MAUD
BY NIC VIOLLET
Maud probed the tips of her fingers into the container of wax in front of her, trying to collect as much as she saw fit to style her hair. Gently spreading the wax throughout her hair, she thought of every strand that needed to be hardened, every strand that needed to beautiful. “Babe…” Startled, her fingers stopped glazing her hair for a few seconds, but as she let out two breaths, Maud continued. The candles spread around her room burned lazily, melting slowly, the breeze coming from her slightly open window swaying them back and forth. A lone bee buzzed around the room, bopping up and down in the air, flying mindlessly, at least in Maud’s opinion. She caught glimpses of the flames’ gentle swaying, and the bee’s buzzing journey, however not allowing herself to get distracted from the priority of her hair. A few out-of-place hairs stuck out of her otherwise sleekly waxed head, plucking them out immediately. Maud stared at the dead hairs lying in her right hand, tiny white clumps of wax hanging awkwardly off of them. Grabbing the dead hairs with her left hand, she rubbed them against her lips, sticking her tongue out to get a taste, wrapping it around the strands as she slowly sucked them in, allowing the saliva and wax to mix. “Babe we gotta get going!” Her taste buds ecstatic upon consumption, while her eyes shut in order to truly savor the taste. Opening them again, she stared at herself in the mirror, her hardened hair, the flames of the candles swaying, the wax dripping. She thought of her restless boyfriend, too anxious to allow her privacy, inconsiderate of the needs he did not know existed. The bee landed in the container of half-empty wax, sucking, in search of nutrients; the wax trapped it instead. One steady finger slipped through the air petting the bee on its back, massaged its wings, pushing it into the wax further, and further, and further, swallowing it into the white mixture, forming a clump that Maud withdrew and spread all over her hair, rubbing its body around her hair. “Babe!” “I’m ready!” she called back, staring at her reflection, “I’m ready,” she whispered.