A Crisis of Identity
written by: Penny Rogers
Jay picked up the garden shears and cut off all their hair, being careful to avoid the two horns growing from the top of their skull. They chopped away their beard, nicking the skin on their neck and face. The hair lay on the floor in a messy heap. They got a bag for life and stuffed it all in. No need to look in the mirror, they didn’t care what they looked like, didn’t want to know. They hurried across the park to the rubbish bin by the bus stop, jammed the bag in on top of the takeaway containers, parcels of dog mess, and empty bottles. A kid pointed and said something to his mother. She didn’t even glance in their direction. The child kept staring at them, not hostile just curious. A bus arrived, no one got on or off. The driver yawned and rubbed his eyes, making sure he didn’t make eye contact with the man with a roughly shaven head and cuts on his face. The child watched the forlorn figure carry the garden shears back across the park.
The child asked his mother ‘Why is that gardener so sad?’
The mother said ‘I don’t know. Let’s get an ice cream?’
‘What’s he going to do with those shears?’
‘Strawberry, chocolate, or both?’
The bus driver thought weirdoes like that ought to be locked up.
The barista hoped the strange man with random tufts of hair, blood on his face, and carrying garden shears wouldn’t come in.
Jay caught sight of their reflection in the coffee shop window and was relieved to see that they no longer had horns on their head. Maybe they could go home.
The child told his teddy bear about the sad gardener with the shears.
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