Crystal was watching T.V. one evening, flipping through the channels as usual, trying to find something to watch. There was nothing else to do. It had been another boring day at work. She still hadn't talked to that guy in the desk next to her. She was so infatuated by his movie-star looks but was too afraid to start a conversation with him. She promised herself that tommorrow would be different, and she didn't know how right she was.

Suddenly a shampoo commercial got her attention. She saw this woman showing off her long, thick, shiny beautiful red hair. It trapped light in every strand, and bounced with the woman's every movement. Then the woman shook and tossed her hair around - every single strand fell completely back into place. Crystal remembered how good it felt to do all these things with her hair. She remembered how she loved to turn her head and feel silky soft tresses whirl around. She remembered how she was able to sit on her hair. She remembered how she would love to run her fingers through soft, thick, golden strands, and pull a brush through it. And she remembered how she used to walk into a room full of crop-headed girls get looks of jealousy and envy!

So many joys, and so little time to partake in them. She couldn't wait to get started... but she had to. She didn't have long hair, not anymore. In high school no one could match her below butt length golden mane, but in a sudden need for change not very long ago, she cut it all off. She regretted that now, and wanted to grow her hair long again, but her hair was just not growing fast enough, and she would usually resort to giving up on the idea.

"How would that guy ever look at me with hair like this?" she asked herself, hearing her dull low voice.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Crystal walked over to the door not knowing who to expect aside from a salesperson, one of the annoying next-door neighbors, or someone who had the wrong house. But when she opened the door, she didn't see anyone. She looked around to see if anyone was hiding from her, but there was no one. There was just her normal front lawn and nothing else, except for some package on the doorstep. Who would have sent her a package? She figured it was for the wrong house, but wrong again! The package was addressed to her. It was a small box, with simple brown paper wrapped around it. Growing still more curious, she picked up and brought it inside. She unwrapped it, revealing a red colored box with a silk-screened tag on it that said: "Free Gift, drink it and enjoy."

Crystal thought she was getting perfume or something, instead she was getting something to drink? It was probably one of those soft drink promotions, she figured. Oh well, she was kind of thristy. So she reached into the box and pulled out a very strange looking bottle. It was shaped like a test tube, with a cork in it, and its red color gleamed! Curious, she opened the bottle and took a sniff, and strangely, it smelled better than anything she had ever smelled before! Then she tasted it, and the taste too, was better than anything she had ever tasted!

The bottle was empty before she knew it - Crystal drank the bottle, she felt strange, relaxed, tired... so tired she fell asleep. In her dreams she was walking in through the halls in her house, trying to get to the bathroom. Finally she got there and turned on the light, when something caught her eye... her reflection. In the bathroom cabinet mirror Crystal saw a plain old girl with nothing special appearance-wise, but then suddenly she saw the cabinet door open and behind it was another cabinet door with a mirror, but in this mirror was not the same girl she just saw... well actually it was, but nine years younger. Crystal saw the reflection of herself as if she was still sixteen, complete with her beautiful hair... then she woke up.
 
 

Crystal became aware she had been dreaming and then noticed that it was now early morning. She got up and did her everyday routine, but today her routine was a little bit different in that she was doing it in a good mood. For whatever reason, she was in a good mood today. The mood continued to grow stronger as she calmly drove to her workplace. She was even beginning to feel confident in herself. By the time she got to work she felt so confident that she even said hello to people that she didn't know. She took the elevator up to the floor where she worked. She came out and walked over to her desk. For some reason she felt not only confident but even.. sexy. She even decided to say hello to Carl.

"Hi! How are you, I'm Crystal Ares," she said to him, in still the same voice she's always had.

"Hi, I'm Carl, you new here?" he asked.

"Not really. I think I've been here longer than you have," she said and than sat down at her desk which was actually down and across from Carl.

"Is that your desk? I can't believe I didn't notice you!"

"I can't believe I didn't notice you either."

Just then a manager came by and told Carl to meet with him in his office.

"Nice meeting you, Crystal." he said as he got up and left.

"Nice meeting you." she said, watching him as he went away.
 
 

All day, Carl was gone. Crystal had no idea, but it was almost the end of her work day and she was glad. She only had one more report to finish. Frustrated, she ran her fingers through her hair... and realized it was longer, it hung in a bowl cut to her ears. She couldn't believe it, her hair had barely been able to grow more than two inches after she cut it, and now it had grown in rapid speed. Doubtfully she ran her fingers through it again, and once again felt the cropped hair she was used to.

She couldn't believe that she had actually thought that her hair had grown longer. But when she turned toward some random laughter behind her, she felt hair smack her chin as she swung her head around. She was tempted to ignore it, thinking it was only her imagination.

No, she thought. I felt that hair, and I feel it now!

But immediately after that, she felt as if that hair had disappeared. Something was happening to her. She turned her head to a window right beside her desk. She saw her reflection in it... but with shoulder-length hair!

Something weird is happening here, she thought. I'd better get out of here.

Panicking, she ran towards the elevator, as she ran she felt her hair alternating between her normal short cropped hair and all different lengths. At certain points she felt in smack the top of her back as she ran, then her bra strap, then the middle of her back, then her waist.

She ran into the elevator, now with her normal length hair, and the doors closed behind her. Suddenly she couldn't move, something was pulling on her scalp - she then realized that her hair and suddenly become so long that it was caught in the elevator doors. Seconds later her normal length hair returned and she was free from the door. She took the elevator down to the floor with the restrooms and ran right into the women's room.

She looked at herself in the mirror, the reflection of her was her with her normally short hair... but that didn't last long. She watched as her hair began to grow, it grew down to the top of ears and then slowly to the bottom of them, and eventually below them. Her hair did not stop growing, but did not get any faster or slower. It grew down to her lips, and eventually to her chin. The hair felt warm and soft, a feeling Crystal had for a long time missed.

Her hair slowly worked its way down her neck and to her shoulders. Crystal felt the desire to toss it around, but she was frozen still by the sight of her growing hair which was now exceeding her shoulders and making its way to the middle of her back. A smile came across the face, framed with thick, shining, beautiful golden hair.

Her hair grew to the middle of her back and slowly worked its way down to her waist, and by now Crystal could barely remember that moments ago she was crop-headed, all she could think about was the beautiful mane that she now possessed. But suddenly she heard the voices of females talking outside the bathroom door, and with her hair still growing, she ran into a stall, closing the door. Listening to the women who had come in, waiting for them to leave, she looked took hold of the growing hair in her hand. It slowly began to spill over her hand as she heard the women exit.

Crystal came out of the stall and was stunned to see herself in the mirror, with hair down her hips and still growing. It grew and grew and grew! It reached all the way to about four inches below her butt, and stopped. Crystal was left with the wondeful hair she had and and had loved, so long ago. She stared for couple of minutes and then shook and whirled her head around letting all her tresses fly around her. She ran her fingers through it and felt the soft silky hair she had missed so dearly. She even held locks of it in her hand and spoke to it.

"Where have you been? I missed you soooo much!" she said to it.

She then cocooned herself in her hair. She loved how warm and soft it was, like a blanket! She then came to the conclusion of how this happened... the potion! Whatever it was, it made her hair grow back.

"Is my hair really back? How long will it last?" she asked herself.

She would eventually find out...