A week with my uncle by Max

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When I was 12 my parents were going to take a trip to France with my older brother and sister but I decided not to take me because I would whine and couldn’t speak French. Instead they drive me to my unlcle Joes house in Arizona where I would spend the next week.

When I arrived he welcomed me in and cooked microwave pizzas for both of us. He even let me watch Halloween which was my first R rated movie. He told me in the morning I would be getting my haircut to adapt to the hot climates of Arizona. I went to sleep wondering if it would be short like his. I could never say it to his face but I hated how his hair looked. The sides were completely shaved and the top had a little stubble that stood straight up.

The next morning when I woke up I could hear the crackle of bacon. I rushed down stairs forgetting what he said the previous night. I sat down at the table and we both ate breakfast. Before I finished he got up and went to the bathroom. He came back holding a pair of clippers in one hand and a stool in the other.

He then told me to follow him outside. We walked to the back of the house where he plugged in the clippers and placed the stool. I sat down accepting that I needed to get a haircut anyways.He put on a guard but I didn’t see what it was. Then he placed the humming clippers at my forehead and pushed them right through, I could barely even feel anything but a breeze passed by and I could feel it.

He then proceeded to buzz my entire head. He turned the clippers off and rubbed his hand over my freshly shorn scalp. It sent tingles down my spine, all the stubble moving back and forth. He then turned them back on and pushed the clippers over a few spots he missed. After that I got up and went to the bathroom to see how short my hair was. I was shocked. Little bristles of my brown hair stood up on every direction creating a scratchy feeling whenever I rubbed my head. The next day we had a lot of fun. He buzzed my head every other day so I didn’t get too hot outside. After the week was up my parents retrieved me.

They didn’t seem to notice my hair or they just didn’t care. I haven’t visited him since then but when the weather is too hot sometimes I head to the barbershop to get my head buzzed again.

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