I submitted my short story for this anthology a long time ago, and it’s been years since I first wrote it. My story, No Monster of Frankstein, was an escape. I have chronic pain and when I wrote it, I had a big pain flare. This story was my distraction, something to keep the pain away. It’s only fitting that the first story with a disabled main character is featured in an anthology about reclaiming one’s narrative, an anthology filled with stories about marginalized people who just want to exist, nothing more.
I’m still in pain. As I write this, I’m in another big flare. This is part of me and that will never change. But aside from my disabling pain, I’m also still human, I am me. I’m a writer, reader, fountain pen enthusiast, and dog lover. I’m proud of this story. I hope you’ll read this (and all the other stories) and will look past the label that forces us into a box.
We Deserve to Exist Anthology
Contributing authors: Allison Baggott-Rowe, Joris Filipp, Bernardo Villela, Tyler Wittkofsky, Rashmi Agrawal, Daphne Fama, Tessa Hastjarjanto, Marisca Pichette
Emmie Christie, Claudia Recinos, Kevin Mack, Jennifer Lee Rossman, Christina Ladd
Genre: Science fiction, fantasy, and horror
Trigger warnings: violence, death, mental health, substance abuse
Summary
The world is not kind. It never was. Fear, jealousy, and anger fuel the actions of those who wish to assert their power and eliminate those they deem unworthy. There will come a time of reclamation—whether by force or by empathy—when those tides shift, a balance reborn. It must start somewhere. The reclamation of self, of culture, of heritage, and of our world starts within. No longer will those around us decide if we deserve to exist.
Table of Contents
“The Last Flame” by Marisca Pichette
“Our Lady of Silence” by Christina Ladd
“People Like Us” by Jennifer Lee Rossman
“Hunahpu” by Claudia Recinos
“An Apology to Light” by Emmie Christie
“Whispered Navajo” by Bernardo Villela
“Hell of a Mind, Heaven of a Mind” by Rashmi Agrawal
“Bone Mother” by Daphne Fama
“Sleep Tight” by Tyler Wittkosfky
“The Four” by Akua Lezli Hope
“No Monster of Frankenstein” by Tessa Hastjarjanto
“Depression in the Backseat” by Joris Filipp
“A Dawn Less Dark” by Kevin Mack
“What Remains” by Allison Baggott- Rowe M.A.
