Once Upon a Hair Cut

Prologue

     In a small cottage in the woods, a mother and her baby daughter sat by the warmth of the fire in an old rocking chair. The father was smoking his pipe on the sofa as he watched the Sunday night football game. As the happy family sat in content in their living room, a heavy knock came from the front door.

"Who could that be at this time of day?"

"Probably just a salesman, Nelia. Nothing to worry about," said the father, walking into the kitchen to open the door. But when he opened the door it was no salesman, it was the Nelia's sister.

"Ah, Mary! How are you?"

"I'm good, and you Cordell," she replied with a little smile. As their conversation went on, Mary was fiddling with the flintlock pistol in her sweatshirt pocket.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I completely forgot to ask you if you'd like a drink!"

"It's alright, I'm leaving shortly after I'm done here.."

"Done with what?"

"Killing you," she said with a faint smile. Pulling out the pistol she shot Cordell straight in the forehead. The loud bang startled the baby, and she started to cry.

"NELIA? WHERE ARE YOU?" Mary's voice rang throughout the house. Nelia scooped up the baby and brought her into the bedroom. She quickly sprinted back into the kitchen to find her husband stone cold dead on the floor. His face was pale, with blood dripping down his face, and pooling on the floor. Unushered tears ran down Nelia's face as her anger built up inside of her. But she didn't have time to be angry, because directly behind her stood Mary. Her pistol aimed and ready.

"THERE you are Nelia..are you ready? I wouldn't want my dear sister to be uncomfortable, now would I?" Nelia spun around, her sister's cold eyes met with hers. Mary's eyes were wide, and bloodshot, her graying blond hair was in a disary on her head.

"Mary why are you doing this? What could you possibly hope to gain?"

"Everybody's talking about it you know..about your little Rapunzel.." she said with a sneer. "She's a miracle, she can make things new again. While you've been all cooped up in this happy little house with Rapunzel staying beautiful and young, I've been growing..getting older!" The wrinkles from stress, and worry, and anger now became more clear to Neila as she listened to her sister's insane justification for shooting her husband.

"So now, I'm going to take her so I can stay young like you," Mary said, calming herself down. She lifted the pistol back up with her shaking hands, and fired. The job was done, now there was nothing in her way of letting her taking the baby. But before she could do any of that, she had to bury the evidence first. Mary slipped silently through the back door, and buried the pistol. She walked back inside and picked out the baby out of her crib.

"Now then child, this will be heard of, so best you get a new name...how about Gwendolyn. Perfect...Gwendolyn."

Mary walked down the dirt driveway, and into her car securing the child in the car seat she stole from Nelia's car. The car drove away, the inky, think blackness of the night swallowing the car as it drove away. As the car disappeared, so did the memory of Nelia, and Cordell Fisher.