Wow...so many reviews. You all are amazing!
Dear Stranger,
I was taking a shower when I first noticed that my hair was starting to fall out. I sank to the floor, leaning against the wall, staring at the clump of gold that I held. I sat there for a long while, afraid to touch my hair more, afraid that if I left the shower, more bad news would come.
I was startled out of my thoughts by a knock, and my mother's melodious voice sounded through the door. "Serena, sweety, are you coming out any time soon?" I forgot that she had promised to visit today.
As angry as I was with her for putting me through this, I realized I really needed her right now.
I rushed out of the shower, wrapping a robe around my pruned body as I threw open the door, throwing myself into my mom's arms. I was sobbing uncontrollably, telling her, "It's horrible, Mom! It's so horrible…"
She kept asking me what was wrong, but the words refused to form on my lips. Mom began to stroke my head as she normally did when I was upset. Moments later, I felt her freeze, her hand drifting away. "Oh Serena…"
I could only cry harder as she guided me towards my bed. She pushed me down gently so that I was sitting, and I buried my face into a pillow. I felt the mattress dip as she sat behind me. I jumped, alarmed by the prickly sensation at the top of my head, but I soon realized it was just my hairbrush. The tears came more quickly as I felt the brush pull away loose strands. She sang softly to me as she brushed, my favorite nursery rhyme beginning to calm me down.
When her brushing stopped, I tried to look into the mirror, but Mom stopped me. "Maybe you should wait until another time when you're more…composed can handle it better." She said to me, her smile filled with sadness. She reached into her purse and pulled out a neatly folded bandana. The moment she began to wrap the pink cloth around my head, I started to accept that this was happening, that I was really losing my hair. A strange sense of reality came crashing down on me, suffocating me. I felt numb.
"Serena, my love," Mom gently pulled my face so that I was looking at her. "Please don't let this affect you. Losing your hair doesn't change who you are, do you understand that? It doesn't make you any less of a person. It doesn't make you any less smart, less funny, less of a good friend, less anything. You'll always be my beautiful baby girl, and I will always love you, no matter what happens."
She pulled me to her as she finally started crying, squeezing me tightly. I pressed my ear to her chest, listening to her heartbeat, steady and strong like I wanted to be, and I let myself go.
Sincerely,
Serena