After she had put her sisters’ dismembered limbs back together, she prepared for her wedding to Fitcher, the evil sorcerer who had butchered them. She went out and invited all the wizard’s friends, and when she came back to the house, she found me on the floor. I grinned at her with my teeth. Long ago Fitcher severed my head from my body, and my bones were scattered everywhere.  I could not be put back together. She hung earrings from my ear holes and put a wreath of flowers on my head. Then she took me upstairs and put me in the attic window.

On his way home, Fitcher saw me looking out of the window. He thought I was his bride and so did all the guests who were streaming into the house. The brides’ relatives came after. They locked Fitcher and his friends inside, and set the house ablaze. We all went up in flames, and I was released at last.

Skull in the Window in Fitcher’s Bird, Grimms. Painting by Vincent van Gogh.