The Girl in the Attic

by Jon Athan

“I’d say I wish I was dead, but… but I feel like I’m already dead. I just… I can’t remember when I died.”

“And you are my property. And you will be my property until you are a full-grown, competent, respectful adult. In the meantime, I think those slave masters—despite their wickedness—had the right idea. I can’t rely on whippings to control you. I need to break you. I need to set an example so you’ll never try to run away or raise a hand at me again.”

Good intentions often led to bad consequences. People were unpredictable and untrustworthy. In self-destructive societies, there was no such thing as good karma—only destruction.

There was nothing else to say. His fate was sealed. He saw a reflection of his old self in his daughter—miserable, angry, hateful. She had adopted his worst traits. He realized he had created a monster through his monstrous actions. Like father, like daughter.