Scissors and Stars

Elexa polished her metallic fingers as she gazed through the window of her cosmic salon. The purple sky of Nebula Nine sparkled with floating asteroids, and the moon-sun cast silver light across her shop. Her green hair bounced as she adjusted her scissor-shaped head bobbers.

"Another perfect day for perfect haircuts," she said, smoothing her star-and-moon dress.

Outside, a group of alien boys trudged past her window. Link led the pack, his wild orange hair reaching his shoulders. Behind him walked Hlink with tangled blue locks, Xabat sporting messy silver strands, Cosmo with unruly purple waves, Zale with knotted red hair, and Tasha with flowing black hair cascading down his back.

"Look at them," Elexa whispered. "Their hair is so long and beautiful, but so unkempt. They need my help."

Link glanced at her salon and made a disgusted face. "Yuck, scissors," he muttered to his friends.

Elexa's black eyes gleamed with determination.

The Cosmic Hair Festival

The next morning, Elexa polished her scissor head bobbers until they gleamed. She had a plan.

"Perfect timing," she whispered as colorful banners appeared across Nebula Nine's purple sky. The annual Cosmic Hair Festival was starting today.

Elexa grabbed her styling tools and headed to the festival grounds. Alien girls with heart-shaped head bobbers giggled as they passed Link's gang lounging by the asteroid fountain. Their hair looked even more tangled than yesterday.

"Look at those messy mops," laughed Crypta, her star-shaped head bobbers twinkling. Nova nodded, her moon bobbers bouncing. "So gross."

Xava, Kizzy, Venus, and Starlee joined the teasing. Their head bobbers sparkled with different symbols as they pointed and whispered.

Link's orange hair fell across his face as he turned away. "Whatever," he muttered, but Elexa saw his shoulders droop.

That's when she noticed something strange. A small sparrow with silver feathers perched on Zale's shoulder, chattering softly. The bird's tiny head bobbers were shaped like musical notes.

"Even the sparrow has better style sense than those boys," Crypta said loudly.

Elexa's black eyes narrowed. The girls were being cruel, and the boys needed her help more than ever.