Rachel couldn't resist having a little taste. It smelled delicious, almost like candy. She sipped the potion cautiously. The moment the first drop hit her tongue she loved it so much, she tipped the potion up and let the entire thing pour down her throat. She left the final bit swish around in her mouth for a few seconds to savor the flavor, then gulped that down as well.
Tossing the empty potion bottle into the trash with a regretful look on her face, Rachel smacked her lips. "Wow, I can't believe I just drank that so fast," she said.
After disposing of the box, Rachel decided to get back to making breakfast. The pancake on the stove was blackened, but since she had turned the heat down it was just barely salvageable. Once the rest of the pancakes were finished, she called her mom down to dinner and prepared the table.
A few minutes later, Rachel and her mother were eating pancakes quietly.
"I'm going to my friend Cecelia's house for most of the day," she told Rachel. "She's organizing a fund-raiser for school and I told her I'd help make the banners and things."
Rachel liked that her mom was so active with the community. It kept her from spending all the days at home cleaning and cooking. Not only did this make her mother happily satisfied, it kept Rachel busy with all of the household stuff so she didn't have to think so much about how boring her life was.
"Your hair looks good today," her mom said.
"Uh, thanks," Rachel responded. "Though it's just as crazy as it looks every morning. I haven't combed it yet."
"Well it sure looks like you did. It's absolutely lovely."
Rachel beamed. Her mom sometimes offered motherly compliments, but this one stood out. It was affectionate and definitely genuine.
Shortly after breakfast, her mom left for her friend's house. Rachel promised to have the place vacuumed before she got home.
Rachel passed the hallway mirror as she returned to the kitchen. She did a double-take.
Her mother wasn't kidding. She really did have knock-out gorgeous hair! Every strand was perfectly in place. Not a stray lock could be found. It all flowed full and thick over her shoulders. In fact, it looked thicker than it ever had. And longer, too. Looking down, she realized it was almost to her waist.
That was impossible. She had gotten it cut no less than a month ago. And she had just seen it in its normal state before breakfast. Hair doesn't grow like that.
Unless...
She ran to the kitchen and pulled the bottle out of the trash. There was still no label. The box offered no help, either. But that potion must have been the cause. She was thinking about her messy hair before she found and drank it. What if it was some kind of wish-fulfilling potion? Or maybe it was just coincidence? Either way, she regretted having drank all of it. If there had been any left she might have been able to test it.
Rachel ran back to the mirror. Her hair didn't look different, but that didn't mean it wasn't still growing at an accelerated but not noticeably fast rate.
Full of anticipation, she wondered if it would still grow. To keep herself from going crazy waiting, she decided to clean the dishes and continue with the housework she said she'd do. There was plenty of time left in the day to check out her hair.