"Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow." I repeated as I forced the not so gentle metal fork through my tangled mess of hair. "O-OW! owie owie ow!" The fork got stuck in a particularly troublesome chunk of hair at the back of my head. The more I wiggled it to try to unstick it, the further it seemed to tangle in.

With a defeated sigh I let go if the fork and threw my head back in a groan. Okay. I can do this. I can do this, it's not that hard! I thought in a weak attempt to convince myself that combing this hair was a possible feat. I set a look of determination on my face and went right back to it.

It took a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of encouragement from myself, but finally, I'd managed to brush it all out; a major improvement. It was looking better already. I ran my fingers through the soft frizzy locks and closed my eyes at the sensation, wondering how hair could be so soft when it had never been washed. Combed and tangle free, I could almost imagine being okay with living in it, but the part down the middle just wasn't my thing. I used my fingers as a comb and brushed my hair upwards into my other hand, gathering the short hair into a small ponytail at the top of my head. I used the separated string i'd found earlier to secure the ponytail, marveling at how perfectly it fit. I stepped back to examine my handiwork. not bad... I thought in amazement.

But it wasn't right. I narrowed my eyes in speculation, trying to figure out what was so off about it... A strand of hair came out of the ponytail and landed in my face. In annoyance I huffed, blowing the strand to the side. That's it! I brushed the hair that wasn't secured in the ponytail off to create bangs,and pulled out the unsecured hairs in the back to make it more of a half up look. I smiled, satisfied with my creation, and took some time to examine myself fully.

I looked at my hands, at the smooth outlines and flat color, and my arms. I looked at my face in the mirror, at my smooth cheeks, full lashes and pink lips. It was so surreal, how I looked at my arm and saw nothing, but ran my hand over it and felt the fine hairs and the roughness of my skin. I was not only in a cartoon, I was part of one. The thought sent butterflies to my stomach and sent me an unexpected burst of joy.

With a smile, I walked back to the galley to see what tasks awaited me.