Sitting on the barber chair, young Luca was ready to have a good haircut for his birthday the next day, his favorite which was drop fade, he had a considerate amount of hair.
The haircut began, Luca pointed at the dangling strands of hair on his forehead to the barber as he beamed lightly.
The Barber smiled and gave him a thumbs up. The Barber's hair clipper, now the sculptor's tool, began its artful journey on Luca's hair.
But something happened, something weird that made Luca flinched.
The TV was on, giving a lively atmosphere to the Barbershop, directly adjacent to Luca was the flat screen TV hooked to the wall, with a sideglance Luca could see clearly what was going on in the TV. It was the news channel.
"A husband woke up early this morning only to realize his wife had disappeared, his wife's phone was still in the room," a newscaster spoke.
A journalist interviewed the said husband.
~We slept side by side the previous night... B-but b-but she was nowhere to be found this morning~
The husband spoke amidst sobbing.
"Have you checked her workplace and everywhere she used to visit?" the journalist questioned.
"Yes... I have called all her relatives and friends, went to her workplace but I couldn't find her," he replied.
"Tsk!..." Young Luca, who had been watching the news, muttered with disdain.
"Sir? Could you change the channel to the entertainment one?" he asked. The barber accepted the request and changed the channel.
"So, what do you think about that?" the barber asked.
Luca shrugged. "Sounds like either she left on her own or something happened that he's not aware of. If she left her phone behind, maybe she didn't want to be tracked. But honestly, without more details, it's hard to say. People disappear for all sorts of reasons."
"That is quite logical, you sure are bright for a ten year old" the barber commended.
"It's nothing tho" he replied.
While watching the entertainment channel on the TV, young Luca felt the strands of hair cut off, he looked at it and beamed, giving the barber a thumbs up.
At first, when the one on the left side was cut off, nothing happened, everything seemed normal, but something made him flinch, as the second strand of hair on the right side was cut off, both strands began writhing.
What the heck!
He screamed inwardly.
Young Luca wiped his face with his hands, perhaps he was hallucinating but the reality was all there, the strands were writhing and dancing closer to each other like two magnets with opposite poles.
Young Luca's mind was thumping, this was the weirdest thing he had ever witnessed, he checked the barber through the mirror in front of him, but he hadn't noticed.
Good
He thought as his breath started getting heavier.
"Are you okay?" The barber said and glanced at young Luca's face.
Oops! Have I blown it?
His brain screamed.
"I-it's n-nothing" he stuttered.
Young Luca calmed himself down, looking back down, the two strands of hair had locked into each other and became one.
Oh....
Luca mused.
In an instant, the strand which was originally black now started turning grey like an old man's hair.
Young Luca looked with a confused expression, he looked at the other hair which had been trimmed off, still black.
Glancing back at the grey strand of hair, it now looked shriveled like a collapsed plant from lack of water.
He swallowed hard, and mustered confidence.
"Excuse me, Sir," he said ...wanna give my leg a scratch"
The barber stopped while young Luca bent and picked the strand of hair, he pocketed it.
Finishing his haircut, he went home showing and explaining to Uncle Silas, since then Luca would cut off the strands before going for a haircut, but it appeared that since that day, when the strands were cut, they remained like any other strand of hair, not turning grey nor moving, wanting Uncle Silas to believe him, young Luca would place both strands side by side but all to no avail. Uncle Silas showed a skeptical expression as though Luca was making the whole thing up.
~ Perhaps, you misselected someone else's hair, after all, it's a barbershop ~ he would say.
******
Luca who seemed to be engrossed in his phone suddenly shouted.
"Wow! Dragon Quest 2, they have finally released the second series! I haven't even played the first series finish"
"Let me check, do I have enough to spare for a game?" He said scrolling through his phone.
"What the heck!! 15 EP bucks?!, Hmmm.....
"Hard choice" Luca grumbled. ....but I'm buying it" he said grinning. "It's been five years, the game is epic!"
He stood up and walked towards the window, he could see clearly the two-story mansion beside his apartment, Silvia's house. Luca's face suddenly turned gloomy, Reminiscing one of their meetings, five years ago, the regret of not being able to speak out still gnawing at the depth of his mind.
****
Five years ago
As the sun set casting a warm glow over Crescent Moon Lane, young Luca and young Silvia were seen strolling along the side of the lane, they held each other hands, young Luca stopped and looked up, and young Silvia looked at him suspiciously.
"What is it?" she asked with a worried expression in her obsidian eyes, her Raven-black hair was waist-length.
Young Luca could feel a hint of worry in her words.
"S-Silvia, i-...."
Young Luca said with face flushing red, averting his gaze from her, his bright hazel eyes twinkling.
"Hmmm, Luca, answer me" Young Silvia glanced sideways and said sulkily, she glanced at him again and beamed as if encouraging him.
"I love-
Just as young Luca mustered enough courage to complete his words, a lady in a black pantsuit came cutting him off.
"Young Mistress, where have you been, I have been searching for you," she said worriedly and glanced at Luca scrutinizingly.
"May, wait a minute" young Silvia told the lady in a pantsuit, perhaps she was still curious about what young Luca was going to say, but it seemed he was short of words.
"Let's go," May said taking young Silvia's hand while they walked away.
******
Luca, still peeping through the window, heaved a sigh. He went back to the bed and sat down with a thud.
If only I had enough courage that day and completed the damn words...
Tch!! But I lack the damn courage...
And now, I don't know if she will ever smile at me again.
He thought sulkily.