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CHAPTER 4

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That night he showed Sally where she would be sleeping; a room of her very own, with a bed and everything. She was delighted, hoping under the covers and pulling them up close to her chin with delight. After bidding her goodnight he turned out the light, closing the door and heading towards his lab.

It was here that he started pondering.

"What should I do about this?" he muttered to himself, sitting in his wheelchair as he gazed out the window.

"About what, master?" came the voice. He glanced to see Igor, cleaning out a shelf of assorted brains. The scientist just sighed.

"Sally," he answered. "The witches have gotten me thinking, and I've decided on something. From now on, I think I'm going to keep Sally from wandering around outside. With or without an accompaniment. I don't want people thinking and saying things about her."

His servant tried to remain humble and dignified. "But master, she should have freedom..."

"Yes, I know but....I just want to protect her. Know what I mean?"

Igor was smart enough not to try and argue. "Yes, master, I do. It is a good idea, to keep her away from the others."

"It is, isn't it?" Dr. Finklestein smiled. "Yes, it is.



*****



The doctor did not make his plan known to his creation, nor did he mean for her to find out. Instead he simply kept her busy around the home, showing her how to do tasks like cooking, cleaning, and sewing. Sewing she quickly caught on to, as she was frequently required to repair the stiching that held her together. The other chores took a little bit longer to master, but she got the hang of them within the week.

During the days now Dr. F would busy himself with various projects and tasks, such as the Frankenstein he'd been assigned to build for Halloween. When he wasn't working he'd give her speaking lessons, or get Igor to do it. Other times he'd turn on the radio for his dearest invention and let her listen to it, watching with delight as she mimicked the words they said.

Within two weeks she could speak very well, and had a very good understanding of what the words meant. Not only that, but she was highly intelligent. With all of the radio she'd tuned in to and the many times Dr. F had simply prattled on about various things while working, she now had a very vast knowledge. Science, history, mathmatics, geography; she excelled within them all. She lived to learn, asborbing information as if she were a sponge soaking up water. This delighted her creator, who would hand her thick textbooks to read on concepts that most would shudder at dwelling on. She would just accept them, though, downing the content until she came back looking for more in a couple of days.

Life went on like this for nearly two months. They stayed at home, and Sally never questioned why they never went outside anymore. She cooked and cleaned as the doctor said she was supposed to, spending her free time reading and doing crossword puzzles.

One particular day her creator went out and bought for her a teddy bear, fuzzy and brown with a black ribbon around its neck. She accepted the gift with great surprise, having never recieved anything like it before.

"Thank you," she said with astonishment as he handed it to her. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Nothing, my dear, I just thought you might like it. Do you?"

A huge smile spread across her face. "Oh yes, it's lovely!"

"Well, I'm very glad." He grew solemn now; he didn't want anymore of this sweetness, it wasn't like him. "Anyways, my dear, there's some laundry now that's ready to be done..."

She nodded, holding the bear close to her chest. "Yes, doctor, I'll get started on it right away."



*****



"Why don't we ever go outside?" Sally asked a month later. It was supper time, and they were having soup. "Remember the first day I was created? We went into Halloween. We haven't ever gone again since though. Why is that?"

He laid his spoon upon the table beside his bowl, reaching for his glass. "No need to."

"Well, you've gone. Why can't I?"

A sigh. "Sally, Halloween Town is no place for a young woman like yourself..."

"But why not?"

"Because I said so. Now there will be no further discussion on this matter."

She frowned, but said nothing.



*****



By this time the doctor was hard at work on his Frankenstein monster for the holiday. It was 9:00 when Sally came into the lab with some blueprints he had wanted, laying them on a table as she watched him. Currently he was fitting in the eyes, making sure they were even.

"Is that how you made me?" she asked. "A little at a time like that?"

He nodded, stopping what he was at as he wiped his hands in his apron. "Yes, indeed. Creating you was a very careful process, as I wanted you to be perfect."

"And did I turn out the way you wanted me to?"

"Of course you did, even better. Why?"

A shrug. "Just curious." Silence for a moment as he turned back to his project. "Why did you make me?" she questioned at last.

This caught him off guard, forcing him to turn his wheelchair around. "Pardon?"

"What was your reason for giving me life? There must have been some sort of motive to it..."

"My dear, I had no 'motive', I just felt like it..."

She simply shook her head. "No, not a single soul would go through that sort of work for nothing. There must have been a reason."

Nothing for a moment from the scientist. "Well," he responded at last, "the truth is, I created you for a very specific purpose." He stopped. "I created you so that you could become my wife."

This startled her. "I...don't get it..."

"There's not much to get, dear. I was lonely, I wanted a companion...you were it."

"So that's my main purpose?" she whispered. "To marry you? I'm sorry, I...don't know how to take this. I always kind of had this vision of a big wedding and the whole deal..."

He was growing annoyed. "Well don't count on that."

"I know, that's what saddens me. I hadn't thought on this at all, I don't want to get married yet..."

"No-one said you had to, that was only my inspiration for creating you. Who knows what will happen in the future."

She sighed. "Yeah, I suppose." A backwards step. "I'm going to bed now. Goodnight."

"Night, Sally. See you in the morning."



*****