Accidents+and+Bad+Haircuts

My jaw fell open, making a perfect “o” in my mouth. It couldn’t be true. This all had to be a dream. I would pinch myself and in any minute I would be in my bedroom. I quickly found my hand and pinched myself, making my arm cherry red. Nothing happened. “Great,” I told myself.
 * Hair Cut Gone Wrong, by Danna **

My hair was now about shoulder-length and more wavy than ever, making it look even shorter than it was. My hair used to go down to about half of my back, but now it didn't, thanks to the barber. I wanted to sob in front of everyone in the room, but people would probably think I was a freak because to cry just because my hair was too short. I held back my tears and my anger towards the barber and my mom. I said thank you to the barber and headed out of the shop. We walked from the shop to my grandma’s house in silence, without a single word.

As we walked, my mom finally broke the silence and complimented me on my hair. I just nodded to keep myself from screaming at her.

When we finally arrived at my grandma's, which felt like years instead of minutes, I headed to the bathroom and let the tears fall from my eyes. Tears fell from my eyes to my cheeks like a waterfall as I start to feel my eyes burning red from crying. I took a rubber band and tied it around my hair into a ponytail. I looked at the mirror in front of me and gasped at the look of my face and my hair. My face looked like I hadn't slept in thirty-seven years and my eyes were bloodshot red.

My hair looked better than my face, but it was still horrific. The end of the ponytail was like a porcupine hair sticking out, but instead of being straight it was wavy. ”Two months” I told myself. Two months and my hair will be longer.

** When The Doors Won't Open, Natchaya ** “Wait for us!” our maids yelled. We were running away from our maids at my apartment in Jakarta. I was with my best friend Jaja, and it was her 6th birthday. My apartment was a huge green apartment, with white marbled floor, and today the lobby was pretty empty. We ran and ran until we reached the elevator located in the center of the building. Jaja pushed the up button and the elevator door opened. I pressed “16” because that was my apartment floor.

The door closed and we started to go up. I could see my maids running to the second elevator and pressing the “UP” button repeatedly. We are going to get there before our maids, I thought. The elevator was a clear glass elevator with creamed color marbled floor tiles. It was pretty old, but it still worked pretty well. I could see our maids rushing into the second elevator.

“Do you think we are going to get to your apartment before them?” Jaja asked.

“Pretty sure.” I answered. “We are already on the sixth floor.” Jaja smiled.

“DING!” The elevator reached the 16th floor and an evil grin appeared on our faces.

“We are going to get there before our maids!” Jaja said happily.

We waited a couple of seconds for the door to open. I’d always known that the elevator door was slow, but it wasn’t usually this slow. Ten seconds went by, and I could see our maids already reaching the 15th floor. We punched the glass elevator walls, screaming for them to help. Twenty seconds went by. //Why couldn't they see us?//

I stared at the elevator door, then back at Jaja. Tears filled both of our eyes. About a minute passed and I could see our maids already walking in front of the door of my apartment room. “AHHHHH!” We screamed as loud as we could. I looked at Jaja.

“Are we gonna be stuck in here?” I ask her. She turned away.

We cried for help, and Jaja’s maid started to turn around. We started to jump and Jaja’s maid pointed at us. Our maids rushed at the in front of the elevator door. We stared to punch the elevator door but nothing happened. We froze. //Were we going to die in here?// Jaja’s face was red. About a minute passed. I could see my maid pushing the “DOWN” button.

Suddenly, there was a weird sound, and the door sprang open. I ran out and hugged my maid. Jaja slowly walked out and hugged me. Tears poured out my face. And we slowly walked to my apartment.

I’d always known that being in an elevator without a grownup was not safe, so I had no idea why I did that. Being trapped in an elevator was creepy, and you never know when it’s going to happen. Now I’ve learned that if you are going in an elevator alone, or with a friend, make you know what to do if you get stuck.

** The Swinging Chains, By Maxime ** “Are you sure?”

“Yes I am sure!”

“1, 2, 3.“

“AAAH!”

We looked at him strangely, “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“My arm!!! I think you broke my arm!” he said.

I looked at him with a worried and fearful look. I knew I would get in trouble. The teachers came out on the field and took him home, but they were not angry at me. At the end of school I walked home as usual.

When I got to the door, my mom opened it, saying, “This is absurd! They are asking us to pay for his broken arm.”

I looked at her with a strange face. “You are not mad at me?

I was in second grade when it happened. It was break time and we would play on these chains and swing off from them with 15 year olds. We were playing when one of our usual friends came by and asked us if he could be swung on the chains. And we agreed to do it. So we swung and he let go and fell to the ground and broke his arm. The teachers came out and brought him back home. After school I walked home and saw my mom and did my homework. After a few minutes we got another call from his mother, trying to get 5,000 dollars out of us. Even though they were not getting any of our money, she kept on calling until my mom unplugged the phone from the wall to calm herself down. I had never seen my mom so angry. She looked like she was about to explode.

After a few moments the mother came to our house with her son. They rang the doorbell but my mom would not let them come in. So the lady picked up a rock and carved, “Give me my money,” into our wooden door.