Frankenweenie Read online

  Climbing back down the ladder, Victor double-checked his notes and equipment. The storm was almost directly on top of them. It was now or never. He had to get Sparky up onto the roof. He attached the ironing board to his homemade pulley system and then looked down at his dog one last time. “I love you, boy,” he said softly and then gave him a gentle pat. If this didn’t work…

  Shaking off his doubts, Victor moved over to an old bike that he had mounted on a stand. Jumping on, he began pedaling furiously. Slowly, the ironing board lifted up toward the skylight. As the rain pounded down and lightning flashed, the board came to rest right under the metal swing set.

  Now all Victor could do was wait.

  Lifting his eyes, Victor silently urged on the lightning. C’mon, hit! Help me out! Please! he begged. He was so busy looking at the sky that he didn’t even notice his hair beginning to stand on end. All the nuts and bolts he had dumped out were suddenly pulled upright. And then…

  CRACK!

  A jagged finger of lightning exploded out of the sky. It hit the top of the balloons, raced down the string, through the swing set, and finally slammed into the ironing board. There was a bright flash and a loud whine as the table was filled with a thousand volts of electricity. Then everything went silent.

  Removing his goggles, Victor began cranking down the ironing board. When it was safely inside, he moved the board over to his workbench. Grabbing a stethoscope, he put the tips in his ears and the chest piece on Sparky. He listened. Nothing. He placed the scope on another part of Sparky and listened again. Still nothing. He did it one more time and still, nothing.

  Laying his head down on the workbench, Victor absently rubbed Sparky’s side as tears began to slide down his cheeks. “I’m sorry, boy,” Victor sniffled. It hadn’t worked. After all that, Victor still didn’t have his dog back. His parents would probably be furious when they saw the swing set on the roof, and who knew if the neighbors had seen anything. If Mr. Burgemeister noticed, he was sure to tell Victor’s parents. So he would be in trouble and never get another sloppy, scratchy lick from his best buddy. A lick that felt a lot like the one he was getting on his cheek right now…

  What the heck!?

  Victor sat up. There, still wrapped in blankets, but with his tail wagging happily, was Sparky! He looked a little worse for wear, but Victor didn’t care. “You’re alive!” he cried.

  Sparky let out two loud barks and jumped into Victor’s arms. His tail whipped back and forth as Sparky gave his boy wet, sloppy kisses. In fact, it was wagging so furiously that it came off and flew across the room. It landed with a little thud in the corner. Looking up, Victor saw the tail and then Sparky’s bare backside. “I can fix that,” Victor said. Then he went back to hugging his dog. Tail or no tail, it was great to have Sparky back.

  ictor! Breakfast!”

  Up in the attic, Victor sat up and rubbed his eyes. He must have fallen asleep on the floor. Sparky was lying next to him.

  “Victor?” his mother’s voice shouted. “Are you up here?”

  Hearing the sound of her footsteps on the attic stairs, Victor panicked. He couldn’t let her see Sparky! Looking around he tried to find a place to hide his dog. For all his inventions and creations, he didn’t have a lot of good covers. Finally his eyes settled on a big tin bucket that had been part of his monster-movie set. It would have to do. He grabbed the bucket and put it over Sparky just as the door opened and his mother peeked her head in.

  “French toast or waffles?” she asked.

  “Waffles,” Victor answered. The sooner he could get her out of there the better. But it had been the wrong answer.

  “Then I’ll need my waffle iron back, Mr. Director.” She scanned the room, looking for the iron. Noticing it right by the tin bucket that was currently hiding Sparky, she walked over to pick it up. The bucket moved. Turning, Mrs. Frankenstein gave her son a confused look.

  “Uh, it’s my science project,” Victor said, thinking quickly. “It’s a robot.”

  “A robotic bucket?” his mother asked, confused. Victor nodded. “For mopping, I suppose?” He nodded again.

  Picking up the waffle iron, Victor’s mom gave the bucket one last look. “Maybe when you’re finished, you’ll let me use it.” Then, with a smile, she headed back downstairs.

  Victor raced over and shut the door behind her. Then he turned around and leaned against it, letting out a deep breath. That had been too close for comfort. He took the bucket off Sparky and scratched the dog behind his ears. “Sorry, boy,” he said. “But I can’t let anyone know about you. They might not understand. You need to stay here today.”

  Giving his dog one last pat, Victor turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Sparky heard the lock click and the sound of Victor’s footsteps. Then it was silent in the attic. Lying down, Sparky put his head on his paws and waited.

  Sparky had every intention of being a good dog while Victor was at school. He jumped on his treadmill for a quick run. When he got thirsty he had a drink. It bothered him a little when the water leaked out his stitches, but he got used to it pretty quickly. Everything was going fine. And then the cat showed up.

  MEOW!

  Mr. Whiskers was perched in the open attic window. Seeing Sparky, the cat hissed.

  Letting out a bark, Sparky jumped on a chair, then up onto the workbench. Rocking back on his hind legs, Sparky lunged up, up, up, right at the cat! Hissing, the cat slipped out of his reach—but not before Sparky had landed on the roof outside. Digging his claws into the shingles, he tried to stabilize himself. But the roof was just too steep. With a yelp, he slid down, down, down, landing with a thump in the bushes right below the Frankensteins’ picture window.

  In the living room, Mrs. Frankenstein was vacuuming while reading a romance novel. Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw something. But when she looked over, there was nothing there. Shrugging, she went back to her reading.

  Meanwhile, Sparky emerged from the bushes and shook himself off. When he went to walk, though, he noticed that his back leg was dislocated. He shook it a few times but that didn’t work. Finally, he rolled over on the grass and the leg popped back into place. Much better.

  But Sparky now had a bigger problem. How was he going to get back into the house? He looked up at the attic window. There was no way he could go back in the way he came out. Sparky was just about to try the front door when Mr. Frankenstein’s car pulled into the driveway. So the front door was out of the question.

  HISS!

  Turning around, Sparky found himself face-to-face with Mr. Whiskers. It let out another hiss and then raced into Mr. Burgemeister’s yard. Forgetting all about getting inside, Sparky let out a bark and began chasing the cat.

  Sparky chased Mr. Whiskers through Mr. Burgemeister’s prized tulips, crushing all of them. Mr. Whiskers jumped on a pink flamingo and paused there until the one-legged bird toppled over. When the cat leaped into the bushes, Sparky followed. Everywhere the cat went, Sparky went, too. Even when the cat vanished, Sparky kept going. He ran down the street past two mothers walking. One of them was pushing a stroller with a baby inside. Seeing the dog, the baby began to clap. But when Sparky got closer, the baby screamed. Sparky quickly ran away, leaving the mother to wonder what was wrong with her child.

  Soon, Sparky found himself racing past Victor’s school. He was tempted to try and find his boy, but he knew Victor wanted him to stay home. Then he saw one of the kid’s from Victor’s class. He was pretty sure his name was E. Or Edgar. Or something. Stopping, Sparky wagged his tail.

  E had been on his way to the nurse’s office after a small run-in with a maypole in gym class. He was shuffling along, mumbling about dances and maypoles when he heard the sound of paws on pavement. Looking up, he saw…Sparky? E did a double take. Sparky was supposed to be dead! As Sparky raced off, E’s eyes narrowed. Something was going on. And E was going to find out just what it was.

  Sparky was exhausted. He had finally made it home, but no
w he had to wait until Victor got back before he could go inside. He flopped down in the shade of a big tree to rest. As he lay there, a fly buzzed by, trying to land on him. With a flick of his tongue, Sparky ate it.

  He had just closed his eyes when his nostrils began to twitch. He smelled something good. Looking over he saw Persephone. She was looking at him oddly, as though she knew something wasn’t quite right. Rolling over on his belly, he waited for her to come closer. Persephone inched closer. Then she leaned down and sniffed. Her nose touched one of the bolts on Sparky’s neck.

  ZAAPPP!

  A shock of electricity knocked her down. She quickly popped back up, no worse for wear, and now sporting a white streak through her trademark black head poof à la the Bride of Frankenstein. Sparky let out a sigh.

  Finally, Victor came home. Following him up the stairs as quietly as possible, Sparky snuck into the attic and ran into a corner. Victor began calling his name. Sparky waited until Victor’s back was turned and then he ran over and nudged his leg, as though he had been inside all day.

  “There you are! Good boy!” Victor said happily. He leaned down and gave Sparky a hug. “Sorry you had to stay here alone all day.”

  Sparky just wagged his tail.

  “You’re a little low,” Victor said, noticing that Sparky seemed tired. “Are you hungry, boy?”

  Sparky barked.

  Quickly, Victor ran an extension cord from the wall to a socket on Sparky’s thigh. Plugging it in, Sparky’s eyes began to glow. Leaving his dog to recharge, Victor began to fiddle with his equipment. He heard the doorbell ring downstairs but ignored it until his mother called out, “Victor, your friend is here.”

  Running downstairs to the kitchen, Victor found his mother baking and E waiting for him at the kitchen bar.

  As his mother stayed close by, Victor asked quietly, “Edgar, what are you doing here?”

  “I know,” E replied.

  “Oh,” Victor said.

  “I know,” E repeated.

  This was getting weird. If E knew that Victor couldn’t work on their project, what was he doing at his house? “Know what?” he asked finally.

  “You know,” E answered.

  “No.” This was getting downright annoying.

  E narrowed his eyes. “I think I know what you know I know.”

  “I don’t know what you think I know,” Victor said, shaking his head, “but I don’t know it.”

  “Your dog is alive,” E said, ending the confusion.

  Victor gulped and pulled the door shut so his mom wouldn’t hear. “That’s impossible!”

  E nodded his head. “I know, but you did it.” When Victor didn’t say anything, E went on, “So show me how, or I’ll tell everyone.”

  It looked like Victor didn’t have a choice. He was going to have to show E how to bring an animal back to life. He just hoped it worked again…or else he was going to be in a lot of trouble.

  he first thing he had to do, Victor told E, was get an animal. Since E didn’t have a pet, he headed to the nearest pet store. Looking around he saw some hamsters, a guinea pig or two, and a snake. They could all work, but E was looking for something in particular. Then he saw the fish tanks.

  “Can I help you young man?” the pet store owner asked, noticing E standing in front of the goldfish.

  “I’d like to buy a fish.” Then he pointed to the one he wanted. It was floating belly-up at the top of the tank.

  The pet store owner gave E an odd look. Then he shrugged. A sale was a sale.

  Smiling, E took the plastic bag with his fish. Next step, bringing it back to life.

  Back at Victor’s house, E plopped the dead fish into a small jar of water. While the other boy was at the store, Victor attached electrodes from the jar to the metal table. Curious, Sparky jumped onto the table and pushed at the jar with his nose.

  “Down, boy,” Victor commanded. He didn’t know what would happen if Sparky got zapped with another bolt of electricity.

  Outside, night had fallen. Storm clouds had been amassing all day, and now a big storm was raging. Once again, Victor opened the attic roof. Then he hopped on his bike and began pedaling as fast as he could to rise the metal table into the sky. When it was secure, Victor got off his bike and waited.

  “What do we do now?” E asked, just as his hair stood on end.

  Victor knew what that meant. Grabbing E, he threw him to floor just as there was a loud CRACK!

  Lightning surged down the lightning rod Victor had hooked up to the metal table. With a spark, the water inside the jar began to bubble. It lasted a few seconds and then, just as quickly as it had started, the bubbling stopped.

  When he was sure it was safe, Victor brought the metal table back down into the room. Together, he and E peered into the metal jar. The fish was gone.

  “What happened to it?” E asked, confused. “What did you do?”

  “I don’t know,” Victor replied. “It should have worked.” Leaning in, Victor tried to take a closer look. The water rippled. That was interesting.…

  Victor had a hunch. Grabbing a flashlight he had rigged with various lenses that could spin in front of the bulb, Victor dimmed the overhead lights. He looked through all the colored lenses, settling on one that was slightly purple. Flipping on the flashlight, he aimed it at the jar of water. For a moment, it just looked like water.

  And then, a fish skeleton swam past. When it moved out of the ray of light, it disappeared.

  “It’s invisible!” Victor said in wonder. “An invisible goldfish!”

  But why had the fish turned invisible when it came back to life when Sparky was visible as he was always had been? Victor would have to look into it.

  A little later, after the storm had passed, Victor walked E to the front door. “You can’t tell anyone. You understand that, right? Not until we figure out how it works.”

  E looked down at the apparently empty jar in his hand and nodded. “Okay, okay!”

  “Promise!” Victor demanded.

  “Promise,” E repeated.

  Unfortunately, E was a horrible secret-keeper. No sooner had he left Victor’s house than he made his way to Toshiaki’s. He couldn’t wait to show the cool boys his invisible fish. Toshiaki, Bob and Nassor would beg him to be their friend. They’d save him a seat in the cafeteria and pick him first for their teams. He would have not just one friend, but four. It would be perfect.

  But there was a small problem. Victor had kept the special flashlight.

  “How are we supposed to see an invisible goldfish?” Toshiaki asked, waving his own regular flashlight back and forth in front of the jar. The water looked empty.

  E racked his brain. “Put your finger in?” He suggested. “Maybe you can feel it.”

  Toshiaki and Bob traded looks. Was E trying to prank them? With a shrug, Bob put his finger in. It wasn’t like an empty jar of water could hurt them, right?

  Nothing happened.

  He swirled his finger around the whole jar.

  Still nothing.

  And then…

  “Aaah!” Bob cried, yanking his finger out of the water. “It bit me!”

  “Let me see it!” Toshiaki said, grabbing the jar from E and pressing the flashlight up against the glass. On the wall behind the jar a giant goldfish shadow appeared. It had the shape of a regular goldfish but its teeth were giant, like something a dinosaur would have in its mouth.

  Taking the jar back, E screwed the lid on tight. “You can’t tell anybody,” he said, echoing Victor’s earlier words. “It’s our science-fair project.”

  “Yeah, well our science-fair project is even cooler,” Bob said, nursing his finger.

  “What is it?” E asked, curious.

  Bob and Toshiaki exchanged a look. That was an excellent question. Technically, they didn’t have a very cool project, but E didn’t need to know that.

  “It’s double top secret,” Toshiaki said, ending the conversation.

  After E left, Bob and Toshia
ki went out to the garage. Their “project” was set up on a workbench. In a big aquarium were a bunch of popsicle sticks. They were supposed to be islands—for sea creatures. That was their big, double top secret project.

  “We gotta come up with something better,” Bob said.

  “I know,” Toshiaki said.

  Bob began to look panicked. “The science fair is in two days!!” he shouted.

  “I know,” Toshiaki repeated.

  “You’re the smart one,” Bob pointed out.

  “Lemme think,” Toshiaki snapped. He knew he was the smartest one in the group. But what could he possibly create in two days that could beat an invisible, giant-toothed goldfish?

  The next afternoon, E was unlocking his bike to go home when a shadow fell across him. Looking up, he saw Nassor. The other boy was staring at him with his sinister eyes.

  “Toshiaki says you have an invisible fish,” Nassor said.

  E gulped. “No, he doesn’t,” he said nervously.

  “So you don’t?” Nassor hedged.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  Nassor shook his head. He knew E was lying. “Toshiaki says it’s your science-fair project.”

  “If it was, I couldn’t tell you,” E said, trying to back away from the other boy.