This Smile

This Smile1

You are most likely reading this story because you either know me personally, or have read my previous stories and care to hear more. Either that or you just happened to stumble upon this place, this story. If that is the case, I’d like to take a moment to welcome you to my world. My name holds no particular importance to this story, so it shall not be mentioned. My age either. Whether my stories are true, actual events, or merely a tale spun purely of my imagination that is for you to decide...2

Now that my introduction is finished, I would like to bring your attention to a school which my story shall take place. Now this school is not ordinary in any means possible. The students there, or shall I say adults, know no boundaries of the imagination. They know no limits, they know no impossibilities. 3

But I did not come here to tell you about the school, nor the students in general, except for one particular student and her way of...being. So close your eyes, (not literally, for you will not be able to read this which I have written), but close your eyes to all that you have ever known. I want you to clear your mind of any memories, stereotypes, problems, and all that junk, for you will not need it to continue. Then...I want you to open your eye (only one eye) to imagination, just a glimpse, nothing more. Then close it again. Take a deep breath. Dive. Dive into my story. Dive. Like there will be no tomorrow. Dive...dive deeper...open your eyes...4

It was night. The wind blew like God’s breath, bending down from Heaven to whisper in your ear. Stars twinkled like glittering sequins on an evening gown. It was breathtaking, this place. It could not be described as anything but beautiful. Perhaps that was what baited her and drew her out. Or perhaps, it was her love of the night, her relation to the dark. But whatever it was, its job was well-done. 5

She stood on the stone balcony of Xavier’s School for the Gifted taking it all in, not leaving a single detail behind. She stood there, her head proudly positioned. She welcomed the Night, and it welcomed her. She inhaled, letting her senses become one with these hours of darkness. And she exhaled. All her troubles seemed nothing, all the voices gone, silence reigned. 6

He stood there as well, wind blowing through his hair, weaving the smoke from his cigar. The smoke wove through the night and into the Heavens. The brim of his cowboy hat cast a shadow on his face. Perhaps the same thing that appealed to her, appealed to him as well. Perhaps these two shared a groove, the same groove that the Dark’s hook seemed to catch...and reel in.7

Her hand reached up to touch where his smile had been. Her eyebrows softly furrowed, her eyes seeming to search for something within this man’s face.8

“You should smile more often.” She slightly tilted her head to the left. Letting her hand slip away from his face, she turned away from him. The woman walked, seeming almost distracted. This sudden stranger placed her hands on the balcony. She stared into the dark, endless night sky, captured once again by its beauty. 9

“Otherwise you will become like them.” Her words broke the spell. 10

“Them?” he asked, his head titled slightly, one eyebrow raised. She had caught his attention.11

The woman lifted her right hand up to her face and began to study her nails. “The ones you fear, the ones you hate.” She set her hand back down and lifted her chin once again to the stars.12

The wind had died down, and then picked back up. It whipped through both souls, and wound about them. It stirred and twisted. There was silence for some time. Not a comfortable silence, but not one of discomfort either. Just...silence. 13

The man took a deep breath, not quite one of fear or hesitation. His sigh was one of gentle puzzlement that really wasn’t puzzlement at all. “What makes ya so sure I ain’t like ‘em already?” His words shattered the blanket of silence.14

It was then that she turned to face this man who had so easily questioned her. The corners of her mouth lifted lightly, almost smiling. Her eyes15

And she spoke. “Because you search for something they will never have. You seek it with your heart, and not your head. You yearn for it, this thing called”, she paused, whispering the last word as if it were final piece of life’s mysterious puzzle, “humanity.”16