Hair.

A beat. A heart-beat. One after the other, back to back, every moment squeezed within its long and infinite seconds. Seconds of lying and staying stagnant on the bed. She could move, move away and then to a corner. Her hair were tangled in his hand, and was smothered way too much by his early morning bad breath. Invoking moments of strange whirlwind like years of childhood, and highly sexualized adolescent. This seemed completely natural and palpable. The arms of an unloving man, making love to a rotten desire, doesn't matter who or where. But it had to be making love, because sex or 'fucking' was too instinctive to feel ashamed of. It's experience is a little too natural to count as a decorative piece on the mantle of her neurotic display. But I guess habits die terribly hard, and she anyways had the most beautiful hair, she'd rather lie than damage them. Anyways there was a bald patch on her head, which she managed to hide it with her gift of wonderfully natural yet artificial hairstyles. A man had loved her too much, or said so. He liked hitting and pulling women's hair. Reminded him of his mother. Turned him on like a switch. 

They never put mirrors in rooms of her kind. Like others, looking at herself could and have done her a lot more harm than good. She had the most gorgeous curls everyone said, people would line up to take pictures with her vegetative smile and alluring curls. Soft and smooth, never tangled and dark brown. The way they fell on her big brown eyes, created a spectacle under sunlight. And laughter, glorious and loud, like a proud mother or a valiant sister. She laughed while flipping her hair from left to right, and vice-versa. The prettiest in the ward she was. But that was six months ago. It will be catastrophic if we showed her the mirror now. The curls, the laughter, the gorgeous eyes, they died a silent and apocalyptic death in 185 days. Her once plump frame was a rack of bones, many men liked such women so she laughed looking down at naked body. Pretty sure she can still make the world go round around her with those looks. But she hadn't seen the mirror yet. No one would let her.

Lying partially naked in his arms still. He, like every other man loved playing with those curls, round and round in his fingers. Ignoring the bald patch, moving swiftly in the effervescence of her beauty. Fingers running from head to eyes, and lips. Bending to kiss her pink lips, she wanted to kill him and taste his blood at that very moment. Bite off those stinking lips and sticky tongue and giggle with a bloodied mouth. But no, she will never do that. Only mad women acted so. Her mind was far from insanity, maybe her body wasn't. But anyways she let him kiss her, any way he wanted to. Rolling his tongue inside her mouth, biting lips or sweet repetitive kisses that are usually lovely. She had a belief, if she pleased men in bed, they would do anything for her outside it. But it took too much toll.

Eliza, was her name. She was 22 when her parents brought her here. People around wondered what could have happened at this age to turn her into this breathtakingly beautiful monster. Eliza talked with all the warmth and conviction in the world. She told stories of her childhood very willingly in group sessions. Highly effective was her presence for others. Vibrant and ecstatic, a contagious energy flowing across halls in the hands of a delightful humor. They could not understand why on earth was she here. Why was she brought here, what kind of a parent would do that. Yes, she had too many lovers. But every pretty woman has too many lovers. What did they do too her? Why did they want to take away the mirror from her room? Did she look at it too much or did she despised that universally loved face. Being beautiful is a suffering as spiteful as being ugly.

They didn't move all night. Not from the bed. Only to eat and wash, but nothing else. He was too much in love with her and caressed very deeply. Eliza was annoyed by now, but she had great patience in bed. She had to give men what they want, so she gets what she deserves. He kept playing and playing and playing and running his fingers in her hair. Unable to take anymore, a loud, very loud scream came out of her. It was followed by nothing, neither a laugh nor bunch of tears, just a very very loud scream. The worst kind. He looked at her, and turns out he was no different from the man who liked pulling women's hair. Grabbing the nearest knife, he held her hair in a bunch and started cutting. Her voice had died after the scream, all she did was move to run away but he sat on her back, like ghosts latch onto people. That night was the longest of Eliza's life.

They never found out was wrong with her. Until one morning, when she came to the hall. Her luscious curls gone and what was left were uneven soft strands on an egg-shaped head. Her eyes were swollen from crying all night. They kept asking what happened. Not a word came out of Eliza's mouth, until came the session and she told how her brother visited her a day before, how they made love, how he kept touching and kissing her and how he cut her hair. They looked blankly at her. She tried reminding them of the loud scream they might have heard. But blank still. She narrated the day to them again. Eliza had had no visitors that week. But she, in her sense would have never cut her tresses. They found out that day, why she was there.