Superhero Origin Story

Where I’m from, the big event of childhood is, on your eleventh birthday, Santa Claus—it’s funny, we don’t have Christmas, but we still have Santa—brings you a special gift, a symbol, a hint of the mark you’ll leave on the world. In fifth grade there was a girl in my class with the same birthday as me, Ada. On our big day, Santa interrupted class to present us with our gifts. To Ada he gave an absolute jewel of a sword. God I hated her for getting that sword. You know what I got? A broom.