Eden

Twenty-Six

I decide not to think about all of that right now, though.

Instead, I look at the people in the market again, a little more carefully this time, now that I've decided that everyone's hair is the way they choose for it to be. Probably. Or that it's how it was when they were alive, which seems like almost the same thing.

I look, anyway, wondering whether I can use their hair to work out anything more about them. Since their clothes are all mostly the same, I mean, and so probably won't tell me very much. I'm vaguely hoping that now I can just kind of gawk at their hair and then learn everything about them. Basically. Who they were, and where they were, and possibly when, too. So, well, I look around, and I see lots of different styles of hair. The women mostly have longer hair, and mostly it's out or in buns. Or plaited into buns. Or in ponytails, too, actually, sometimes with little braided decorative bits. Or not, and just out. Or in kind of French braids, I guess because maybe they don't have clips here. Or in messy buns they've obviously just quickly made, like I would have if I hadn't torn my dress instead, or in plaits, usually single plaits, but sometimes rolled-up ones too.

So actually, now I look properly, people have all sorts of hair, like hair in too many different styles for me to see a pattern or learn anything much from it. But still, I learn something. For the women, mostly hair is long.

And actually, because now I'm looking properly, and seeing properly, I notice something else. Mostly it is for the men, too.

So really, now I think about it, everyone has long hair, of one style or another. Everyone does, which seems like it might mean something.

Or not. But maybe.

So I think about that, trying to tell if there's any common style.

And as I think, I look around some more, more closely, at all the people, and as I do, I realize I can see a lot of eye makeup. Like, thick dark shadow and liner, and from what I can tell from this distance, mascara too. And a lot of people are wearing liner, like most of these people are. Probably more than would be at home, I suspect, if I actually went around counting.

So liner and shadow are common here, but not, say, lip gloss or foundation. I don't think so anyway, not from what I can see. Just heavy, dark liner around their eyes.

And that's also on both men and women, too.

I think about that, about men wearing eyeliner, and then I start to realize what I'm seeing. Because I suddenly think about old-time films, set in the past, and about long hair and makeup for men and men with bare chests.

I think, and realize fairly quickly. It doesn't take that much thought to work it out.

These are people from long ago.

These are people from my past.