SLUMP

scene i

Many things can change in just three years.

For starters, Penny secretly dyes her copper-colored hair to a bright pink.

A quick summary of the events that lead her to this strange decision if one must know.

Her initial objective was to go all out, opting to exchange her rusty-colored hair for the most obnoxious neon pink the hairdresser had to offer; however, much to Penny's disappointment, the hairdresser's supply of neon pink had dwindled during the past month, and as bad luck would have it, the hairdresser stated that she wouldn't receive another shipment of the color till next month.

Unwilling to wait a whole month for the color she wanted, Penny asked the employee to show her the other colors the salon had in stock. Sadly, as Penny scoured the racks of hair dye cans, no other color called out to Penny. The salon did possess lighter or softer tones of pink such as the baby pink seen in baby showers, but Penny just could not wrap her head around the idea of having such a color for hair.

After a half-hour of careful consideration, Penny cashed in on a can of bubblegum pink hair dye. For some, this may not seem like such a big deal, but for Penny, it was a day she would never forget. Thinking back on it, Penny finds the story amusing, and everytime she admires the color in her mirror, she is reminded that she is free.

Her morning routine begins like any other broke college student who lives with their grandparents. She wakes up to the smoky scent of crisp bagels and the sound of her grandfather strumming his rustic guitar while choraling an old tune. Blowing a strand of pink hair off her eye, she stretches her limbs and rolls to her left side, albeit with some complaints from her sore back muscles, and powers her phone on to check the time. Alarmed at the lateness, she shoots up in bed like a rocket, throwing the flowery blankets off her hairy legs.

"Shoot-" She censors herself at the last second, knowing her grandma would fuss over her use of language due to the echoey schematics of their house.

Tripping over the wooden planks from disuse of leg muscles, she reaches for her rumpled clothes and slouching backpack. Sliding out of her makeshift bedroom on the wooden floors, Penny stomps downstairs while double-checking her materials, hair tie lodged in-between her top and bottom teeth.

"Penny, sweetheart!" Her beloved grandmother waves her spatula with a smile. If it were up to Penny, she would declare that her grandmother was the sweetest lady in the world. While wrinkled, her smiles were as radiant as sunbeams, and her flowy camisoles always smelled of a mix between laundry detergent and food.

Penny can't fight the soft smile enveloping her face.

"Morning, Grandma," Penny kisses the elder's cheek, snatching a few bagels for the road. Pulling her hair back, she scans the tiled kitchen in search of a certain man. "Where's Grandpa?"

Her grandmother scoffs, the sterling locks in her bun frizzling. "Probably out on the porch, singing those silly songs of his again," she dollaps the last of the bagels with some more condensed milk and splats them on the plate. "Bring this out to him for me, dear?"

"Of course," Penny replies, balancing the plate on one hand and her backpack on the other. "I'll buy some more bagels for us on the way home."

She kisses her grandmother's cheek goodbye and alights outside. On the house's porch, right where her grandmother said he would be, seated on the porch steps was her grandfather humming a nursery rhyme and his old guitar. The same one he used to play for his own children, and the one he uses now to play for Penny.

Setting down his breakfast plate, Penny admires the serenity painted on his face. Unlike his wife, the amount of white hair he has was nearly invisible. Rather, his hair was a darker tint, borderline dark grey. As of late, he was obsessed with plain t-shirts and baggy jeans; it was an outfit perfect for outdoor exploration.