Hungry Smiles

            I can’t get his face out of my mind.  The glowing white eyes, the wide stare, and the huge smile with big teeth keep terrifying me in my dreams.  I told myself that I could handle a weekend alone and that mom and dad wouldn’t need to be here.  I told them that I was old enough to stay home alone for a weekend and that I would lock the doors and eat what was in the fridge.  I wish I had listened to my parents and had left the lights on.  I haven’t been scared like this in years.  I’m going to be turning 13 soon, so I shouldn’t be scared of stuff like this now, but I don’t know if what I saw is fake or if it’s real.  My nightmare is coming to life, and I don’t know what to do.

            I started to have weird dreams a few nights ago.  I had a dream on Monday where I was in this big floating forest, where I was up in a tree and the trees themselves were high up in the sky.  I had been here before, but this time was different.  It was dark out because there were a lot of nearby clouds that shrouded out the sun.  I had fun jumping and climbing in between the trees and enjoying the sounds of birds and monkeys until I saw someone.  As I came close to what looked like a house in a tree, there was a man nearby.  He hid behind a smaller tree, trying not to show himself.  I tried to call out to him.  “Hi!  My name’s Nathan!  What’s yours?”

            He slowly peeked his head out from behind the wood and stepped out from behind the tree to show himself.  He was a tall and skinny man with fur on his body and stripes along his stomach.  His fur was a mix of black and grey and was a bit thick on his body except for a patch of red fur up near his neck that looked like a bow tie.  What I saw next, I found strange.  He finally showed his full face and, I won’t lie when I say this, his face kind of freaked me out on first glance.  He had two white eyes, a small nose, and a really big smile.  The thing I noticed first was his teeth.  He had very large and white teeth, some of which poked out from his mouth when they were closed.  I didn’t see his ears, but I could tell he heard me after he started to talk.  He had a really nice voice when we first talked.  “Yes, I apologize for hiding.  I was unsure of whether or not you and I were supposed to meet.”

            He spoke proper English and seemed friendly enough, even though he looked kind of strange.  “Um…hi!  Yeah, my name’s Nathan.  What’s yours, Mister?

            He chuckled before he told me his name.  “Smiles.  You can call me Mr. Smiles.  It is very nice to meet you, Nathan.” 

            He slowly took wide steps closer to me, it was almost like he was trying to skate towards me.  He was so much taller than me and had to reach his hand down to shake mine.  His hand was soft as it grabbed mine.  I couldn’t help but smile as I looked up at him.  Even with his teeth, he looked very friendly up until I looked all the way up at his face a second time.  I felt my hand being gripped by his as his white eyes became wide.  His smile widened with his eyes and revealed a second row of teeth behind the first that began to shake as his mouth opened.  “Thank you, Nathan.  It is time for breakfast.”  Right as he was about to bite down on me, I woke up in my bed in a hot sweat, wondering what the heck that thing was that tried to eat me in my dreams. 

            I went to school the next day and felt bored during class, so I decided to doodle the appearance of Mr. Smiles.  This form of Mr. Smiles was the form I called the “gentleman’s form” because he looked like he was wearing a weird suit with his fur.  I always found myself drawing what I dreamt about the night before in history class because it was so boring.  Mr. Smiles was an interesting thing to draw.  As scared as I was when he tried to bite me in my dream, he just felt like he was only a part of the dream.  I later realized that he wasn’t just a part of my dream.

            I had another dream Tuesday night, only this time, I was in a dark forest on the ground.  I didn’t know where to look, but the sounds of owls kind of freaked me out.  I walked on for a little bit until I saw someone who was tall in a long dark coat in the distance.  I looked a little harder at the face that was looking at me and realized that it was Mr. Smiles.  Part of me was telling me not to get closer to him, but I decided to grow closer because I still thought that this was all just a part of my dreams.  He started out by coming closer with his big coat and hat on, just covering the edge of his eyes.  “Hi there, Nathan!  Good to see you!  I was hoping to run into you again tonight.  Do you happen to know where I could get a bite to eat?”  Right as he said this, he lunged for me, flinging his jacket open and revealing his two long arms extending out to reach me.  I started to run away, hoping there was somewhere I could go, but Mr. Smiles managed to trip me up by throwing his hat and tripping me over it as it landed in front of where I was running.  I turned to face him and woke up right as he was about to bite down on me again. 

This version of Mr. Smiles looked darker and less pleasant.  He had the same voice as before but looked very different this time.  It was almost like he was trying to hunt me down.  He was looking for me in my dreams and wanted to eat me.  I drew this new “dark form” of him in my journal in history class the next day, hoping to try and figure out why he was after me.  I couldn’t find out exactly why he was after me, but I didn’t see him, later on, that night on Wednesday.  I went back into my dream and found myself unable to find either form of Mr. Smiles, the gentleman’s form or the dark form.  I found myself back in the floating tree forest up in the sky and was happy again in my dreams.  The trees were pretty and the sky was bright with the sun and the darkness from the clouds was gone.  I slept well that night and woke up feeling great on Thursday.  I drew the floating tree dream in my journal in history class on Thursday to help clear my head of what I saw.  On Thursday night, I was back in the dark and creepy forest, but there was no sign of Mr. Smiles, or so I thought.  The dream didn’t last as long that night, and I woke up feeling weird the next day.  I tried to draw out the forest to distract myself from Mr. Smiles, but I kept hearing his voice during history class.  “Come on out and play, Nathan.  I want a friend to come and play with me.  Won’t you be my friend, Nathan?  I am so very hungry.  I did not see you earlier in the forest.  Will you come back to visit me?  I could use a snack.  Could you use a friend, Nathan?  I think we both deserve a bite to eat.”  I went to the bathroom after history class and went to go wash my face to try and see if I would wake up more.  The lights inside were off, but there was enough light coming through the window for me to wash my face.  I tilted my face down to wash it and as I lifted my face up to the mirror, I saw Mr. Smiles in the far corner of the bathroom near one of the urinals, wearing his coat and hat.  “Hey, Nathan!  I have been looking for you.”  I ran out of the bathroom as quick as I could and shut the door behind me.  I went off to my classroom, hoping that I wouldn’t be followed. 

            I tried to forget about seeing him earlier in the bathroom, but I couldn’t get his voice out of my head all day.  I was afraid to watch my parents leave to go on their three-day vacation, but I didn’t want to feel like I was getting in the way.  My mom asked me if I would be ok being on my own and I told her that I would be fine.  My father was less convinced, so he told me to leave the lights on.  I should have listened to him.  The one thing that Mr. Smiles never did was show up when the lights were on.  I went to sleep that night and tried to fall asleep, but as soon as I fell into my dream, I found myself back in that forest again.  I immediately tried to find something familiar and head to it instead of looking for Mr. Smiles.  I found an old wood house and tried to run to it.  I knocked on the door, hoping for it to open, but right as I knocked on the door a third time, I began hearing knocking on my front door. I went to the side window to see who it was at the front door and saw it was my Aunt Stacey.  She was trying to call me from outside the door. I saw the clock to see what time it was because I thought it might be a trick. It was 9 PM and that really was my Aunt Stacey at my front door. “Nathan!  It’s me, your Aunt Stacey. Your mother called me and asked me to come by and check on you. She told me it was ok for me to stay the night with you, are you ok with that?”  I was about to tell her yes until I saw him again, Mr. Smiles. The only thing was, this time, he looked terrifying. His hands were shaped like claws and his coat was gone and revealed a long jet-black body with fur that covered him everywhere and hid him mostly behind the tree in my yard. His white eyes were huge and his teeth looked like they were shaking as he stared at Aunt Stacey.  I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to let Mr. Smiles in, but I didn’t want Aunt Stacey to end up hurt.

    “Run, Aunt Stacey!  It’s not safe.  Go to your car and get out of here, please!  He’s right behind you!”

     Aunt Stacey was confused.  “What are you talking about Nathan?”  But before I could tell her why Mr. Smiles was right behind her.

      “Hello.  My name is Mr. Smiles.  Do you mind if I have a bite?”  He then opened his big mouth and swallowed Aunt Stacey, biting at her waist and cutting her in half. I ran off to my room and locked myself inside. I turned on the light and blocked out the windows.  I should have let Aunt Stacey in.  I should have done something other than scream and tell her to run. I keep hearing Mr. Smiles as I write this down. I tried calling my mom and dad. I tried to call the police, but nobody is answering. I don’t know if this is a dream too or it’s really.  If someone finds this, watch out for Mr. Smiles.  Don’t let Mr. Smiles catch you when he’s hungry or you might end up being his next meal.