Prologue – Confession night

Alice was sitting on the fence when Shane arrived.

“Fuck. You are here before me again.”  Shane moaned.

“I wasn’t the earliest.  Dana is.”  Alice smiled half heartedly.

Shane put down half a dozen of beer on the pavement.

“Dana, we are here to confess again. This one is for you.”  Alice poured a bottle of beer on the sand in front of them. She watched the beer rushing down from the bottle neck to the sand like a waterfall, until the last drop of beer was splashed.  The pool of beer gradually disappeared.  

Shane lighted up a cigarette, inhaled it deeply and blew out some smoke rings.  Two years ago there were three of them, now, only two left.  Dana died of breast cancer. Life was this fragile.   One day she was healthy, then without much notice she was gone.  Just like that.  She opened a bottle and down it all in one. 

“Dana will thank you for the beer.”  She finally said.    

“How’s life?”  Alice asked. 

Shane sat down on the pavement and leaned her head against the fence. 

“I am just counting the days, counting the seconds, waiting for the time to pass.  Really really really bored.”

Alice came down to sit next to Shane. 

“Not busy at work?” She questioned.

“No, my schedule is full each day.”  Shane drank some beer before she continued.  “When I was working, I concentrate on their hair, how to cut, how to style it.  But when I was drying their hair, I asked myself why did I need to concentrate on styling or drying their hair.   I can do most of these tasks with my eyes closed!  Why did I force myself to concentrate on my job?  Was it because I wanted to concentrate on work in order to forget something else?  So I thought, maybe what I really needed to forget is the boredom and the routine work.” I confessed.

Alice thought about what she said. “You have been a hair stylist for two years, it’s normal to feel bored.”    

“I love my job, I chose it myself.  It feels like I am helping people everyday, I make them look better to boost their confidence.  Like plastic surgeons, minus years of study!  It’s not difficult to imagine that feeling. ” She laughed.