Hanna's Awful Day

Hanna’s jaw almost touched the floor.

Seriously, she felt like she had entered an alien world – somewhere far away from this Earth.

Firstly, there were these overwhelming scents – some sickeningly sweet, others mild and tempting. But when they rushed up her nose altogether, she felt like her insides were burning.

Actually, it’s all mother’s fault. How could she bring an 8 year old innocent girl into this awful place? What did she call it..a salon? Ugh! It’s not like Hanna cared.

Even if you try to ignore the fact that you could smell everything from roses to papayas in one breath (which she most definitely could not ignore), the place was still dumb. And Hanna had her reasons to say so.

She had turned right and frightened to death by a lady who had something like an Opera House built out of her hair.  “That's quite a nice set of rollers you’ve got there!”, another woman was telling her. Personally, Hanna disagreed. But she didn’t dare say that aloud. God forbid, what if they rolled her hair into a Taj Mahal or something? No no!

When she turned left, she saw some – women? Or were they BTs or ETs or whatever-you-call-people-with-green-mucky-skin? Then she saw something even more disgusting - bowls and bowls of  green goo were kept on stools. Some ladies, wearing something like mom’s cooking apron, were actually APPLYING this on those women’s skin. Eeeeew! God forbid, what if these appliers did it to little clueless girls too?? No no!

Forget smells. Forget the crazy hair-do. Forget even the green goo.

But the place had a torture chamber! Yes, you got it right – a torture chamber!

Hanna didn’t believe it at first. But surely, she didn’t just imagine those  “aaarggh”s n “ouch”s. There was a chamber separated from the main room by a pair of thick  curtains. From the sounds coming from within, Hanna could imagine the horrors awaiting beyond those curtains. She saw a woman carrying some hot liquid inside. But she didn’t dare stick around or talk to that woman. God forbid, what if a pair of hands caught hold of her frock and pulled her in? No no!

There were machines that puffed smoke.

There were plastic orbs that descended from the ceiling and engulfed women’s heads.

There were an assortment of scissors and other pointed steel weapons.

I ask you, is this the kind of place for a cute little innocent clueless helpless girl? Is it?