The Special One

Chikodili Emelumadu, "The Special One" in Screams From the Dark, ed. Ellen Datlow (Tor Publishing Group: 2022).

You don't have to be a Victor Frankenstein to create a monster. Parents (helped by oppressive institutions) can do it without the need for all of that science. With that said, the responsibility for Joy's actions doesn't fall only at the feet of her parents. After all, when it came to Joy's upbringing, ". . . in billions of households around the world, other parents were telling their offspring the exact same thing." And, she did realize greatness; however, it came in the form of the ill-famed and notorious. 


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