'Mum, I want to ask you something and I don't want you to say no.'
'Why aren't you dressed yet?' she asked, looking up from the school lunches she was preparing.
'I want to dye my hair again. This morning. Green ombre, like last time.'
Mum put down the butter knife. She looked tired. She'd been so good to me all weekend, so caring and supportive. I knew I was pushing my luck.
'This morning? So you don't want to go to school?'
'No.'
'Just the tips again?'
'Yes, just the tips.'
She thought for a moment. 'Okay. But I'm coming with you and speaking to the hairdresser. It's a compromise.'
I smiled.
'Get dressed,' she said.
When we got to the hairdressers, mum had a long, in-depth conversation with the hairdresser. She told her all about auto-immune disorders and hormone disruptors. She checked the list of chemicals. She made the hairdresser promise that none of the dye would go near my scalp.
As the hairdresser was applying the dye, I saw my mother in the mirror. She was looking at me. Our eyes locked in the mirror. It was a reflection of mother-daughter love. And in that look, I felt she was letting me go. She knew I needed to live my life my way, that I needed to take risks, I needed to fall in love, I needed to fall, there would be upsets, there would be danger, there would be injury and loss and regeneration. But the greatest gift she could give me was to say go, I believe in you, go.
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THE END
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YOU ARE READING
A Reason to Exist
Teen FictionSometimes falling in love is the most dangerous trick to land ... Macy always follows the rules. For years, her mother has warned her that the world is full of toxins and accidents waiting to happen. Tucker lives next door. He doesn't follow any rul...
