Sergeant’s by Linus

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**this story is inspired but some of my favorite stories on this site, thanks to the many authors supplying us with hours of reading**

The summer breeze tousled Daniel’s hair as he walked down the sunny sidewalk. Daniel was known for his striking appearance, with his luscious, thick, shiny brown hair cascading down nearly to his shoulders, measuring at least eight inches in length. His hair was his pride and joy, representing his individuality and creativity. Daniel had moved to this small town from San Francisco in hopes of having fewer distractions so he could finish his novel.
As Daniel strolled through the town's main street, he noticed a small storefront tucked away in a corner. The sign above the entrance read "Sergeant's" which intrigued him. He didn’t remember seeing it during previous trips downtown. Curiosity getting the better of him, Daniel decided to step inside.
As he entered the shop, the sound of clippers buzzing filled the air, and he saw a muscled young man standing by a huge chair. This was a barbershop, and a no frills one at that. The barber was a former marine who had a deep passion for military-style haircuts. He was just wiping the shave cream from the edges of a 40something man with a brutal high and tight flattop. The white cotton cape had a fair amount of deep auburn hair piled up on it. Similar piles of the same hair lay in a ring around the hulking barber chair. Clearly this man had just lost a significant deal of hair. His face showed no emotion either way. Daniel began to look around the barbershop, adorned with photographs of soldiers and a collection of military memorabilia. The barber wore tight faded jeans, and a white button up with the sleeves rolled up high on his well formed arms. The barbers hair was astonishingly short, looked as if he had had it cut that very day. Crisp, and very military looking. Suddenly the name "Sergeant’s" made a lot of sense.

Daniel smiled at the barber and, unaware of the barber's preferences for only providing clipper cuts, decided a trim was in order. He walked over to one of the waiting chairs opposite the barbers chair.

"I'm just finishing up here" he said, his voice deep and strong. He whipped the cape off the older gentleman sending a flurry of red hair to the floor and accepted payment quickly.

The newly shorn man ran his hand up the back of his bristled flattop, and quietly said "Thank you Alex, feels great" and gave a quick look to the piles of his hair around the chair. "A bit more for the collection, eh?"

A mischievous glint sparkled in Alex's eyes as he reached for the broom. "Yes sir! Happy to have it" he swept the auburn locks toward a massive pile of shorn hair. All colors and lengths just piled up under the window. Must have been 18 inches deep.

Daniel was surprised to see so much hair piled up in the barber shop. Sure it was part of the business, but most barbers swept up the hair and threw it in the trash. Not Alex. It was like he was saving it for something.
Daniel could not take his eyes off the mountain of shorn hair. The Ginger man left without another word, or even a last look in the mirror. The burly barber picked up the cotton cape and whipped the barber chair loudly.

"Next up!" Alex called out, eager to get his strong hands on the shaggy fellow in his waiting area. Daniel's smile wavered slightly, not fully comprehending the situation. However, he had made up his mind and reluctantly stood and walked to the barber chair. As he eased into the seat, Alex cracked the cape again loudly… either trying to shake off any of the previous clients hair, or frighten Daniel. Perhaps both. "My, my… looks like you made it just in time." Alex purred, surveying the glossy mane of Daniel’s.

"Haven’t had it cut in a bit…" Daniel began to explain as Alex fastened the cotton cape tightly around his neck. He fumbled with the excess length in the back. Alex then used his hands to roughly rake through the hair.

"Gonna be real hot this summer." Alex commented. The silky hair in his hands felt heavenly. It was clearly very well taken care of. He smoothed out the helmet of hair, savoring the feel. "You’ll be glad you stumbled in here…" the barber clapped both hands on Daniels tense shoulders.

Daniel felt trapped. The strong barber was running his big hands through his precious hair, but Daniel couldn’t see a thing. The chair was facing the now empty waiting area. Had he made a mistake coming in here? Sitting in this chair? Allowing the barber to cape him up?

"I don’t mind a hot summer, it’s never really bothered me" Daniel muttered, making small talk. The barbers hands had left his hair and Daniel could sense he was picking up a comb and some scissors. Daniel was taking a breath to instruct "just a bit of a trim for me today, I like my hair on the long side" when he heard a dreadful SNIP above his left ear. It was loud, and sounded brutal. He was used to gentle snips at the end of his hair. This crunching sound left no doubt in Daniels mind that anything like a trim was off the table.

"Certainly won’t bother you after we’re finished here" Alex chuckled as he haphazardly grabbed another handful of hair behind the left ear and cut 7 inches off. The first two wads of hair had fallen to the floor. The third bundle of hair was dropped right in his stunned clients lap.

Daniel eyed the massive handful of hair. "I-I-… uh…. I" he stammered, trying to calculate how much hair, if any, remained on the left side of his head. "That’s …a lot of hair, sir" he quietly said to the barber.

Alex grabbed yet another handful of hair and hacked it off an inch from the scalp "it sure is… you must be happy to be rid of it!" Another sickening snip of the scissors and 7 inches of hair was removed effortlessly. Alex was enjoying himself and dramatically sprinkled the shorn hair from a height onto the cape.

"I normally don’t get it cut so … so short" Daniel tried to explain as the silken strands fell slowly onto his lap, joining the other cut locks.

"Well you picked the right shop then, short is all I do here" Alex said. Daniel took a breath as if to say something else but sensing his inner turmoil, Alex interrupted him with playful taunt. "Oh, don't tell me you're going to cry, my friend," he teased, his voice laced with a mischievous tone. "It's just hair, after all. And besides, it'll grow back... " He was picking up speed, clearing away all the length from the back of Daniels head. "Yes sir, Military cuts, all day long"

The reality of the situation sunk in, and Daniel felt queasy. He started to think of how to get out of this but a few more piles of cut hair tossed onto his lap put an end to any thoughts of escape. It was a done deal. Daniel was getting a military haircut.

As Alex cleared away the length from the right sided Daniel decided he had no choice but to go along with the military-style cut. Little did he know the transformation that awaited him.
As Daniel tried to calm down, breathing deeply and trying to appear like nothing was wrong, he listened as Alex expertly prepared his clippers. A few clicks and snaps later the sound of whirring oster clippers filled the small shop. The buzzing noise grew louder, and Daniel's heart began to race. He felt a mix of excitement and apprehension as the first swipe of the clippers glided through his hair, shearing off what was left on the back and sides. Up up up the hungry clippers raced, sending a flurry of inch long hairs floating down to join the massive pile in his lap.

Alex relished in the power he held over Daniel's precious locks. He teased the young man about his once-glorious hair, commenting on how it would soon become part of the ever-growing collection of shorn locks that covered the floor under the window. The pile of cut hair, accumulated over weeks or even months of trims, lay swept to one side, awaiting the addition of Daniel's silky strands. Daniel glanced over at the large pile of hair on the floor and began to imagine his hair being added to its already significant size. With each deliberate pass of the clippers, Daniel's hair fell away, leaving him with a sense of vulnerability and confidence. As the minutes ticked by, the weight of his hair diminished, and the feeling of the cool air on his exposed scalp grew more prominent.

The Osters had cleared away everything clean up the back and both sides of Daniels head. The barber snapped them off and hung them on a hook under the counter. He rubbed a hand up the sandpaper and Daniel could heard the scrape sound of the barber’s calloused hands grinding against the near stubble on the back of his head. "Love a fresh Triple Zero… nothing feels quite like this…" he intensified the rubbing which caused the long bangs and long top to slide forward obscuring Daniels view. "now for the best part"

Daniel’s mind raced…. He was sick to his stomach since he was turned away from the mirror, he had no idea what he looked like. He was somewhat relieved to see his long bangs dangling past his tight nervous lips. Hopefully Alex would leave him with some length up front and on top. He thought back to the ROTC guys on campus when he was in school… some of them had enough to part on the side.

Alex roughly combed everything forward, working through a tangle or two. The remaining hair covered Daniels face like a mask.

"Hoooo yes indeed! Here we go…"

Silence filled the barber shop as Daniel prayed that Alex would leave some length. That familiar sharp click and whirring sound rang out. Alex used the comb to lift up the long silky bangs and slowly deliberately ran the clippers across the comb. The heavy bangs fell away chunk by chunk. He could feel those awful hungry clipper teeth chewing away at the healthy hair, close to the root. The display of shorn hair in his lap was shocking. He had never dreamed that much could have been on his head. And Alex wasn’t even done. Daniel suppressed a lump in his throat as Alex scooped up another healthy thatch of hair from on top. Another spectacular shower of beautiful hair fell lifelessly to the cape. The third pass of the clippers on top included the unmistakable feeling of the comb directly against his scalp.

After what felt like hours, Alex finally turned the chair to face the mirror. As Daniel caught sight of his reflection, his eyes widened in surprise. Staring back at him was a crisp, military flattop, meticulously crafted by the skilled firm hands of Alex. It was a stark contrast to his previous flowing mane, but there was an undeniable sense of neatness and authority that came with this brutal haircut.

Proudly admiring his work, Alex exclaimed, "There you have it, son! A proper military cut. You'll be back in two weeks for your next one, alright?"

Daniel, still adjusting to his new look, nodded in agreement, feeling a mixture of awe and shock at the dramatic change. Alex used a brush to knock all the hair from Daniel’s shoulders onto his lap. The heaps of hair glistened as Alex spun the chair back away from the mirror. He unfastened the neck, and opened up the back of the cape but didn’t remove it entirely. Instead he applied warm lather around the ears and halfway up the back of Daniels newly exposed scalp. Daniel gazed at his beautiful hair piled up on his lap as Alex scraped away at the bottom half of his head with a straight razor.

Daniel felt numb. Not as bad as he felt as the haircut started, but he still felt uneasy. As the barber wiped the remaining shave cream from the sides of Daniels now nearly bare head… the reality of the situation sunk in. He watch as the barber carefully removed the cape, sending piles of silky thick hair tumbling to the floor. Robotically Daniel stood up and faced the mirror.

"Looks great" Alex said loudly. Then he ran his meaty hand up the back of Daniels head. Daniel got goosebumps and shivered a bit. "Go on, give it a rub!" The barber encouraged the stunned young man standing amongst his own discarded hair. Daniel slowly raised a hand to his head and felt for the first time his crisp military flattop. The hair on top felt so foreign. This was by far the shortest his hair had ever been cut, it didn’t even feel like his own head.

Auto Pilot took over, as Daniel paid, thanked the barber and shook hands. He reached up again to feel his flattop as he stepped out of the barbershop, promising to come back soon. He walked along the sidewalk just rubbing every square inch of newly exposed scalp. He was in a trance but he was slowly starting to enjoy what he was feeling. He turned the corner and nearly ran into Michael, the Real Estate agent who had helped him find an affordable house in the area just a few weeks prior.

"Daniel! What happened to… oh you went to Sergeant’s didn’t you…" the wind blew through Michael’s long dark hair. The expression on Michael’s face was something between utter surprise and genuine curiosity.

"Is it obvious?" Daniel asked, trying to act as if it didn’t bother him.

"Only one shop in town hands out those cuts, I should have warned you…" Michael said. "I’ve never been, but I hear that’s the only cut that guy knows how to do"

Suddenly Daniel got an Idea. He eyed Michael’s shaggy hair dancing in the wind and knew he’d return to Sergeant’s soon. Very soon. With a very shaggy friend.

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