When a gigantic finger taps delicately at the lighthouse windows, Madeleine’s face lights up with an immense smile.
The little girl jumps onto the Yark’s shoulders and the two of them celebrate their reunion with a series of loop-the-loops above the waves.
That evening, while sampling a jar of candied fruit, the Monster regales Madeleine with the account of his extraordinary adventure. He is certainly astonished to have survived his ordeal with the wild children. But he’s even more amazed to have successfully digested them.
“Divine miracle!” the Yark proclaims.
To Madeleine, there’s nothing supernatural about it. Citing the adage, “That which does not kill me can only make me stronger,” she explains that those tiny doses of bad children acted like a vaccine. Instead of killing him, the small quantities of poison immunized him against the toxic flesh of the rascals.
The Yark doesn’t understand much of that explanation, but he nevertheless smacks his lips at the conclusion: “So now I can stuff myself with all the children in the whole world!” he exclaims.
“Freedom would mean that you could live without eating anyone,” the little girl replies.
“To live without eating?” the Monster yelps.
“To live without killing anyone!” Madeleine corrects him with a laugh.
“But it’s in a Monster’s nature to eat little children!” the Yark says indignantly.
“There’s no law that says so,” Madeleine replies. “There’s only what each of us decides for ourselves.”
“Well, I’m pretty sure I’ll never change!”
“Really? Then, why haven’t you eaten me?” Madeleine retorts in a mischievous tone.
Not knowing how to reply, the Yark says nothing.
After a moment’s thought, he lifts his hand to his heart: “Don’t worry! I’ll only eat brats from now on. Only wild children growing up in the forest!”
But Madeleine doesn’t care whether the Yark’s meals are nice or naughty. What bothers her is the fact that in order to live, he has to kill another living being.
In his embarrassment, the Monster hastily promises: “All right then, I swear it…I’ll never eat another child.”
Liar!
Because that very night, after making sure that Madeleine is sleeping like a baby, this glutton flies out the window to test his limitless appetite on children all around the world.
From high in the sky, the Yark lets himself drop sharply to earth and he lands by chance in Morocco.
His sense of smell leads him to a small house from which a delicious smell emanates. His mouth watering in anticipation, he slides into the bedroom, laughing to himself.
“Hee-hee! Whether he’s a good boy or an utter brat, I’ll gulp him down in a single bite!”
But the Monster is startled when he sees the child in his bed. This little Moroccan boy could be mistaken for Madeleine! And even though he looks nothing like her, the Yark could nonetheless swear he’s her twin!
The shock spoils his appetite, so he hurries out of the room and flies straight off to Southeast Asia.
With great strides, the Monster sails through rice paddies, cursing the mosquitoes as he goes. But never mind the bites. The Monster is running full speed toward an orphanage.
In the silent dormitory, he creeps between the rows of little beds. When a splinter pierces his bottom, the stoical Monster refrains from crying out. Still, when he leans over the children, he can’t keep back a howl.
All these little Vietnamese children look like Madeleine!
“I’m losing my mind!” the Yark yelps, trembling.
He rubs his eyes as he runs from bed to bed, but the Yark sees in each face the one child he could never eat.
All night long, the Yark visits thousands of bedrooms across all the earth’s continents. And even though he travels from Spain to Bulgaria, from India to the United States, all the children of the world seem to have taken Madeleine’s features.
For a long time, the Monster thinks he is suffering from hallucinations. Then at last he admits that the love of a little girl has made him see the world differently.
Since that night, the Yark has never eaten another child.
