I watched as my fingers curled into my palm and stayed there despite me trying to peel them back. The bones became hard as rocks, heavy in my hand. I didn’t worry; this happened sometimes. It would happen with my toes, too, and every now and then my knee would curl back so far that my heel would touch my back. That one was a bit painful. I felt like a contortionist, and when it first started I sat in front of a full body mirror, watching my body curl into itself. Quite the sight … I stayed at home nowadays so that nobody would see me if a spasm came on.

When my neck began to curl into my chest, I knew something was wrong. Something serious was happening to me. I couldn’t move it back, either; it just sat there, heavy, into my chestbone, making it harder to breathe. And when I tried to pull it back sharp pain shot through my tendons. My knees curled back next, and my fingers, and my arms into my shoulders, all within a minute, and I was shell of my former self: a sphere to be picked up and rolled or thrown like a ball to some higher being. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t call for help. I was no longer human.