The Black Satin Ribbon

Once long ago there lived a married couple in a little cottage on a farm. The

wife was a beautiful woman with luscious silky raven hair and illuminous green eyes.

She was neither tall nor short but somewhere in between, her aristocrat features

emphasizing her looks. Her slender throat reminded one of a swan, elegant. Around

her throat lay a black satin ribbon, she wore the ribbon day and night never seen

without it. For as long as he had known her, he had never seen his wife without the

ribbon. He pondered and thought and pondered some more before he finally

decided to ask her about it. The next day at breakfast he questioned, "Darling why

do you wear that black satin ribbon around your neck"? His wife spilled some

orange juice on the table as she looked up at her husband. "I have always worn my

ribbon since I was a little girl, I never take it off and never will". She said. The

Husband sighed and nodded but still wondered why she wore the ribbon. As the

days passed by the husband grew more and more curious until all he could think

about was why did she wear the ribbon and why was it so important that she never

takes it off. The seasons went by and came back again and still he didn't have an

answer. Finally, as he could stand the mystery no longer, he began to plot and plan

how to get his wife to remove the ribbon. A few days before his wife's birthday he

had an idea and so he went out and bought her a beautiful emerald necklace. The husband was sure his wife would remove the ribbon for the necklace. He waited for

her birthday to come and when it did, he gave her the necklace and watched as she

smiled and uttered, "It's gorgeous, I'm going to go put it on". When she came back

the necklace adorned her neck but so did the black satin ribbon. With a sigh the

husband realized he would need a new plan. Two weeks passed and suddenly

inspiration struck, he had an idea, a foolproof idea. That night he lay awake waiting

for his wife to fall asleep and when she did, he silently grabbed the scissors he had

put in his side table drawer and turned to his wife. Carefully he brought the

scissors to the ribbon and with a small snip noise he cut the ribbon off. When the

ribbon was removed his wife woke up and as she moved to sit up her head fell right

off! Where her head should have been was a skeleton with illuminous green eyes

that once were so beautiful but, on the skeleton, it was disturbing. The husband

screamed and the skeleton that was once his wife moved covering his mouth. The

skeleton looked at him and, in a cold, dark, and ominous voice said, "Now that you

have seen me and know the truth you can never live to tell the tale". The husband

was never seen from again, if you should ever happen to come across a woman with

a black satin ribbon around her neck do not approach her. It could be the last thing

you ever do.