The Barber Shop

Samuel was making his afternoon rounds when he noticed Rebecca crossing the village square with three teenage apprentices following several steps behind.

Each carried his hat in his hands.

Each wore an expression somewhere between embarrassment and amusement.

Samuel caught up with them.

"Where are you boys headed?"

Rebecca answered before any of them could.

"To the barber."

Samuel looked the boys over.

At first he didn't notice anything unusual.

Then he smiled.

Their hair had grown long enough to cover their ears and curl around the backs of their collars.

Fine sawdust still clung to one fellow's hair while another had wood shavings caught in his beard.

Rebecca folded her arms.

"They've been so busy building furniture they forgot somebody still has to look respectable."

One apprentice spoke up.

"We just haven't had time."

Rebecca reached over and plucked a wood shaving from his shoulder.

"I know."

She smiled warmly.

"But if I can't tell where your haircut ends and the sawdust begins..."

She brushed another shaving from his hair.

"...it's time to visit the barber."

The boys laughed.

"So did you volunteer to escort them?" Samuel asked.

Rebecca smiled.

"No."

She looked at the three young men.

"I volunteered to make sure they actually arrived."

Everyone laughed as they stepped into the barber shop.

Inside, Amos Zook looked up from stropping his straight razor.

"Well now," he said with a grin. "Looks like Rebecca has delivered another shipment."

"I certainly have," she replied.

"I'd like these three returned looking like respectable young men."

Amos chuckled.

"I believe I can manage that."

One by one the boys took their places in the barber's chair while the others waited on a wooden bench, teasing whichever fellow happened to be wearing the cape.

Snip.

Snip.

Snip.

Locks of hair drifted to the floor.

The room smelled faintly of bay rum, clean soap, and fresh towels.

Samuel watched as Amos worked with quiet confidence.

"A barber's another fellow people don't think much about," Samuel said.

Amos smiled without stopping his scissors.

"They usually don't notice me until their hair starts falling in their eyes."

Just then Rebecca returned carrying a familiar basket and her stoneware coffee jug.

Amos laughed.

"I might have guessed."

She uncovered the basket.

Warm slices of blueberry pie quickly found their way onto waiting plates.

As everyone accepted coffee, Rebecca looked around the room.

"You know..."

She paused just long enough.

"...I believe pie improves almost everything."

Amos nodded.

"I've never tried serving it with a haircut."

Rebecca smiled.

"Maybe not..."

She looked at the boys whose freshly trimmed hair no longer covered their ears.

"...but today it certainly helped."

The room filled with laughter.

When the pie was gone and the coffee cups emptied, the three apprentices stood, dusted the last bits of hair from their shoulders, and placed their hats back on their heads.

Rebecca stepped back to inspect her work.

"There."

She nodded with satisfaction.

"Now you look like young men your mothers would recognize."

The boys laughed all the way back to the furniture shop.

Samuel watched them go.

Another small need had been quietly cared for.