A quick children’s story written when my youngest refused to brush her hair.
Hair Everywhere!
Harriet liked movies. And ice cream. And playing with her friends. And running in the field.
Harriet did not like washing or brushing her hair. Every night her mother tried to brush it, and every night Harriet yelled. And screamed. And cried. And complained.
One day, while running through the field, Harriet saw a horse. It was frolicking, it’s long mane and tail flowing out behind it. Harriet saw the long beautiful hair on the horse, and thought ‘That horse never has to wash his hair! And doesn’t have to brush it every night. I wish I was a horse, so I could run free too, and never have to brush my hair!’
That night, Harriet complained louder than ever about having her hair brushed. “I NEVER want my hair brushed! Ever! Horses never have their hair brushed! I wish I was a horse!”
The next morning when Harriet woke up her pajama pants didn’t quite fit like they should. When she looked to see why, she found she had a tail! She swished it around and looked at the beautiful, long hair flow.
At school her friends thought it was a little strange having a tail… but most agreed it was pretty neat.
The morning after that, Harriet had fur all over her body! Her friends thought that was very strange, but were polite and didn’t say any thing.
The next morning when Harriet woke up she felt… different. Her hands were different, her fingers grown together into hooves. And her face was different, longer than ever. Her legs and he body were different too. And her hair! Her hair had grown into a long, beautiful mane. She stood up and looked in her mirror, and there she was, a horse!
She trotted down to breakfast to show her mother. “Oh my goodness! How did a horse get in here?” her mom said and started take Harriet outside.
“Wait wait, mom! It’s me!” Harriet cried, but her mom didn’t understand, because it came out as ‘Neigh, Neigh!’
Her mom led her outside to the lawn. Harriet was hungry, so she tried to go back inside but couldn’t open the door, because her hands were hooves. She tried eating some grass, cause horses eat grass. Yuck! It tasted like grass!
Harriet realized it was time for school, so she trotted along, enjoying the feeling of running like a horse! When she got to the classroom, her teacher and friends said, “What is a horse doing in school?”. Harriet said, “It’s me! It’s me!” But her friends and teacher didn’t understand what she was saying, because it came out as ‘Neigh, Neigh! Snort!’
The teacher took her outside the school and closed the door. Harriet couldn’t get back inside because she couldn’t open the door. She was hungry, and now felt a little lonely because none of her friends knew it was her.
She decided, since she couldn’t go to school, that she would frolic in the field where she saw the other horse. Harriet found the field, and found the other horse, and pranced and danced, tossing her long hair. It got caught in some bramble berry bush, and she had to pull it back out. It really hurt! And, some of the brambles were now stuck in her hair. She tried rolling on the ground to get them out, but instead some burrs stuck in her fur as well.
She tried to tell the other horse that she was hungry, and lonely, and had the uncomfortable things stuck in her hair, but the other horse only said ‘Neigh Neigh. Snort!’ and Harriet didn’t understand what he was saying.
It was getting dark, so she went back home. Her mom was there, looking very worried. She was wondering where Harriet was. Harriet said “It’s me, mom. I’m right here!” but it came out as “Neigh Snort Neigh!, and her mom went back inside.
Harriet was hungry, and lonely, and had burrs all over her fur, and brambles and branches in her mane and tail. It was dark now, and she was tired too. She tried to sleep in the lawn, but horses sleep standing up, and she couldn’t get to sleep. She said “I don’t like being a horse. I want to be a little girl again. Then, I would have hands to open the door, and brush all these things out of my hair.”
She tried laying down, and eventually fell asleep. She woke up the next morning, and looked and her hooves. They were hands again! She was so happy! She opened the door, ran inside and found her mom! Harriet’s mom was so happy to see her again! She hugged her and made her breakfast. Afterwards, to her mom’s surprise, Harriet went upstairs, washed her hair, and then, even brushed it her self.
From then on, Harriet never complained about having her hair washed or brushed again.
But she did eat grass every once and a while…
The end.