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The Other Things came to my shop with bodies of hair, everyone a different color, and everyone braided together from longest to shortest. Their bodies were very oily and needed shampoo very badly. I asked them why they had bodies of hair, and they replied in unison: "Other Things always had bodies of hair." Then the longest, darkest Other Thing spoke. He told me that Other Things came from Other Places of which I had I never heard, and they had climbed out of many holes to get to my shop, using their hair for food, and also for ropes to hoist themselves out of the holes. He explained to me that every 10 lengths (their measurement of time), they chose a different Sicilian barber shop to visit for a shampoo. I told them I would gladly give them a shampoo if they untied the braids. As soon as I finished saying it, the braids came undone, and the Other Things all lay limp on the floor. I picked them all up one by one and shampooed them in the order that they were braided. I noticed that when they were unbraided, the only one that could speak or move was the leader, and he gave the most trouble. As soon as I set down the last Thing, the braid was done up again, and all the Other Things could move again. The shampooing had taken many hours, and it was late and dark. The Other Things began to sing a strange chant in a language I couldn't understand, and the leader began to walk behind me. I turned to watch him, and the smallest Thing lassoed me with a hair rope. Then the Other Things made a circle around me, and the smallest braided himself to the largest. By this time I was struggling to get loose, but all the Other Things began lassoing me with their ropes. When I was tightly bound, they began to twist their long braid, making the circle smaller and smaller until I was surrounded and covered by so much hair that I suffocated. |
©1973 JIM GARDINER |
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Write: advopath@gmail.com |
