There once was a girl who always wore a scarf around her neck no matter what time of year it was. One day while out on a date with her boyfriend, he said to her "Take off your scarf." She replied, "No, I will take it off when the time is right."

Years went by and the couple became engaged to be married. On their wedding night, her new husband again said to her, "We are married now so you can take off your scarf." Again she said, "No, I will take it off when the time is right."

More time passed and the young couple grew old together. The old woman lay on her death bed and addressed her weeping husband kneeling by her side. "I’m so sorry to keep this secret from you for so long. Take off my scarf and you’ll see why I’ve always had it on."

Her husband took the end of the scarf in his hand and slowly removed it from her neck. Horrified, he watched his wife’s head roll off the bed and across the floor. She’d been wearing the scarf to keep her head on!

Another Version

Black Velvet Ribbon

There was once a pretty lady who always wore a ribbon around her neck. She wore the ribbon when she slept, when she went to church and every single time she went out. No one ever saw her without her ribbon. One day she met a young man and they fell deeply in love. When he noticed the ribbon was always there, he asked "Why do you wear that ribbon?"

She just smiled and said, "I’ll tell you when we get married one day." Four months later they were married and living happily together. Whenever he asked her why she wore the ribbon, she would say, "I’ll tell you someday,  just don’t take it off."

One night he couldn’t take it anymore and had to know why she wore the ribbon. He snuck up on her when she was sleeping and slowly loosened the ribbon. As soon as he untied it, her head fell off and rolled to her husband’s feet. The eyes opened and the head yelled, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO REMOVE MY RIBBON!!!" The poor man went mad and was never seen again.