Short Story

after writing our first lines and choosing our favorites, we were asked to write a short story with one line. this one is kind of silly and was written very last minute but it was still fun.

Old Hazel’s illustrious beard grew thick and wild, down to the ground, and served as a storage device for baubles, knick-knacks, and afternoon snacks. He lived in quiet solitude on the outskirts of an even quieter town, detached from society yet always connected by the beard. Though the rest of his mop was a pearly white, his manly mane remained the color of his warm eyes. It was that rich hazel gaze which earned him his name.

Inexplicably, Hazel had been graced with a billowing beard his entire life. While it served many practical purposes such as warmth in the winter and everyday storage, oftentimes he found it tiresome. At a young age, Hazel had left his home village to start anew after suffering an irreparably damaged broken heart. He had fallen in love with a certain Cassidy Blair. Her strawberry locks encircled her face and she smelled of sweet honey, her favorite treat. Hazel could spend minutes, hours, and days counting the freckles that accented her ivory skin.  Cassidy too was enamored by Hazel and loved everything about him, especially his out of control beard. When Hazel asked her father for Cassidy’s hand in marriage, the stubborn old man denied each their happiness, citing the beard as the problem. Cassidy’s father did not wish for his daughter to marry such a man with freakishly voluminous facial hair.

Unable to persuade Mr. Blair, Hazel packed his most valued items in his glorious beard and fled for a new town where he might not suffer such heartbreak. Isolated from human contact and left to dwell upon the past, Hazel grew older and lonelier by the day. With each passing minute, his beard seemed to expand and continued to encompass his body. The villagers became wary of the monstrous growth his facial hair, and Hazel feared he might once more be forced to leave. Yet, Hazel realized, he didn’t really care what they thought of his beard. After spending such a long time in one attitude resentful of his own face, Hazel wanted to love once more. He wanted to finally love his beard and embrace its bounty. At that moment of realization, his beard ceased to grow at an enormous rate. He was able to trim it, shape it, and shave it without it immediately regenerating and coiling to the ground. From then on, Hazel lived in perfect harmony with his beard.