The Gargoyle

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with monsters, especially with monster movies, like FRANKENSTEIN, DRACULA, THE WOLF-MAN, KING KONG. All that stuff. I read all those orange hardback books in the library about each monster, and read young-adult novelizations of the old horror and sci-fi novels by Stoker, Shelley, Stephenson, Wells.

Also, in 2nd grade, my teacher, Mrs. Freeburn, had the class write in a journal every day. I dug out my journal the other day and most of the entries are about whatever happened that day, but something like 10 entries are devoted to a horror story I was writing at the time -- THE GARGOYLE.

I'm not sure why I chose to write about a gargoyle, except maybe because there wasn't a cinematic or literary version of a monster story of a gargoyle yet, that I knew of, so as a monster it wasn't "used up." I also used to play a computer game called DARK CASTLE, and one of the mythical creatures you had to fight in that game was a gargoyle, and that was probably the first time I had ever even heard that word. I remember reading a book about mythical creatures that explained some similarities between the gargoyle and the sphinx.

Anyway, here's the full text of THE GARGOYLE, unaltered except to correct spelling. The names of the characters may seem weird, but I stole them from horror stories I was reading at the time -- names like Carew and Clerval come from DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE and FRANKENSTEIN. The dates are the days I wrote each part of the story, they don't have anything to do with the actual plot.

THE GARGOYLE

2/23

It started out in London. In the London clock tower. It was very foggy. And a man named Carew was walking by. Then he sat on a bench. Something flew by. Carew wondered what he had seen. He thought he was just seeing things. Then he heard the sound of a vulture! He fell back and knocked himself out. When he woke up he was in a hospital.

2/24

In the hospital the doctors and nurses took good care of Carew. When he got out of the hospital he was assigned to take some tourists on a tour of the clock tower. He accepted the job. So he took them on a tour of the clock tower. They went out on the balcony. On the end of the railing on both sides was a statue of a gargoyle! The tourists just walked past it but Carew stopped and thought he saw its eyes glow.

2/27

Then Carew thought he saw its wing move. Then its eyes stopped glowing. The next morning Carew took his children for a walk in the woods. The kids went off to play while Carew waited. Then a lion walked up to him. A lion with a lady's head and wings of a hawk!

2/28

It pointed to a wall. Carew stared with horror. Then the thing laughed. It said, "If you want to get past that wall. . . then you have to answer this riddle." The thing asked a riddle and Carew answered it. But. . . his answer was wrong! The thing reached out for Carew's neck and scratched him with his claws. Then it said, "I'll finish you off later. Ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa!" It disappeared.

NOTE: On 3/1 I couldn't continue the story because we were all instructed to write about how bad we were at lining up and at recess.

3/2

That night Carew went to sleep thinking of the horrible thing. His wife asked why he had the scar on his neck but he never answered. In the middle of the night Carew heard Avis, his daughter, scream. Carew put on his robe and rushed to her room. It was quiet. Too quiet. Carew had to do something. He went in the hall and picked up the hat rack.

NOTE: I guess he picked up the hat rack to use as a weapon but it's never referenced again.

3/3

Carew went back into Avis' room and then that gargoyle jumped out from behind the bed and scratched Carew on his neck on the same spot he did last time. Carew rushed to the window. He saw the gargoyle flying to the clock tower with Avis in his arms. Carew rushed to the police office and told the police. The police called him a fool. But a kind man named Clerval went with Carew to the clock tower. His son Hans came, too. At the top of the clock tower the gargoyle was about to drop Avis over the edge. Then Carew jumped at the thing.

NOTE: This page of the journal is decorated with a sticker of a duck wearing a visor and flip flops.

3/6

It toppled off of the clock tower. Carew caught Avis. Hans heard the cawing of crows. He climbed onto the clock hands and looked. Then the bell rang for midnight. Hans lost his balance and fell to the ground. Then a whole herd of gargoyles started at Carew, Clerval and Avis!

3/7

Then Clerval pulled out a gun and shot all of the gargoyles down from the sky. The next evening they went to Hans' funeral.

The End