As soon as I thought that, I felt something strange happening on my scalp. It felt like a ping! on my head. Curious as to what it might be, I went upstairs to the bathroom. As I went, I felt several more pings on my scalp.
I didn't know what to expect when I got to the mirror, but I was still shocked by what I saw: Several locks of my hair had turned lilac. What's more, they weren't lying down, but reaching for the sky.
My scalp pinged again, and another lock turned lilac and defied gravity. What is causing this? I wondered.
For an hour, my hair kept changing. I soon saw that only the hair above the level of my eyebrows was reaching upward; below that level, my hair was still lilac, but it was close-cropped, like a buzz cut.
For those of you who were wondering: Yes, my eyebrows and eyelashes were lilac, too. And yes, the carpet matched the drapes.
I was still trying to figure out what caused this, when I heard Dad's car pull into the garage. This was soon followed by them coming inside, and stopping when they saw me.
"Mom, Dad," I began, "I can't explain it. I don't know how or why this happened."
"I do," Dad replied. "You went into my lab."
"Did you have something in there that did this?"
"In a manner of speaking," he replied. "You see, Sara, your mother and I were naturally curious as to whether you would take after her or me. It's not a matter of jealousy, but of knowing what kind of scientist you were going to become."
"What do you mean?"
Mom sighed. "What your father means is that he's a mad scientist. And, judging by your hair, so are you."
"I don't understand."
"It's quite simple," Dad explained. "Mad scientists are not crazy people with doctorates; instead, we are brilliant scientists who come up with ideas that have the potential to change the world. I learned from my mentor; and now, you will learn from me."
"What does that have to do with what happened to my hair?"
"Only a third of mad scientists are able to keep their hair in a style that doesn't draw attention. A third get wild hair, often in unusual colors; mine used to be dark brown, until I looked at my mentor's notes, as you looked at mine. And then a third wind up going completely bald."
"You said it was my looking at your notes that triggered this. You also said that you were curious what kind of scientist I was going to be. Does that mean... ?"
Mom nodded. "Your father left the lab door unlocked deliberately."
I sighed, feeling better. I hadn't disobeyed; in fact, I had done exactly what Mom and Dad wanted me to do. And I had always wanted to take after Dad; by becoming a mad scientist, I was going to do exactly that. "So, what will we do first?"
"I think that's obvious," Mom replied. "You should tell Heather and your friends; after all, they're going to want to know why your hair looks like that."
"I should tell you from experience," Dad added, "you're not going to get a different style. And don't bother trying to dye it; the moment your hair gets wet, the dye will come right off."
"Duly noted. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some phone calls to make."
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