Genius

The newspaper headline proclaimed, in big bold capitals, ‘Punch in head turns man into maths genius’. The article told how a college dropout who’d suffered a brain injury in a mugging had emerged from a coma to find himself transformed into an academic egghead.

Debates raged.

Cynics pooh-poohed the report. Theologians discussed miracles. Neurologists explored theories about brain re-wiring. Prison reformers considered the possibilities of the baton as a method of rehabilitation. Lexicographers devised another three letter acronym… ASS – acquired savant syndrome.

Thugs, on the other hand, invented a new threat. ‘Hey pal, do you want to be Einstein?’


Ken Magee AuthorAuthor’s note. There have been about 40 proven cases of Acquired Savant Syndrome in the world.


Read the next drabble – The Seasick Seagull

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