Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Gabriel Utterson was a quiet London lawyer with a kind heart. He did not smile much, but he was a good friend. He never judged people, even when they made mistakes. That is why so many people trusted him.

Every Sunday, Utterson took a long walk with his cousin Richard Enfield. They did not talk very much, but they enjoyed being together. One day, they passed a strange building with an old, ugly door. It had no windows and looked forgotten and sad. Enfield told a story about that door. One dark night, he saw a grumpy little man bump into a young girl and knock her down. The man did not even say sorry. People got very angry with him. The mean man went through that strange door and came back with money to make things right. His name was Hyde. When Utterson heard this name, his face grew worried. He knew something secret about that door, and it made him think of his dear friend, Doctor Henry Jekyll.

That evening, Utterson could not stop thinking about his friend Jekyll. He went to his safe and took out an important paper. It was a will that Jekyll had written himself. The will said that if Jekyll ever went away, a man named Edward Hyde would get everything he owned. This worried Utterson very much.

Utterson visited another friend named Lanyon to ask about Hyde. But Lanyon did not know anyone by that name. He said he and Jekyll had not been close friends for a while now. So Utterson decided to find Hyde himself. He waited by a little door on a quiet street night after night. Finally, a small man came walking up. It was Hyde. Utterson spoke to him, but Hyde was not friendly at all. He seemed strange and unpleasant in a way that was hard to explain. Later, Utterson talked to Jekyll about the will and about Hyde. Jekyll looked worried but said everything was fine. He asked Utterson to promise to help Hyde if anything happened. Utterson promised, even though he still felt something was not quite right.