The Smiling Man

It was like this every Friday night, Dad’s girlfriend showed up during our infamous spaghetti western nights. Usually just to ruin them, Stephanie would come knocking a little before 6 p.m. with two gigantic bottles of wine. As my father opened the door I could hear the crying wails of our next-door neighbors' baby. Somehow it wasn’t nearly as bad as–

“Donnieee!! Miss me?” Her high pitched voice had always annoyed me; like she was trying to sound younger than she was. Though apparently of drinking age, she didn't look much older than me. I rolled my eyes at the expected intrusion and went in search of the cats to distract me from whatever inappropriate display always followed. I removed an unopened can and peeled back the film. The burmese coat of Coffee came bounding down from atop the kitchen cabinets. It seemed like she also yearned to be as far as possible from my father and Stephanie. Her paw steps were unusually meticulous, quietly sneaking behind me to wait for dinner.

“Where are your sisters?” I turned to ask the cat as she shifted a cryptic yellow gaze towards the basement door. I huffed and placed her bowl down by the sliding backdoor.

“Could you grab us a couple of wine glasses, Jillybean?” My father beckoned as my hand hovered over to the door of the basement.

“Sure. Have you seen Pinto or Lima?” I hollered back and made my way into the dining room to remove a set of glasses from the wooden hutch. He did not reply, even when I entered the living room. Stephanie was standing in front of the TV, regaling a story as her bleached curls bounced up and down in her excitement. When I traveled through the archway of the room she hastily snatched both glasses from me.

“One cuz it’s my birthday,” She exclaimed before taking a swig from the already open bottle, “and one for luck!” She was definitely not known for having the lightest pour. My hands fell to my side as she then proceeded to drag my father to his bedroom. Their wine spilled in splotches all over the white carpet as they rushed off like teenagers behind bleachers. I let out a sigh and fell onto the couch where my dad had been sitting. I shoveled a forkful of spaghetti into my mouth before pressing play on the paused movie. In preparation for whatever noises came from the bedroom, I maxed out the volume on the flat screen and continued eating my dinner alone. After a few minutes of reciting my favorite lines from the movie, suddenly every light and appliance in the house turned off. Power surges in the summer weren’t all that uncommon but in that split second of uncertainty I always felt like a hunted prey animal in the darkness. After a few moments of what I wished was silence I heard my father call,

“Jilly, could you flip the breaker? We’re a bit busy.” Followed by hushed giggling.

“Yep! Guess I’ll just do everything.” I rolled my eyes and grabbed a flashlight from one of the kitchen drawers. I then moved to the basement door, my hand notably began shaking over the handle. I clutched the knob which was strangely frigid and turned it slowly towards me. The darkened tunnel leading down the stairs was disorientating. My bare feet gripped the edges of the wooden stairs as I traversed further down. My flashlight was unreliable due to the dead batteries inside. Though he was an electrician, my father refused to buy batteries and often told me to just reuse old ones. My feet warily carried me down the stairs, with each step the air grew colder and colder. On the final four stairs I turned the flashlight towards the center of the room. The light gave out completely and I frantically beat the flashlight to squeeze out some remnant of power which I knew wasn’t there. I stared into the abyss attempting to allow my eyes to adjust more quickly.

The fuse box was just down the stairs on the left side of the wall, my hands grazed the cement to notice it was abnormally sticky. My hand found purchase of the light switch and I flicked it on. I managed to reach the metal breaker box and squinted, attempting to read each fuse.

Scraaaape. The dragging of metal behind me caused me to freeze; I slowly turned to see a long silhouette staring back at me. Its form melded into the shadows, the only thing I could make out was a mouth full of abnormally white teeth smiling down at me. It did not move an inch as my hands rigorously searched for the tripped breaker in the center of the box. I turned away from the horrifying creature to flick as many switches as I could.

“I–” An icy breath fell upon my neck just as the lights flicked on. I looked back to the hanging bulb in the center of the room where the smile was to see nothing there.

“Thank you!” I heard my father’s voice in the distance. I let out a sigh or relief and shut the fuse box with a quiet click. A soft scuttling sound immediately put me on guard again. I followed the noise behind some plastic bins full of winter clothes. As I peered behind them a blurry white blob came bursting from the corner of the room. I fell backwards into a stack of boxes with my mother’s vintage tea sets. The top box fell to the floor resulting in a horrible clattering noise. My gaze followed the white blur to see Lima’s wide blue eyes glaring back at me, her fur was standing on end and she let out a low growl.

“Lima! You scared the shit outta me! Get upstairs!” I ordered the white cat but she remained in the guarded posture on the fourth stair. I looked down at the shattered tea pots and my knees unwillingly dropped to the floor. I began collecting the pieces as tears welled in my eyes. I suddenly became aware of a putrid stench coming from the right side of the room. I crawled past the fallen box to a few laundry baskets full of miscellany. I moved two baskets to find Pinto laying motionless on the ground. Her entrails had been splayed onto the cold cement to spell out the word: SMILE.

Scraaaape. The basement light switched off as the scraping sound of metal bounded off the walls again. I sprinted as fast as my legs would carry me to the stairwell. I hardly noticed the shards of fine china sticking to my feet like burrs on socks as I darted up into the dim light emitting from upstairs. I grabbed my father’s shotgun hanging above the fireplace and turned the safety off. I held the sight steady and made my way to my father’s room while scanning the darkness for that unnerving white smile. I kicked in the door without any warning and clutched the gun close to my cheek.

“Get up! We have to leave!” I continued looking for the beast as I instructed the couple.

“Woah! Woah! What the hell is going on, Jill?” My dad slipped out of the bed and threw on a shirt and boxers. Stephanie turned towards me, a snarky expression on her face as she gripped the bed sheet over her chest.

“There’s a man in the house we have to go, NOW!” I responded and made a motion with the barrel of the gun.

“Do you even know how to use that thing?” Stephanie initialized me, I cocked the gun in response and pointed it at her giant forehead. She then shied behind my father while still clinging to the bed sheet for dear life.

“Give me the gun, Jillybean, there’s nobody here. Were you looking through her things again–” As he tried talking me down, the lamp on the bedside table turned off and in the window behind him sat the massive white grin. I fired and the next thing I knew, the house was completely silent. Instead of seeing the comforting figure of my father and the infringement that was Stephanie; I was presented with the mutilated visage of their body’s organs tacked to the wall forming one word, SMILE!

I shrieked into the blackened hallway behind me while reloading the shotgun.The smiling man’s visage appeared in the reflection of the TV so I fired.

“Missed me.” Freezing breath whispered next to my ear and I turned to shoot. The sliding glass door shattered in response. Everywhere I looked I saw that hideous man’s smile until it consumed me. I continued unloading and reloading shells until I ran out of ammunition.

In my spiral, all the lights came on but I was no longer in my home. I was standing over the crib of our neighbor's child. The infant cooed in my arm which was smothered in blood. I looked down to see my red footprints imprinted on the carpet. I carried the baby back the way I had come, passing the still bodies of the newlywed couple in their kitchen, their insides resided on the dining room table spelling out my new favorite word. I managed to pull open the front door to the outside. As I walked away from what once was home, I turned my face up to the stars above and allowed a wide smile to overtake my cheeks. The infant reached up to poke my cheek and babbled softly.

At that moment I vowed that this child would never go a day without smiling. Nor would she know what it felt like to be abandoned. I limped atop the sidewalk as the tip of the shotgun dragged behind me; the resonant beats fell upon every crack in the pavement. Scraaape, thump, scraaaape, thump. The sound reminded me of jingling spurs rhythmically thudding before a great showdown.