mundan for my nephew

we shaved his head the other day, the poor thing squealing under hands that clamped him down and held him still until all his hair was gone. and then all of a sudden he was less of a baby. like the anguish and the loss of his locks made him that little bit older. or that little bit free from traits of his past lives, as one might have interpreted.

and this is what i wanted to hear about whilst they chanted their mantras and threw herbs into the fire. what were their reasons beyond what they professed them to be (ie. being good for hair growth)?

i like the idea - of shedding worldly attachment, renouncing vanity for spirituality, hair for... growth/freedom/truth?

Josephat

I collected a lot of things. Stamps, money, stones, bones, different coloured toilet paper... One day my askari caught for me a bird. And I named him Josephat, just like the askari. And I was so fond of him I wouldn't let him alone. I kept him under the bread basket which I kept lifting so I could continue to hold him, feel his heart pump and pump in panicked frenzy until it pumped no more.

And so I collected him too. I wrapped him tight in cling film and preserved him for posterity. Or at least until medical science advanced enough to bring him back to life.

And then my mother came home and screamed when she found him in the freezer. At once yelling and throwing him out as I entreated her to have more faith in science.