Village E3: Survival of the Human Spirit by James Holler Page B

Not saying anything, Katie also stood
up. As John threw more wood on the fire, Katie and Hailey went inside the hut,
with John soon joining them. After more social interaction than they had since being here, the three of them were
ready for sleep. As it got quiet, they were all thinking similar thoughts about
how life here was going to work with an odd number of people. Even though they had
lots of things to think about now, their full day made sleep impossible to
resist.

Chapter 6
    John's eyes popped open and he could
tell by how light it was, that it was much later than he normally slept. Why
didn't somebody wake me up, he wondered. I must have slept well. I feel
great, John thought. He looked over to see if Hailey and Katie were there
and what he saw frightened him. They were there, but it was obvious that
something radical had happened after they went to sleep. Their heads were
completely bald.
    He looked at them for a couple of
seconds, and then lifted his hand up to his own head and found that he had no
hair either. He felt his face, his arms, and even lifted his boxers to find
there was no hair anywhere! His body was completely hair-free.
    John wanted to scream or hit someone,
but he had to hold it in because he didn't want to wake the girls. He quietly
got up and knelt close to Hailey, looking at her face. She had no eyebrows and
no eye lashes. "You bastards," John whispered. They are going to
freak out, he thought, as he looked down at Hailey and Katie. As if on cue,
Hailey opened her eyes and let out a gasp. "What the hell! Oh, it's
you," said Hailey, at first not recognizing John. "How did you do
that?" she asked.
    "I didn't," said John,
pointing at Katie. Hailey looked over, and her mouth dropped open. She quickly
covered it with her hand. Reaching up to her own head, she confirmed what she
already suspected and felt angry and confused. "No eyebrows either,"
said John, sticking his face close to hers. Amazingly Katie slept through their
conversation. John and Hailey looked at her, realizing it at the same time.
    "Is she OK?" asked Hailey.
Without waiting for an answer, Hailey shook Katie's arm. Katie opened her eyes,
and they widened with fear. She rolled away from Hailey and John. Katie was
obviously shaken. "Feel the top of your head," said John. Katie slowly
reached up. "How did this happen?" asked Katie, after rubbing her now
smooth scalp. "We don't know yet," Hailey responded. As if she
expected to find hair this time, Katie felt her head again.
    "Well, except for getting the
crap scared out of me, I feel pretty good," said Katie. "Me
too," said Hailey. "That is the first thing I noticed when I woke
up," said John. "I haven't felt this good since I've been here."
Hailey looked at John, and began to laugh. "What in the hell is so
funny?" asked John. "Your head," said Hailey. "Do you
realize how white your head is?" John wasn't sure whether to laugh, or be
offended. "That will change soon enough," he said.
    "Are we still going on our
little expedition," Katie wondered. "Well, it is a little late for an
early start, like we planned," said John. "Maybe we should get
stocked up on wood and water, and try again tomorrow," Hailey said.
"That is probably a good idea. Our wood supply is running a little
low," said John.
    "Oh, man, I really wanted to go
see that stream you guys found," said Katie. "I guess I can wait one
more day." They immediately got started on their daily chores, with John
working on getting the fire going again, and Katie getting water to boil.
Hailey walked out of sight, looking for wood. Even though the day had a
dramatic beginning it quickly became routine. For several hours, Hailey and
John gathered wood. While they did that, Katie boiled water until the container
was full again.
    After resting for a while, John stood
up, and walked to the hut. "I'm going to catch some fish," he said.
"Good, I'm getting a little hungry," said Katie. "Me too,"
said Hailey. "We probably have time to gather some