Elsa

“Monster” is derived from the Latin noun monstrum, “divine portent,” itself formed on the root of the verb monere, “to warn.” It came to refer to living things of anomalous shape or structure, or to fabulous creatures like the sphinx who were composed of strikingly incongruous parts, because the ancients considered the appearance of such beings to be a sign of some impending supernatural event. Monsters, like angels, functioned as messengers and heralds of the extraordinary. They served to announce impending revelation, saying, in effect, “Pay attention; something of profound importance is happening.”
― Susan Stryker

“But we are all human, I thought, wondering what I meant.”
― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man

“As they ate, they spoke of eating, as always happens in Italy.”
― Andrea Camilleri, The Shape of Water

“A bird who flies is special. You would never trap a bird who flies" (218).”
― James McBride, The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother