Stew drank obliviously from the bowl cupped in both hands while mine laid on the ground beside her.
She sat on the floor in front of the couch so I could prop up behind her to tame her wild hair.
Snuggled into Missy's top, and a small pair of rainbow spotted shorts, we drank in the warmth of the fire that Stew glowed with happiness in front of.
It was quite a task to manage her long hair. It twisted and curled in all directions, and was thick enough to bite down on the brush running through it.
It was the colour of rust. The reddish brown almost seemed to glow around the edges from the light of the fire we were so grateful for.
Because I couldn't borrow Missy's clothing, I wore my usual towel skirt that I had tucked into a knot on my side.
With my whole torso bare, the heat of the fire licked along it in it's burning embrace.
The crisp cotton scented soap I had lathered over myself was now baked into my skin. With Stew bathed in the same scent, as well as the added smell of dyed fabric and cheap lemon laundry detergent smothered in her borrowed clothes, the room was filled with an aura of coziness.
"Does your hair ever get itchy?" Stew balanced the bowl between her crossed legs to scratch the front of her scalp in annoyance.
"All the time" I just smiled back and pushed her hand away with the brush.
Growing that much hair in such a short amount of time couldn't have been fun for anyone, let alone a young girl with a full head of it.
Holding a bunch of hair that I ran the brush over, I rubbed my thumb along the dry ends.
"Did you want a haircut to make it easier?"
Stew leant her head back on the couch to peer at me.
"Do I get to do yours?"
Pulling on the long strands starting to curl around my ears, I realised that I had let my own grow out for too long now.
It hung down my neck, threatening to become a curtain like Stew's.
"Why not?" I shrugged back and promptly eyed Missy's dressmaking room "go grab the scissors then. The big ones."
Stew grinned and was up in an instant to rush away. I used the opportunity to sneak in a few bites of my food before she came barreling back with the scissors held out towards me proudly.
I pushed back into the seat when the blades were thrust towards me. Swallowing my mouthful nervously, I gently grabbed them as she lowered herself back to the floor between my legs.
I snipped the scissors a few times to make sure the blades were sharp for the tough job ahead. Grabbing a bunch of the hair in my fist, I slid them to just below her shoulder blades.
"Let's go here instead" her hand chopped into the base of her head.
I was taken back at how much she wanted gone. The hair hanging around my hand tangled down past the middle of her back, probably to her backside if it wasn't so damaged at the ends.
She wanted all of it gone?
"It'll be fun" the smile played on her voice.
"Alright..." I replied uneasily, suddenly not trusting myself with the enormous task.
Sawing through the first bundle, I held it over Stew's shoulder for her to take.
She gasped at the twisted monstrosity that dangled before her, waving it with a laugh.
"Throw it in the fire" I told her as I pulled up another section.
I felt my heart soften when I smiled at the back of Stew's head watching the fire in delight. She was thrilled by it all, excitedly throwing the curls in and watching the strands glow and wither as they were eaten by the flames. All that remained were blackened and shrivelled ashes, but she had never been happier.
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Stew sat through her cut impatiently, and sprinted to the bathroom mirror to squeal with delight once the uneven edges were trimmed as best as they could be with fabric scissors.
Sporting her new short billowing curls, Stew stood over me as I sat where she had. Since I was so tall, she couldn't sit to do the job like I had.
With time to actually eat my cold food, I paid more attention to it than the little hands pulling up chunks of hair to happily let sprinkle over my shoulders and back.
"Go all the way" I told her giddy self humming away behind me "I need it as short as possible."
Stew happily obliged. She was having the time of her life snipping away at the top of my head.
It was probably a dangerous thing to leave her in charge with a sharp pair of scissors when she was this hyper, but it kept her occupied and gave me time to fill my gnawing stomach.
"I want to show Ma my new hair when she gets home" Stew spoke up as more fell around me.
My gut instantly curdled. I felt my blood run cold and drip down my spine that prickled from more hair tumbling along it.
"You know that can't happen."
"I know" Stew brushed my words aside "but it'll be dark when Ma comes home. We can wait her out the front, I can show her my hair before she gets too close, and we'll be back to the way she knows us before anything even happens."
So many things could go wrong with that plan. If Missy was going just a bit too fast, she'd see us. If Stew decided not to stick to her plan and remain as a human. If Missy saw the silhouettes of two humans in her yard and was too terrified to return home. If I messed it all up for us....
Stew sensed my hesitation and paused.
"She won't even know" she pleaded now "her little lights are too dull to see anything."
That was true. It only covered a tiny pool of light in her immediate area before her.
"And I'll change right back; promise."
A little pinky hovered beside my head. I glanced to it and looked up to see Stew leaning over me expectantly.
I wanted this as badly as she did, but I couldn't show that. Any fuel for another rebellious idea was the last thing I needed.
"We can't" I sighed to her and ignored her pinkie "i'm sorry."
The disappointment in Stew's eyes crushed my heart. She forced a smile and nodded as she went to replace the scissors in the sewing room.
When Stew returned, she was back in her beastly form with her head hung low. Missy's shirt hung from her mouth and her eyes dipped down to the floor.
I joined her, ignoring the towel that fell in a ring around my form.
"I'm sorry, Stew" I whispered to her brokenhearted self "but we can't risk it."
She just nodded, waiting for Missy to return.
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Things were back the way they were when Missy left for her work this morning.
The two bowls were placed back alongside the kitchen bench.
All remnants of hair were buried or burned by the fire and it's glowing logs.
We left the back door ajar to make it look like we had used it to get inside.
The front door was locked up and the key was slid back under the pot plant.
This time, there would be nothing overlooked.
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It was pitch black and freezing cold when we sat side by side on the front verandah.
We saw the tiny light flicker bobbing it's way towards us. Stew's eyes glistened in the dull light of the moon above and from the artificial one inside the home that basked over our backs as she watched it.
Our agreement was to make sure Missy didn't suspect anything. We would wait here and greet Missy like we usually did, as creatures.
But, part of me wanted what Stew wished for.
We'd meet her as humans. Missy would kick up her scooter outside the gate and greet us with wide arms, smiling that the thoughts she had about us were true. Stew would rush into them, like any excited girl would to her mother, and I would hang back to bubble at the warm smile Missy would flash me just as we held each other in our arms.
Stew would show her the new haircut she had, inside in the light where it could be seen.
I'd sit on the couch with my knees propped up that Missy would lean against. Stew would get to see her mother as she was, and I would feel Missy's affection that I silently still burned for.
I knew it wouldn't be like that. Dreams were torture when they remained so distant.
Stew obviously had her own wishes for her human form. She yearned to greet Missy as that girl, but was afraid of the same things I was.
Her other mother made sure she only knew life as the convenience of a chained, starved animal. We both knew Missy wouldn't ever tred near that path, but the trauma of it all still buried deep within her heart.
I could hear the struggle of the engine now. The wash of light illuminated the flattening grass and uneven ground bumping the scooter about.
Then, it dipped out of sight.
Our time of waiting was up.
I looked to Stew to make sure she knew. Tears threatened to spill over when she nodded once and forced a smile.
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