The Creature Comes to Life - Novel Excerpt

# THE CREATURE COMES TO LIFE ## Chapter 3 My work was finished in November. It was 1:00 a.m. It was raining. My candle was almost burned out. Then I saw the dull yellow eyes of the creature open. It breathed hard. Its arms and legs shook. How can I describe the creature? He was very tall. I chose...

# THE CREATURE COMES TO LIFE ## Chapter 3 My work was finished in November. It was 1:00 a.m. It was raining. My candle was almost burned out. Then I saw the dull yellow eyes of the creature open. It breathed hard. Its arms and legs shook. How can I describe the creature? He was very tall. I chose a beautiful face for him. But it no longer looked beautiful. He had shiny black hair and white teeth. But this only made the rest of him uglier. His eyes looked dead. His skin was dry and yellowed. His face was wrinkled. His lips were black and thin. He was hideous. My dream vanished. Horror filled my heart. I couldn’t look at it. I rushed out of the lab. I ran to my room. I had brought this ugly creature to life! I paced the floor. I threw myself on the bed. I had wild dreams about Elizabeth. She was young and beautiful. When I kissed her, she changed. Her face looked dead. I thought she was my dead mother. I was holding her body. Worms crawled on her dress. I woke up suddenly. I saw the creature I'd made. He was holding up the bed curtain. He was staring at me. He grinned. And made an awful sound. His hand reached out. But I escaped. I ran downstairs. I walked in the yard. I stayed out all night. In the morning, I walked through town. I didn’t want to go home. I came to an inn. A stagecoach stopped. The door opened. It was Henry Clerval. Henry said, “I’m glad to see you. How lucky! You’re here to meet me.” I felt calm joy. I had not felt this for many months. It was almost like being home. I welcomed my friend. We walked toward my place. Henry said his father agreed to let him go to university. “I’m so glad to see you,” I said. “How’s my family?” “They’re well. Why don’t you write? They never hear from you,” Henry said. “How are you? You look pale. Are you sleeping well?” “I’ve been too busy to sleep. I hope my work is done. I’ll finally be free,” I told him. I couldn’t say anything more about my work. I didn’t want anyone to know about it. We arrived at my place. I asked Henry to wait before coming up. I was afraid he would see the monster. I ran up and checked inside. Nobody was there. It was empty. I clapped for joy. I went to get Henry. We went upstairs. My heart began to beat fast. I jumped over the chairs. I laughed out loud. Henry saw the wild look in my eyes. He was surprised. “Victor,” he said. “What’s the matter?” “Don’t ask,” I cried. I covered my eyes. I thought I saw the creature come into the room. “He can tell you!” I said. “Save me! Save me!” I fell to the floor. I became ill. It lasted for months. Henry took care of me. He didn’t tell my family. He didn’t want them to worry. Slowly, I started to get better. Classes were about to start. I knew that I didn’t want to study science. Look where it led me. I started to study languages and history. Henry and I took classes together. Six months went by. Then the school year ended. But there was bad weather. The roads were damaged. I couldn’t go home for six more months. Before going home, Henry suggested a walking tour. I agreed. We passed two weeks walking through Germany. It restored my health. I was happy. We returned to school.