Necklaces for the Headless

Rosine’s parents remember the day she was born as the worst day of their lives. There were complications with the birth, so instead of coming out head-first like most babies, Rosine’s feet were the first to leave her mother. The doctor pulled while her mother pushed, and slowly, Rosine’s ankles appeared, then her little knees, then her belly, her shoulders, her neck, her neck…her neck? A sharp cry filled the room as Rosine made her first sound. The baby’s neck was abnormally long, but somehow, she did not have a head. So where was the sound coming from?

Rosine’s mother, whose name is Yvonne, thought that she was just imagining the cries and that her baby had died. The doctor reassured her, “No, no! This is a miracle! Your baby survived!” Gradually, Yvonne’s grief changed into depression. “A girl with no head?” she cried, “How will she ever find a husband?”


“What if the kid you bullied at school, grew up, and turned out to be the only surgeon who could save your life?”