The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After

by Julie Yip-Williams

I was blind and it was her fault. She suspected that it was because of the green pills the herbalist had told her to take during her pregnancy after she, while helping the cook, had accidentally poured a big pot of boiling water on her legs. She had tried to not take the medicine, but her legs had become masses of angry welts that burned like fire. Now, though, she regretted taking the medicine; she should have just endured the pain. Or maybe this had happened because she had eaten too many foods with hot characteristics during her pregnancy—too many oranges, grapefruit, mangoes—and not enough cool foods, like watermelon and lettuce. The heat generated by those hot foods had been too much for her baby. Or maybe it was because of her faulty genetic makeup, which both her daughters had had the misfortune to inherit. Or maybe the gods were simply angry with her for something she had done, and now they were punishing her. Whatever the reason, she had failed to protect not only me but Lyna, too; she had failed at her most basic responsibility as a mother.