symphony erupted within me. The mall seemed to me little different than the temple from our vision, and I sung a high piercing note.
The fountain overflowed. Lilies poured out into the tiled floors.
I could feel it... What Karyn was talking about. How natural it all felt. How blissful it was. I felt silly for cutting my hair short, it had cascaded down my shoulders so wonderfully, like the falls of the high mountains... If only I'd... If only I'd...
If only I'd chopped it all off dammit!
My third eye showed me the warp thread of the weave. The anchor that held it all together, and with sharp malicious intent, I sang off key, fraying those threads of magic.
Karyn cried in shock. The dozens of onlookers covered their ears, and a moment later energy erupted as the weave was discharged. Silence fell on the fountain courtyard, replaced a moment later by the lazy sputter of a broken fire suppressant sprinkler pouring down from the ceiling.
A young woman, dressed for a 1920s gala looked down at her dress in confusion.
A young boy in oversized slacks and a collared shirt, met the gaze of a young girl with an updo and cardigan. They gazed at each other with wonderment and joy.
A boy, no older than 13 held up a sleek black and green plastic visor with a web of electrodes across the cap, the utter delight of Christmas morning on his face.
At last I looked to Karyn, who was one part furious, and 3 parts confused. "What did you do?" She asked me, her voice still buzzing with supernatural energy.
"What did you do?" I bit back, bitterly.
A moment later the fire alarm went off, and the patrons of the mall, woken from their stupor, started to scramble for the exit.
Karyn looked like she intended to stay longer, but I grabbed her hand, and ran, crushing lilies underfoot.
