Still Existing: The Monster’s Untold Lament

Did he truly have to make me eight feet tall? As if it wasn’t hard enough to find companionship with this stitched-together face, now I must walk the earth towering over everyone, a living monument to loneliness. Even in platform heels, few women could ever look me in the eyes without fear, their necks straining as they gaze up at my scarred, green visage, trying not to scream.

He gave me blackened lips that crack when I speak, and yes, there are screws jutting from the sides of my neck. I’ve lost count of the times people joke, “You must have a screw loose,” before they run, leaving echoes of laughter that sting more than any pitchfork or flame.

My creator possessed the genius of alchemy, the audacity to command lightning, and the arrogance to play God. He brought me into this world with a spark, but he could not spare a moment to give me a face that would not terrify children, or a heart that would not ache every moment I draw breath. He abandoned me in disgust, a half-finished masterpiece left to rot in the world’s shadows.

But even monsters can feel the hollow gnaw of longing. My solitude is endless, my heart yearning for warmth, for the company of a woman who would not turn away in terror. My needs are not so different from those of any man, though the world sees me as nothing but a creature of nightmares.

So, I set out to find him, the one they call Victor, the man who made me and then ran away from the consequences of his creation. I found him at last, alone on a frozen mountain, the cold wind howling around us like the cries of the lost. I begged him to make me a mate, a companion who would share in my cursed existence. It was his fault I walked this earth in agony; the least he could do was ease my suffering.

Victor was shocked to hear me speak, to see that I could read, reason, and feel as deeply as any human. I could see the regret in his eyes as he realized he had created something far more complex than a mindless brute. When he asked about the deaths that had followed in my wake, I admitted the truth. Yes, I had killed, but only because the world rejected me, screaming and fleeing at the sight of me, their hatred driving me to madness.

Victor refused at first, claiming another creature like me would only bring more sorrow to the world. I promised him that if he made her for me, I would disappear into the wilderness, never to trouble him or humanity again. With heavy guilt weighing on his shoulders, Victor finally agreed and began the work, haunted by the madness he had once unleashed.

Yet, when the moment came to complete her, Victor faltered. He saw the lifeless form of the woman he was crafting and was struck by fear of what he was about to bring into the world. In a moment of desperation, he tore her apart and cast her remains into the sea, as if ridding himself of a curse he could no longer bear.

Rage consumed me. My hope had been crushed, my last chance at companionship stolen. My anger toward Victor burned hotter than the lightning that had birthed me, and I vowed revenge. When Victor married his beloved Elizabeth, I found her alone on their wedding night, her fear a mirror of the fear I saw in every face. I took her life as easily as snuffing out a candle, her screams silenced forever. Their marriage was never consummated, much like my own longing that would never be fulfilled.

Victor chased me across the world, but I always slipped away, a shadow in the snow, a ghost in the dark. I heard of his death, and with it, a strange emptiness settled within me. I thought of ending my own existence, of freeing myself from the agony of a life unlived, but I could not. The spark within me refused to die, life pulsing in my veins, mocking me with its persistence.

They say I died in the ice, that the monster was no more, but I am still here, still existing, a creature of grief and longing, wandering a world that was never meant for me.

Moral of the Story:

Even the outcast and unloved seek connection, and when denied compassion, loneliness can turn even the gentlest soul into something monstrous.