Frankenstein

CHAPTER 19: The Last Days of Victor Frankenstein

"That's when I saw your ship, Captain Walton," he said. "I had to act fast, so I broke my sled into oars and rowed my way toward you. I had decided that if you were going to sail south that I would carry on to the north. I didn't want the monster to get away."

"Well, it's a good thing you came on board," I said to him. "We saved your life, my friend."

"Yes, and I thank you kindly for that. But I need you to promise me that you'll find the monster if I don't make it, that you'll bring him to justice for everything that he's done, for everything I've gone through."

I promised to do just that. Then Frankenstein collapsed, worn out, on the bed, and fell into a deep, troubled sleep.

A week passed. I wanted to make him feel better, to ease his troubled mind, but I knew I couldn't. Frankenstein's health was very poor. We stayed inside and talked the days away.

"When I was younger," he said to me one morning, "I believed I was meant for greatness. The feelings were so important to me that I didn't think of anything else. I gave up my entire life for science, for that one goal of creating life from nothing."

He paused and wiped tears from his eyes. "And I lost everything."

I worried that Frankenstein's health would finally fail and he would be taken from me. After wishing for a good friend for so long, I didn't want to lose him. We spent so much time together that I couldn't imagine my life without him. But I knew he had greater concerns.

"I will chase him until the very end," he said. "That is the only way for it to be over."

The mountain of ice threatened to crush our ship every minute of everyday. My crew was scared. Even I was afraid we wouldn't make it back to England. I felt I had let them down. These men had trusted me with their lives. It would be my fault if we didn't make it back. My selfish need to see the land no other man had seen would be the end of so many lives.

Frankenstein comforted me as I worried. He tried to tell me the ice would break up and that we would see the blue skies of England once again. I found it hard to believe him, especially as I looked at worried faces of many men day after day.

Finally, a few sailors came to see me in my cabin. They told me the crew no longer wanted to go on. Even if the ice opened up, they wanted to turn the ship around and sail for home. They wanted to see their families. Could I blame them?

So I told them that yes, we would turn around when the ice opened up and freed the ship.

The very next morning there were shouts of joy all around as we heard the loud sounds of the ice cranking and breaking up. When I went for my daily visit to see Frankenstein, he asked me what the commotion was all about. He could hear the cheers from the deck. I told him that the ice had moved and we would sail for home as soon as we could free the ship.

"No!" he said quickly. "I can't leave this place until I find the monster. I have to leave your ship. I won't go back with you."

He tried to get up, but it was too much for him in his weakened state. he fell over and fainted on bed. I called for the ship's doctor, who came right away.

"I'm afraid he's very sick," the doctor said to me as Frankenstein rested. "He'll be lucky if he makes it through the night."

"Thank you, doctor," I said. Then I returned to Frankenstein's beside. I would keep him company in those last hours.

We talked more about his life and about what happened. He told me it waas the right decision to turn the ship around. "The lives of these men," he said, "are more important than our selfish goals."

He continued, "That's a lesson you should be very aware of, my friend. Take comfort that i learned it for you and pay close attention to my mistakes." He pressed my hand firmly and then closed his eyes forever, a gentle smile passing over his lips.

The tears flowed from my eyes. I wiped them away quickly and walked out of his cabin for some fresh air. I had only been on deck for a couple of seconds when I heard a strange noise coming from Frankenstein's room. I rushed down there and found the monster standing beside the bed!

He was huge. Much bigger than any man I had ever seen before. His face was hidden behind long strands of hair and his large hand sat on Frankenstein's shoulder. He heard me open the door and turned, When he saw me standing there, he jumped toward the window.

Oh! That face! It was the most horrible thing I had ever seen in my life. I shut my eyes without thinking, but then called out for the monster to stay.

"Wait!" I said.

He stopped for a minute, and then said to me, "This is all my fault! I've done this to him. I took away everything he loved and now my creator is gone! Oh, Frankenstein, I am so sorry. I am so sorry for everything that happened."

The monster cried out in pain. "Farewell, Frankenstein, farewell! You can believe me now. I will keep me word. I will leave the world of men forever. I will no longer see the sun or the stars. I will no longer cause your family any pain. Oh, dear creator - I know you can't forgive me, but at last now you can rest.'

With those words, the monster leaped from the cabin window. I ran to it as he jumped out and onto an ice floe. The waves soon took him away, and I lost sight of him in the darkness and distance. It was finally over, just as Frankenstein wanted. I would remember him, the monster, and there terrible story for as long as I lived. And just as he wished, I took Frankenstein's mistakes to heart. I turned my ship around and headed for home.

THE END.