沒有頭發的日子

Whatever you are doing， love yourself for doing it. Whatever you are feeling， love yourself for feeling it.

If you are turning 16， you stand in front the mirror scrutinizing every inch of your face. You agonize that your nose is too big and you're getting another pimple — on top of which you are feeling dumb， that your hair isn't blonde， and that boy in your English class has not noticed you yet.

Alison never had those problems. Two years ago， she was a beautiful， popular and smart eleventh-grand， not to mention a varsity lacrosse goalie and an ocean lifeguard. With her tall， slender body， pool-blue eyes and thick blonde hair， she looked more like a swimsuit model than a high school student. But during that summer， something changed.

After a day of life-guarding， Alison couldn't wait to get home， rinse the saltwater out of her hair and comb through the tangles. She flipped her sun-bleached mane forward. \"Ali!\" her mother cried， \"what did you do?\" She discovered a bare patch of skin on the top of her daughter's scalp. \"Did you shave it?\" Quickly， they solved the mystery — Alison must have wrapped the elastic band too tightly around her ponytail. The incident was soon forgotten.

Three months later， another bald spot was found， then another. Soon Alison's scalp was dotted with peculiar quarter-sized bare patches. After diagnoses of \"it's just stress\" with remedies of topical ointments， a specialist began to administer injections of cortisone， 50 to each spot， every two weeks. After the shots， Alison was granted permission to wear a baseball hat to school， normally a violation of the strict uniform code. Little strands of hair would push through the scabs， only to fall out two weeks later. She was suffering from a condition of hair loss known as alopecia， and noting would stop it.

Alison's sunny spirit and supportive friends kept her going， but there were some low points. Like the time when her little sister came into her bedroom with a towel wrapped around her head to have her hair combed. When her mother untwisted the towel， Alison watched the tousled thick hair bounce around her sister's shoulders. Gripping all of her limp hair between two fingers， she burst into tears. It was the first time she had cried since the whole experience began.

As time went on a bandanna replaced the hat， which could no longer conceal her balding scalp. With only a handful of wispy strands left， the time had come to buy a wig. Instead of trying to resurrect her once-long blonde hair， pretending as though nothing had been lost， Alison opted for a shoulder-length auburn one. Why not? People cut and dyed their hair all the time. With her new look， Alison's confidence strengthened. Even when the wig blew off from an open window of her friend's car， they all shared in the humor.

But as the summer approached， Alison worried. If she couldn't wear a wig in the water， how could she lifeguard again? \"Why did you forget how to swim?\" her father asked. She got the message.

After wearing an uncomfortable bathing cap for only one day，she mustered up the courage to go completely bald. Despite the stares and occasional comments from less-than-polite beachcombers \"Why do you crazy punk kids shave your heads?\" Alison adjusted to her new look.

She arrived back at school that fall with no hair， no eyebrows， no eyelashes， and with her wig tucked away somewhere in the back of her closet. As she had always planned， she would run for school president， changing her campaign speech only slightly. Presenting a slide show on famous bald leaders from Gandhi to Mr. Clean， Alison had the students and faculty rolling in the aisles.

In her first speech as the elected president， Alison addressed her condition， quite comfortable answering questions. Dressed in a T-shirt with the words \"Bad Hair Day\" printed across the front， she pointed to her shirt and said， \"When most of you wake up in the morning and don't like how you look， you may put on this T-shirt.\"Putting on anther T-shirt over the other， she continued. \"When I wake up in the morning， I put on this one.\" It read， \"No-Hair Day.\" Everybody cheered and applauded. And Alison， beautiful， popular and smart-not to mention varsity goalie， ocean lifeguard and now， is school president with the pool-blue eyes-smiled back from the podium.

如果你到了16歲，你會站在鏡子前面仔細觀察你面部的每一寸肌膚。讓你感到苦惱的是你的鼻子太大了，你又長了一個疙瘩——其中最痛苦的也是最讓你感到最無奈的竟是你沒有一頭閃閃發光的金發，英語班上的那個男生還完全沒有注意到你。

艾莉森以前卻從沒有這類問題。兩年前，她是一個美麗的、受歡迎的、聰明的11年級學生，更不用說她還是大學運動代表隊的曲棍球守門員和海洋救生員呢。高挑纖細的身材，水靈靈的藍眼睛和厚厚的金發，讓她看起來更像一個泳裝模特而不是一個高中生。但就在那個暑假，事情有些變化。

做了一天的救生員工作以后，艾莉森迫不及待地回到家，洗掉頭發里的鹽水，梳理那一頭纏在一起的頭發。她拍了拍前面那被陽光漂白了的鬢發。“艾利！”她的媽媽驚呼一聲，“你做了什么？”原來她發現她女兒頭皮上有一小塊裸露的斑塊。“是你自己刮的？”很快，她們認為已經把這個問題解決了—— 一定是艾莉森用松緊帶扎的馬尾扎得太緊了。這個小插曲很快就被遺忘了。

3個月后，另一個裸露的斑點被發現了，之后陸續出現了很多。不久，艾莉森的頭皮的四分之一都成了裸斑。一次次診斷結果都是“只是壓力太大”，她局部進行了藥物治療，之后一個專家開始每兩周給她注射一次可的松，每個裸斑注射50毫升。注射后，學校允許艾莉森戴著棒球帽來上學，不過正常情況下這樣做是違反校規的。一小股一小股的頭發可以一時的遮擋裸斑，但兩周后就會掉落。她患了一種叫做斑禿的疾病，頭發會慢慢脫落而且沒有什么辦法可以阻止它。

艾莉森開朗的性格和她朋友們的支持使她能繼續生活下去，但也有一些令人沮喪的事。就像是那次，她的小妹妹裹著束發的頭巾來到她的床前。當她的媽媽解開頭巾時，艾莉森看到了一團雜亂的厚厚的頭發散落到她妹妹的肩上。她兩指使勁拽著她那柔弱的頭發，突然大哭起來。這是整個悲慘經歷開始以來她第一次流淚。

隨著時間的推移，一塊大頭巾代替了已經無法隱藏她裸斑的棒球帽。當只有一小股脆弱的頭發留下時，就是到了該買假發的時候了。艾莉森沒有試圖復興她曾經那頭長長的金發，假裝好像什么也沒失去似的，而是選擇了一頂齊肩的赤褐色的假發。為什么不這樣做呢？人們總是不斷地剪發或染發。有了新造型后，艾莉森的自信加強了。即使當她的假發從她朋友的車窗吹飛出去的時候，他和朋友一同分享這樣的笑話。

但當夏季降至時，艾莉森開始擔心了。如果她不能戴假發進入水中，她怎么能再做救生員呢？“為什么你會忘記怎樣游泳呢？”她的父親問她。她明白了父親的意思。

只戴了一天很不舒服的潛水帽后，她召集了一些勇敢的人不帶任何設備去潛水。不顧那些不太禮貌的沙灘游民們的眼光和時不時的評論：“為什么你們這幫瘋狂的派克小子會剃掉你們的腦袋？”艾莉森已經適應她的新發型了。

那個秋天，她回到學校，沒了頭發、眉毛、眼睫毛、連假發也被她藏在了儲藏室后面的某處。正如她總是計劃的那樣，她將會競選學生會主席，只是修改了一點點演說詞。她展示了一個關于禿頭領袖的幻燈片，從甘地到勤政廉潔的人，艾莉森吸引了學生和教職員工蜂擁而來。

在競選上的第一次講話中，艾莉森就說明了她的條件，并十分順利回答了提問。穿著前面印有“糟糕的有發日”的T恤，她指著她的T恤說，“當你們中的大多數人早上醒來時，不喜歡你們當時的造型，你可以穿上這個T恤。”將另一件T恤套上，她繼續說，“當我早晨醒來時就會穿上這件。”上面寫著：“沒有頭發的日子”每個人都歡呼著鼓掌。艾莉森，這個美麗，受歡迎，聰穎的擔任曲棍球守門員和海洋救生員的女孩，現在是個會用水靈靈的藍眼睛微笑的學生會主席，這一切都從她走下講臺開始。

◆編輯：夏天兒