Frankenstein: The Promise

The creature finished his story and looked at me, waiting for my answer.“Create a woman for me,” he said, “a creature as ugly as I am, with whom I can live; this is something only you can do.”At first I was filled with anger, and I cried, “I refuse! Two creatures like you, working together, could destroy the world.”

“I am wicked because I am miserable,” the creature answered calmly. “If any being felt kindness toward me, I would return it a hundred times over.”“We will be monsters, cut off from the whole world, but because of that we will be closer to each other.”“We will go to the wild plains of South America and live on nuts and berries; we will harm no one, and no human will ever see us again.”

His words moved me, and for a moment I felt that I owed him some happiness, because I had given him life.But when I looked at his huge, horrible body again, my feelings changed, and I was afraid.“How can I trust you?” I asked. “You have already shown how cruel you can be.”

“I swear,” he said, “by the sun and the blue sky above us, that if you grant my wish, you will never see me again.”I thought for a long time, and finally I decided that it was fair to him, and safer for my family and for the world.“I agree to your demand,” I said, “if you promise to leave Europe forever, together with the companion I will make.”

“I promise,” he cried, “and while you work, I will be watching; when you are ready, I will appear.”Then he turned and went down the mountain, faster than an eagle, and was soon lost among the waves of ice.The sun was touching the edge of the mountains when I began my own long walk down.

My heart was heavy, and my steps were slow; the stars shone above me, and the dark pines bent in the wind.I cried out, “Oh stars and clouds and winds, if you pity me, take away my feelings and my memory; if not, leave me in darkness!”When I reached home at last, my family looked at my pale, tired face with worry, but I could not tell them anything.