The Creature

By Sharon Forester

A hunchback outcast seeks shelter from a raging storm at a family's isolated farmhouse in the middle of the night. The Creature is a short story from the short story collection book "When Life Strikes Midnight." Check out the book so you can read the rest of my stories in that collection!

 

In more detail: A man with a hunched back and a grotesque face is outcast by the world as a monster. Seeking shelter at a farmhouse out in the country one stormy night, the heartless family agrees to let him sleep in the barn. When the family's only child tends to his every need, he realizes she is not as cold as her family. They form a secret friendship that leads to a surprising discovery that has the man questioning who the monster really is. 

 

About the Author

I spend most of my time reading, writing, or creating art. When I am not doing any of those things, I am listening to music or obsessively binge-watching animated shows and movies. I always have my head in the clouds, daydreaming of all sorts of ridiculously divine things that transport me away from the real world, and I love moving through life that way. I live happily somewhere on planet Earth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sharon Forester
• Release date: Jul 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223120650

Book preview

They always spoke about a creature that was always unwanted, unloved and mistreated. The unkindness of the world was going to end soon. The people were going to pay. The only thing this creature wanted was a home. A place to stay for the night. And food to live. Nothing more. But it was always rejected, which caused the creature to grow sad. It almost gave up. So, it walked off through an empty deserted road, pouring wet from the heavy rain.

That creature was me.

I was unwanted and unloved because I was the ugliest creature anything could ever lay their eyes on—and die where they stood. I didn’t have a home or a family. I cried from time to time. I suffered from the hot days and the cold nights. I always wondered where I even came from. I even wished I never came to be in this world because I had nobody that wanted me or loved me. That was the only thing I could think about most of the time.

I saw a big broken mirror near a home where the lights were on. I looked at my reflection. I had shoulder-length tangled red hair and no way to fix it. I had on a white tattered long long-sleeved shirt with long white, baggy tattered pants—an outfit that kind of looked like a karate suit. I was barefoot. I was almost a hunchback with my tanned skin, lumpy face, and freckles everywhere. I had a big nose and green eyes. I had nothing on me, except a small brown over-the-shoulder bag that held a golden flute filled with the power of music. It was the only thing that kept me moving.

I looked around my surroundings, making sure no danger approached me. Not because I was scared but because I was tired of being treated lower than dirt. I sat down next to the mirror, shivering in the cold of the night. Next to me, I saw a metal can. I set it aside and