3 Silver Strands

Even though she was supposed to be getting dressed, Scout played with her stuffed animals in her bedroom.

“Hey Sweetie, how are you doing? Are you all the way dressed?” Mama called from the bathroom.

“Almost. I’m part of the way dressed,” answered Scout from the other room.

“We have to be all the way dressed to go to the library,” Mama replied.

“Okay, I’ll put my pants on.” Scout agreed.

“Thank you, and then please come in here when you’re done so that I can get that snarl out of your hair.” Mama was not looking forward to working out the developing knot. Scout did not like getting her hair brushed either.

Scout hesitantly shuffled her feet through the bathroom door, “Alright, time to brush your hair, Mama. We need to brush it first because it looks a little messy on the side.”

“Okay, but just for a couple of minutes. We need to get going.” Mama answered, sitting down on the stool so Scout could reach the top of her head. Scout started gently pulling the brush through the side of her hair.

Scout had a curious expression on her face. “Mama, your hair is so soft and smooth. Why is it straight?” she asked.

“My body is just made that way. Even if I try, my hair doesn’t like to curl.” It was true that Mama’s hair refused to do anything else.

“Your hair is beautiful. I wish I had straight hair. Mama, did you know you have three golden...I mean, what’s the other color? SILVER! Did you know you have three silver hairs in the back?” Scout exclaimed.

“Yeah, I think I noticed that the other day,” Mama answered reluctantly.

Scout’s excitement was growing, “Did you know that sometimes unicorns have silver hair. I think your silver hair might be MAGIC. No, I KNOW they’re magic! I’m trying to brush them, but they’re so wild they do whatever they want! They won’t stay down.”

“Alright, sweetie, I better get started on your hair.” Mama stood up so they could trade places.

“Okay, Mama. I wish I could have silver hair like you. Do you think I could have silver hair someday?”

Scout was jumping up and down now.

Mama reached for the hairbrush, saying, “Yeah, I think you’ll probably have silver hair someday, too. It’ll be your choice if you want to keep it silver or not. Okay, now it’s my turn to brush your hair.”

“Wait a second…Choice? Why would anybody want to get rid of it?!” Scout could not believe what she heard as they switched spots. The brush had trouble making it to the bottom, getting caught on the tangled bit of hair.

Thoughtfully, Mama said, “You know, when I was your age, I wanted curly hair more than anything. I love your curly hair. Do you think it could be magical, too? Your curls kind of do whatever they want.”

Scout paused and answered with a question, “Mama, do you think magic is real?”.

“I don’t know, but I’ve seen some pretty cool magic tricks before. We can look for some books about it once we get to the library,” she took a deep breath and said, “I wish I had some magic right now to get this knot out.” She ran the brush over the tangled area again, and just like that, it disappeared.

This discovery is how it all began, but their first adventure would happen when they least expected it. Scout and Mama finished getting ready and headed out to the library without knowing what magical events would happen next.