Glimpse

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse through the window in his room. The room she'd been in for most of her life. The only room she would ever know.

"What did I tell you about coming in here," a man asked from the door.

The girl turned around, rolling her eyes before going to the door with her head down.

"Sorry," she says softly, "I was just looking out the-"

"-don't care," he interrupts and pushes past her, "you're not allowed in my room, and if I catch you again, I'm telling dad."

The girl sighs heavily and starts to leave, but the man stops hers before riffling through a drawer and grabbing a pair of scissors.

"Wait. While you're here, you might as well be useful."

He holds the scissors out to her, and she smiles widely at him before taking them. He sits in a chair facing the window, and she begins the fluff out his hair.

"My little sister Rain," he says playfully, "the last barber on earth. I must be the luckiest guy in the world."

Giggling lightly, she cuts at the long curls falling from her brother's head, blocking his eyes, just barely allowing him sight.

"I don't know about that, Hunter; there must be someone left who can give a good haircut. Somewhere..."

Lost in thought, Rain grew quiet, and her brother sighed with pity.

"Don't think about it," he says, shaking his head slightly, "even if you could get out that door that dad keeps locked up, he would never let you leave."

It was silent for a long time. She was thinking about it. Rain loved all her brothers very much, Hunter especially. He understood how much she wanted to see what was left of the world, despite being told by every man in her family that there was nothing left. She had to know for herself. Finally, her brother broke the silence and disrupted her thoughts.

"Besides, dad and the guys need you just as much as I do," he said, pulling on his now shorter, much more tame hair, "you know this crazy mess runs in the family."

Rain laughs slightly and places the scissors back in her brother's hand. She takes another longing look out of the window and heads for the door again.

"Don't look at yourself in the mirror too long," Rain says with a smile before leaving, "dinner is going to be ready soon."

Using the memory of the window view as motivation to get through the rest of her daily routine, Rain made her way to the kitchen to prepare dinner as she always did before all the men left for the night. Green beans, brown rice, and whatever meat the men found on their last forage, the same as last night and the night before. After cooking it to the best of her ability, Rain set the table and served everyone, herself last. At dinner, it would be the same conversation night after night: "what's the plan for tonight," "who's going to find the forage the most," "think we'll find anything new," "I hope we find cake; I miss cake."

"You won't come across an entire cake just waiting for you, Brady," Rain chimed in on her youngest brother's cake query, "if you want cake, you have to find ingredients and make it."

At the thought of cake Brady lit up with excitement and took his sister's comment as a challenge.

"I'll find everything you need," Brady exclaimed, practically jumping with joy, "and you have to make it big so there will be enough for weeks."

Usually, Rain would dismiss her brother's assumptions about her house duties and play along, but today she felt more upset than ever by how her brother saw her. Suddenly, she could no longer hold it in.

"Brady, if you want a cake, you are perfectly capable of making it yourself," Rain said sternly to the table, "If you want anything, you can get it yourself. I am not the house servant, and I'm tired of being treated like one."

Before anyone could respond, Rain got up from the table and hurried away; before she was out of hearing difference, she heard one of her brothers speak in a whisper.

"Must be that time of the month," he said smugly, and a few others snickered at the remark.

Rain raced to her room, slamming her door loudly, not wanting to hear anymore. She paced for a bit, screamed into her pillow, and finally cried in her lightless room. Knowing nothing could make her feel better about the so-called life she was living, Rain decided to go back to the only thing that would make her feel better, the window. She quietly crept out of her bedroom to ensure the coast was clear; everyone was gone. In Hunter's room, she found her place by the window and looked at the moon and vast darkness outside. In the corner of her eye, Rain saw a book on the bed; it looked old but interesting. Rain had never had a book of her own, and her dad said there were no more left. Rain wasn't surprised he lied. She walked over to the bed and picked up the book; when she opened it, she found a small piece of paper with writing inside.

"Dear Raindrop,

This world might seem dark and depressing, but I found a fantasy to escape together—the tale of a girl who found her way out.

P.S. I like to think she ditched the prince at the end and went on an adventure all on her own.

Love always, mommy."

Rain's mother had died ten years ago when she was seven, but she had never seen this book before. Another thing her dad had kept secret, she assumed. Rain closed the book and Rain her hand across the cover that read: Rapunzel. With anger in her heart, Rain took the book and returned to her room. She locked the door to her room and lit a candle by her bed; she spent the rest of the night reading the story of Rapunzel and wishing her prince would come to take her away. But the dream slowly faded as she realized Rapunzel didn't need the prince as her hair was the key all along.

"Hair..." Rain said to herself thoughtfully, "she got out of her tower with hair."

Her thoughts were interrupted by an abrupt knock at her door. Rain hides the book under her pillow and rushes to open her door. At her door, Rain's second youngest brother, Cole, is standing with scissors and a grin, Rain grimaces.

"Guess what time it is," Cole dances a little with the scissors as he talks, "cutting time. Meet you downstairs, sis."

He doesn't even wait for her response before walking away. Rain takes a deep breath of determination before looking back at her pillow with her book underneath and then leaving, closing her door behind her. Rain made her way to the room they had deemed the barbershop and found everyone in the household sitting and socializing.

"Guess it really is cutting time," Rain said to herself before making her way to the "barber" chair, "so who's first?"

Rain spent the rest of the day cutting hair; she cut more than ever from beards to heads. Her dad was last. He smiled warmly at her as he took a seat in a chair. Rain did not meet his eyes and tried not to acknowledge his presence.

"You're not a house servant," he said guiltily after a while, "we appreciate all you do for us, and we know sometimes we take advantage. But we wouldn't be able to survive without you."

Rain began to cut, still not giving in. Her dad sighs heavily.

"I know you want to go out with us at night."

Rain's eyes glint with a slight curiosity at the mention of her going out with them, but she remains silent.

"I just can't do it," he says finally, "I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you."

Rain returns her focus to the haircut before forcing her usual smile back on her face.

"I understand, dad," she says before clipping the last out-of-place hair from her father's head, "but mom would have let me go."

Her father looks hurt by the words from his daughter's lips, but she has already stopped cutting and grabbed a broom to start cleaning up. Not knowing what else to say, he leaves his daughter to her sweeping. As soon as she knows there's no one else around, Rain collapses tiredly into the chair and sobs slightly. She catches her breath and looks down at the piles of hair covering most of the floor.

"Well, Rapunzel," Rain says to herself as she grabs the broom and stands confidently, "let's do this."

After sweeping and bagging the hair from the floor and sneaking the bags back to her room, Rain is exhausted but still makes dinner for everyone. That night she dreamed of escaping her home and being outside for the first time. She awakes with more energy than ever before and begins to grab the bags of hair she stuffed under her bed. Rain took the strands, wove, and tied every hair piece together, using the image of rapunzel on the book cover as a reference. Even after every bag, it was not long enough; she would need much more. Weeks went past, and Rain offered a haircut every chance she got. To everyone else, she seemed like the normal Rain who went through her daily routine with a smile, but by the end of the day, she was plotting her escape. After three long weeks of haircutting and braiding clipped hair, Rain had crafter an eighty-five-foot long hair braid that was longer than Rapunzals, and Rain was proud of it. Her plan was complete, and now all she left was to act on it. That night when the men went out, Rain waved them all goodbye, watched as her father locked the door securely behind him, and waited until they got far enough. She snuck up to the bedroom with the window and threw her hair escape out of it. Tying one end to the desk, Rain took, and deep breath and got ready to climb out. The door opened behind her just as she sat on the edge of the window.

"Are you crazy?" Hunter yelled and rushed to pull her out the window.

"Hunt, you have to let me do this," Rain pleaded as she fought against him, "I can't stay here anymore. I can't be who he wants me to be."

Hunter looks conflicted by his sisters' words before groaning and sitting on his bed.

"I should have never given you that book."

Rain sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You should have given it to me sooner."

Hunter sits up and looks at his sister for a long time before heading toward the door.

"I'm telling them you're gone as soon as they get back," he says, closing the door, "so I'd run fast if I were you."

Rain smiles at him as he leaves and hoists herself again on the window. She lowers herself shakily by her hair rope before finally landing on the ground. The air around her is fresh, and a chill sends a shiver down her spine. Despite a new anxiety that has risen inside her, Rain is overjoyed with the new life she has given herself.

"Guess who found her way out."