They used to say Rainville was a town full of life.
But they never told you what kind of life.
The kind that bleeds.
The kind that rots in the sun while the streets pretend nothing happened.
We were just kids then — me, Jimmy, and Eli.
Three friends stuck in a crumbling town.
Fights broke out daily, even among families.
Theft, murders, screams in the night — we grew up thinking pain was just part of growing.
One afternoon, while walking home from school, we took a shortcut through the alley near the butcher's shop.
That's when we met him.
He was sitting on a broken bench, dressed like a clown but without the colors — his outfit was gray, his face pale, the red smile painted so wide it almost touched his ears.
But his eyes… his eyes weren't smiling.
"Do you find the town scary?" he asked, like someone commenting on the weather.
Jimmy, being the bravest or the dumbest, said, "Yeah. We hate it here."
The man laughed — not loudly, just a quiet chuckle that buzzed behind your ears.
Then he handed Jimmy a small toy box.
It was made of wood, covered in faded carvings that looked like people with their mouths stitched open.
"Whenever you see chaos," he said,
"just open the box and say the magic word: Smile."
I remember the way Eli's eyes sparkled with interest, how Jimmy grinned like he'd found treasure.
But me? My stomach turned.
When I asked, "Who are you?" the man just tapped his nose and vanished — right in front of us.
No smoke, no flash. Just... gone.
We should have thrown that box into the river.
But Jimmy kept it.
He loved it.
---
The first time he used it was in school.
Two teachers were shouting at each other in the hallway.
James opened the box and whispered, "Smile."
None of us believe that it could work.
But it did.
And the effect was instant.
They stopped fighting… and began smiling.
But their eyes were blank — wide, they looked terrified.
Eli laughed. "It works! This is awesome!"
"it really did!" Jimmy said, proudly.
But i didn't, because they didn't see what i was seeing .
Their mouths were bleeding from how hard they were grinning.
I stared at the teachers, now hugging and giggling like puppets.
The blood dripped quietly onto the tiles.
It wasn't right.
But it didn't matter.
---
Over the next few weeks, James and Eli used the box everywhere.
A fight in the market?
Smile.
A robbery at the gas station?
Smile.
A man threatening to jump from a rooftop?
Smile.
And every time, it worked.
People stopped.
People smiled.
People obeyed.
Rainville grew… quiet.
Too quiet.
Then the box began to change.
The wood darkened.
The carvings moved when no one was looking.
And it hummed — like a heartbeat.
Soon, no one cried.
No one argued.
Everyone smiled.
Even our parents.
One day, I woke to find my father standing by my bed, grinning from ear to ear, his eyes open too wide.
I felt terrified.
He was not blinking.
He then whispered,
"Smile, darling. The world is better when you smile."
That's when I knew it wasn't magic.
It was a curse.
But by then, it was too late.
Jimmy had become obsessed with the box.
He spoke to it every time, like a friend.
Eli stopped speaking altogether. Just smiled, constantly.
They were no longer the same people i knew.
---
Our sixteenth birthday came on a Thursday.
It was raining.
We met in the playground like we used to, but something felt... heavy in the air.
Like thunder waiting in your bones.
Then the shadows came.
Figures — tall, long-limbed, their faces covered in upside-down clown masks.
They didn't walk.
They slithered.
Flowed.
Like they were made of smoke and muscle and teeth.
Jimmy opened the box to use it on them.
He shouted, "Smile!"
The box replied this time.
It screamed.
Blood gushed from the lid.
Eli collapsed, his mouth stretching impossibly wide until it tore.
His jaw split. His teeth cracked.
He never stopped smiling.
The shadows didn't attack.
They were applauding.
Because this was always the plan.
That's when i realise what we had done.
We weren't saving Rainville.
We were offering it.
Each "Smile" we spoke wasn't peace — it was a seal.
A contract.
The more smiles we spread, the more open the town became to them.
And now it was theirs.
The townspeople smiled as the shadows danced in the streets.
They smiled as their limbs were twisted into shapes.
They smiled as their eyes were scooped out, replaced with buttons, coins, or nothing at all.
Jimmy tried to fight them.
But the box betrayed him.
It grinned and swallowed him whole.
Eli simply laughed as his body was used as a puppet.
And me?
I ran.
But I never escaped.
I live on the edge of town now, in the ruins of what used to be our school.
I raise my daughter, Lisa, in silence.
I never speak of smiles.
Never use the word.
I teach her to frown.
To cry.
To scream.
To feel.
Because they're still watching.
They love when people smile.
They think it means the door is still open.
So, if you ever pass through Rainville, and someone hands you a toy box, don't open it.
Don't say the word.
Even if the world around you is burning.
Even if everything feels hopeless.
Because once you smile for them, you can never stop.
we've lost too many.
I lost myself.
And now…
We smile so they never cry.
Stream Commentary; Tape #27. "let's spread happiness "
(The stream ends. The screen glitches. The lights flicker. Then,Kai turns to face the camera. A crooked smile pulls at the corner of his mouth. His goggles glint like the eyes of something watching from the dark)
Well, that was lovely, wasn't it? A town full of smiles and sunshine.
...Except none of those smiles reached their eyes.
(He leans closer, pulling back his hood slightly)
Let's open up the comment section, shall we?
[@Jaija: oh, she is Lisa's mother- wait how could she gave birth in this kind of place? And who the hell was the father?!]
[@642:Oooooh!! I liked the clown-faced guy!! Where'd he go? ]
"You mean Mr. Cottonjaw?
Ah, You would adore him.
He's still around. Still smiling. Still waiting.
Who do you think came to Aaron with the blue berry pie?"
[@642: ahhh.]
[@Jaija: seriously, what is that man?]
[@Overix: a clown ghost? An alien? A Smiling deity ?]
[@642: i place my bet on the smiling deity]
[@Ovesix: But what about Lisa ? How did her mother escaped and even gave birth?]
[@Enchomay: i think the shadows wanted her to. They needed someone to remember. To carry the infection forward—quietly]
[@Jaija: what do you mean?]
[@Ovesix: then Lisa might be a ticking time bomb. I bet her smiles is always wide when she sleeps…]
( Kai nods)
"Never trust a place that's too perfect.
Never believe happiness should be forced.
And if you ever walk into a town where everyone is smiling…
Turn around.
There is no such thing as too much peace—especially when it comes at the cost of pain.
Pain is what makes joy real.
Sorrow is what makes healing possible.
If you erase that...
You're not living.
You're just a happy corpse.
So, readers …
Smile.
But only when you feel it.
Cry.
When you must.
And whatever you do—don't fake a grin in the dark.
Because they're watching.
(He smiles)
Anyway…
That's enough teeth for tonight.
Up next?
A story even darker.
Even closer to home.
It's called: "Mama's Shopping List."
She only needed five items.
So why did thirteen people go missing that day?
Don't worry.
She remembered everything.
Mommy always does.
And remember…
We smile so they never cry.
[@Jaija: Kai the mother stories are getting a bit too much]
[@642: do you think they got into a fight?]
[@Jaija: Kai, what did she-]
STREAM ENDED