Frankenstein

CHAPTER 11: The Monster's Story

The monster and I hiked slowly to his hut. It was a rough looking buiding. We went inside and sat beside a warm fire. The flames made the monster's pale face glow with a strange light. He started the story at the beginning of his life, at that fateful moment when I left him.

"It's hard for me to remember the first few days of my life. They are all one big blur. I saw, felt, heard, and smelled all at the same time. My senses were all mixed up."

I interrupted him to ask, "Your senses came all at once? That must have been confusing."

"At first, yes, but then I learned to tell them apart. The light hurt my eyes and I had to keep them closed for a long time. After I left your apartment, I found my way into a forest near Ingolstadt. I lay down beside a stream and slept. Hours later, I woke up because me stomach hurt and my throat was sore. I found I could drink the water in the stream, and it was wonderful. Then I ate some berries and roots that I found in the forest. My stomach isn't like yours, Frankenstein. It does quite well in a rough diet."

He shifted away from the fire as it heated up the room. I didn't know what to think, or even what to say, so I just listened.

"It was dark and cold when I woke up/ The clothes I wore weren't warm enough for the weather. I was so unhappy. My arms and legs ached, and my mind spun with many thoughts - none of which I understood. So I sat down and cried. I didn't know what else to do."

"The moon lit up the sky, and I felt better. I stood up and found an old cloak someone had thrown away under a tree. During the time when I felt everthing at once, the only thing that made me feel better was the sight of the moon. I calmed me down."

"How long did you stay in the forest?" I asked.

"For many days - I had no where else to go. I stayed until I could calm my senses and tell one apart from the other."

The monster cleared his throat before he continued. "One day, when it wa really cold, I went for a long walk. A group of travelers had left behind a fire. When I sat down beside it, I was surprised to fell the heat. I put my hand right in the middle of it! How the pain that caused surprised me!"

He held up his hand so I could see the scar from the burn. Then, he said, "I examined the fire closely adn saw that it wasa made of wood. I went and gathered some more so I could keep the fire going. That night I slept there and felt warm for the first time in my life. It was a wonderful discovery."

The rain fell heavily on the little hut. I could hear its heavy pitter-patter on the roof.

"I spent a lot of time in the forest. I ate berries, nuts, and roots, and even learned to cook them on the fire so they tasted better. But as the weather changed from fall to winter, food became scarce. i knew I had to leave the forest."

"I came upon a small capin. It looked warm and dry. I really wanted to go inside. There was snow on the ground now and it was very cold. The door was open, so I walked in and saw an old man sat by the fire making his breakfast. He turned around as I entered and then screamed so loudly that it hurt my ears. He jumped up and ran to get away from me, just like you did after I took my very first breaths."

I could feel the monster looking at me, but I didn't look up. He continued his story. "I confess Iate the man's breakfast. It was wonderful. My stomach felt so full that I went to sleep right therer on the floor."

"I knew I couldn't saty there after seeing the man's response to me. For the first time in my life, I walked into town during the day. People were shocked and scared. They screamed and ran away at the sight of me. Some even hit me with sticks and stones because they were so afraid. There was nothing I could do except run away and hide."

"What kind of life is that, Frankenstein?" I shook my head in response, but didn't say anything.

"I ran from that place as fast as I could. I ran all the way out of town. I ran until I came to an old  shack built next to a small cottage. Now, I knew not to go inside the cottage in case I scared the people and they tried to hurt me. I crawled inside the shack and hid there. It wasn't much, but I was safe."

"There was a small hole in the wall of the shack. I found that I could watch the family that lived in the cabin. I saw a young girl, whose name I soon learnes as Agatha, sarrying a pail of something into the house. Her brother met her at the door and took the pail from her so she wouldn't have to carry it any longer. The next time I saw the brother, whose name I learned as Felix, he was carrying some sort of tool and walking into the forest. When he returned,, he had wood for there fire with him."

"I fell in love with that little family. They looked sad, but they were so har-working. There father was blind. He often sat by the fire playing a wooden flute. The music was so beautiful."

"I learned so much from them. I spent hours and hours watching them. I learned to speak by listening to them. I learned to read by hearing them tell stories to one another. I watched as they were kind and good to their father. I felt it was how a family should be, I wanted it for myself."

"They were very poor," the monster said, "but they were happy."

"I started to help them as much as I could. I stopped taking their food for my meals and went back to eating roots and berries. At night, I would borrow Felix's tools from the shed to chop piles and piles of wood for them. They were always so surprised to find a new pile on their doorstep in the morning!"

"They lived a simple, quiet life. They were poor, but seemde content. I longed to talk to the sweet old man, to discuss Felix's books with him, to spend time helping Agatha in the garden. I wanted nothing more than to become a part of their family. I knew you didn't want me to be a part of yours, that you rejected me moments after you gave me life - but if I could find another place to belong, that would more than make up for the pain I felt after you left me."

"One day I was in the forest gathering food. I bent down to take a drink and saw myself in the water. Oh, I was a monster. A terrible, ugly monster. I hoped one day the family would look into my heart and see the real me, and not just look at my awful face."

"Almost a year passed. I decided that it was time now to try and meet this family I wanted so desperately to join. One day I watched as Agatha and Felix left their father alone to take a walk in the woods. The old man picked up his guitar and played for a while. What beautiful music! It inspired me. I crawled out of my hiding place, walked up to the front door and knocked."

"I heard the old man call out for me to come inside."

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I told him that I was a traveler and I asked him if I could warm myself by his fire. We sat and talked for a long time. I told the old man how I got there, how I had been living in the woods, and how I was a monster whom everyone hated. The man made all my dreams come true when he said I sounded like I had a pure, good heart."

"It wasa a moment of true." Tears wet the monster's eyes. "Every inch of me wanted to tell him the whole story. So I did. I told him that it was me who cut the wood for them, who had helped them out for the past few months. The old man was shocked, but before he could say anything, his family returned to the cottage."

"Felix and Agatha was shocked to see me and immediately thought the worst. They cried out in fear and the boy dragged me away from his father. He threw me out of the house, and Agatha fainted. I knew I could have really hurt Felix, for I was much bigger than he was, but I couldn't bring myself to harm him."

"I ran from there as fast as I could. My heart was broken in a million different pieces."

"I knew then I could never be a part of any family. I knew then that no one in the world ever accept me because I looked this way. It didn't matter that I could read or write. I didn't matter that I could think or talk about philosophy or other great subjects. People would always be afraid of me. At that moment, I hated you, Frankenstein, for bringing me into a world that would never accept me."