1. An oval window frames a young monk at Shwe Yaunghwe Kyaung monastery in Myanmar.

2. The stirrup bone taps on the oval window, a thin membrane leading to the fluid-filed cavities of the inner ear.

3. However, in about 25 percent of individuals, the tunnel (or foramen ovale, Latin for "oval window") remains open, or patent.

4. And now as they descended on Geneva, she pressed her forehead against the pane of the oval window and breathed deeply.

5. She kept her face centered in the frame of the oval window and, holding her breath in delight, watched as everything she had known receded beneath her.