I'm Dying To Know!

I was standing in line at the checkout of the grocery store last week, hoisting the last of my fruits and veggies out of my cart and trying to ignore the Jessica/Lindsey fight all the tabloids were screaming about when I greeted the checkout girl. I try to be as pleasant as possible to people who do jobs I'm glad I'm not doing.

So I'm looking at her in that sort of looking/not looking kind of way. At first glance, there's nothing unusual about her. Mid-twenties, a little plump but cute, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, a flower pendant made from pink stones hangs around her neck. And then I see it.

From the top of one ear over the crown of her head to the other ear there is a sweeping, slightly heart-shaped line that frames her face about an inch into her hairline. A scar. A really impressive, almost heart-stopping scar.

I stare at the cover of Woman's World and realize the secret to losing 20 pounds by eating ice cream has been discovered. I glance back at the checkout girl, still dutifully scanning my produce.

Now, I'm exceptionally curious by nature (perhaps this is the writer in me or I am part cat, not sure) and I have no problem asking questions. Even questions I shouldn't. I mean, you won't learn anything by keeping your mouth shut, will you?

I try to form the question in my head before I ask it, one of the rare occasions when I think before speaking but this is a special case.

Where do you get a scar like that? How do you survive it? Was it an accident? I think not - too neat. Plastic surgery? I don't think the scar from a brow lift is that big and she's too young anyway. A brain tumor? How long ago did it happen? Don't they usually shave a lot of hair for something like that? Her hair is long enough to go into a ponytail that hangs to the middle of her back.

I'm about to open my mouth when a mother with 2 or 5 children gets in line behind me. The kids are moving too fast to get an accurate count. I shut my mouth. I was raised with enough manners not to ask such a personal question in front of an audience. I know the answer would be different because of it anyway. Drat. I'm dying to know. Someday I'll be alone in her checkout line again. I hope.

All sorts of story ideas whirl through my head on the way home. She's an alien and that's the zipper for her human suit. She's the first ever brain transplant recipient and what's her life like now that the memories from the transplanted brain are her own? She underwent drastic cosmetic surgery to change her looks in an attempt to escape...someone. I haven't worked them all out yet.

What do you think the story behind that scar is?