I read about Rapunzel syndrome, where sufferers ate the hair they wrenched free. The strands knotted inside them, plump and dark, deep within their belly like a swallowed secret.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel by Rijn Collins

For many years my fingers would creep into my hair to wrench it out by the root. The sweet relief of this was extraordinary, and addictive. If obsessive-compulsive disorders are difficult to explain, they're even more difficult to stop. My route back to health involved a tattooist's chair, the mythology of Medusa, and the grimmest of fairy tales.

Rijn Collins is an award-winning writer with over 100 published short stories. She writes for ABC Radio National, and won the inaugural Sarah Awards for Audio Fiction in New York.

You can find Rijn on his website, Twitter, and Instagram.  

Acknowledgements:

Memoria is written,  produced, edited and presented by Nat V.

Rijn Collin's short story, Rapunzel, Rapunzel is written and performed by Rijn. The story is edited by Jen Farrow.

Music in this episode is by Blue Dot Sessions,   "When in the West" and "Lamplist".

Illustrations by Peta Manning. Her book, See Me Doodle, is out now.