Alexander Olinger
Mrs. Northerns
Second Hour
To Whom It May Concern,
I, Grendel lying in my bed about to die, attempt to make an account or a record of my days. I have been a decedent of Cain of many years and success, but have now come to what I fear will be my end.
I will commence the telling of my life at my first day of school when my professor was teaching me how to behave as a descendant of Cain. My first day of school, my teacher told us this, "We eat the other people because they are elegant. We are free, and our freedom is a food, but their elegance is a siege upon them. We must never grasp onto it."
This lesson, freedom is a food and elegance a siege, would stay with me for the rest of my days. We, the people of Cain are free to do as we please, and that is why we eat those who are not descendents of Cain.
I didn't really like to eat humans, it just happened that events occurred which lead to my continuous eating of them. My mother was not so keen on eating humans, so we would eat their pets, for they are so much better. My mother was a lovely creature, who all members of the community loved and envied. Successful and a glimmer of hope for all or us of the community of children of Cain.
One day, that was to change. My mom set out to eat some guy's dog, and he caught her. In an outrage, he took her and bound her. She was held captive for many nights. Usually, my mom would have been able to break free but she was in an extremely weak moment of her life one of pain and of grief. Knowing that my mother was so sad when she had left, I embarked upon a search to discover where she had happened to disappear. To my dismay, for many days I was not able to rescue her.
Though after many days of hunting for my mother, I came upon the wretched city where she was held. It was in the kingdom of King Hrothgar. I rescued my mother from the wretch who held her, and eat the creature who held her. She was hurt so bad when I rescued her, and so from that moment on I promise that the city of Hrothgar would regret allowing that man to hold my mother. So I began to eat the people of the city numerously. For twenty years, these people lived in fear of me. That is until this Beowulf turned up and disturbed my revenge upon Hrothgar's people.
It was just a few nights ago that I came and found Beowulf lying on the floor. Seeing that he, Beowulf, was a man of strength, I gleamed at the prospect of seeing the terror in his eyes as I ate him. He and his men, they would be my final feast and then, I would be satisfied. Hrothgar's village, have I plundered for many nights, and this would be my final revenge.
This night, nevertheless, my final battle, would be different. This man, this Beowulf, stole my pleasure. Never before had I seen such strength. After eating one of his army of many, I was attacked by this Beowulf. He grabbed me and I could not go. Struggling and hoping to get free, I fought for deliverance. Deliverance came, but it cost me my arm. What a price I paid in this, my last battle!
I fear that I shall die, and I have not yet revenged my mother's torture. She has gone out to finish it for me, while I lay here dying and hoping that I shall live to see her glory. I write you these words, hoping you may know the truth, because heroes are always the ones who tell the stories. Beowulf is considered to be a hero amongst his people, and for this reason, I want my side told. For my mother, and my family who were wronged by Hrothgar's people, and all descendants of Cain.