The bells rang. Three deliberate chimes, slow and resonant, cutting through the morning's quiet. Aurex's eyes flickered open. The smile was already on his face, an automatic pull of muscles, practiced until it felt less like an expression and more like a permanent fixture. Not too wide, not too tight,just the prescribed curve. His mind felt hazy, as if emerging from a deep, featureless dream, yet the routine was sharp, immediate.
His bed, as always, was a pristine block of white and angles, sheets tucked with a precision that bordered on military. The old wooden floor gave a familiar groan beneath his bare feet as he began his morning rituals, each movement a shadow of countless repetitions.
Brush teeth. Comb hair. Recite the tenets.
"One: You must smile." He mouthed the words in the steamed mirror, a grotesque grin reflecting back.
"Two: No killing." The irony of that one often caught him.
"Three: No searching for the past." He wondered, sometimes, if there even was a past to search for.
"Four: No talking in public. Five: Speak only when spoken to." Eliston preferred silence.
"Six: Be in bed by the third bell." No late nights, no quiet conversations.
"Seven: No littering." The streets were perpetually, impossibly clean.
"Eight: Do not cross the black fence." The one rule that truly pulsed with forbidden allure.
"Nine: Do not discuss the erased." And the most chilling. What happened to them?
"Ten: Never ask what lies beyond." A boundary not just physical, but of thought itself.
His eyes, he knew, betrayed the forced joy of his mouth. They held a dull ache, a quiet question. But no one ever met his gaze long enough to notice. Or perhaps they simply didn't care to.
Downstairs, the familiar scent of lukewarm coffee and lukewarm toast filled the air. His mother stood at the stove, her apron immaculate, her eyes wide and unnervingly vacant. "Good morning, sweetheart!" Her voice was a perfect, flat chirp, like a recording played on repeat, devoid of real warmth.
His father sat at the polished dining table, stirring his coffee with a precise, measured rhythm. His older sister ran a brush through their younger brother's stiff, straw-like hair, a tuneless hum escaping her lips. All of them wore the same unwavering, perfect smile.
Aurex took his place, picked up his spoon, and swallowed a forced, shallow laugh. "It's a beautiful day," he said, the words feeling foreign and stiff on his tongue.
They nodded in unison, their heads dipping and rising with unsettling synchronization. "It's always beautiful in Eliston," they echoed, their voices blended into a single, hollow chorus.
School was a ten-minute walk along clean cobblestone streets. Flower boxes bloomed in every window. There was no trash, no shouting,only the pervasive, quiet atmosphere of forced smiles. Aurex walked beside his little brother, past three looming patrol statues: tall, stone figures with permanent grins chiseled into their faces. They never moved, yet everyone swore they could.
At school, the lessons were, as always, about the town's founding myths. Teacher Gralene stood stiffly at the front of the classroom. "Eliston is a gift," she declared, her voice precise. "Before this city, there was chaos. Then the First Smiler came. He bestowed upon us the ten rules. And now? We have peace".
The class repeated after her, a hushed, collective whisper: "Peace in smiles. Peace in silence". Aurex mouthed the words, no sound daring to leave his lips.
At lunch, it happened.
Renn, Aurex's best friend, dropped his sandwich. It slipped from his fingers, hitting the ground with a quiet, ugly splat. Silence descended, heavy and immediate. Renn stared at the fallen food, his gaze fixed. His smile, usually so meticulously maintained, twitched. His lips trembled, and his eyes darted frantically from side to side. Then, his breath caught in his throat as the corners of his mouth began to fall, an unthinkable act.
A low, steady hum began. The ground beneath their feet vibrated, as if something vast and ancient had stirred deep beneath the town. Then came the light. It wasn't harsh, but soft, warm, even. A halo formed around Renn's chest, spreading outward until it wrapped around him like sunlight turned to smoke.
He looked up, and his smile returned, wide and shaking.
And then he vanished.
No scream. No flash. Just gone. Only the sandwich remained.
For a second, no one moved. Then, a burst of high, shrill laughter. Cray stood nearby, grinning far too wide. "He forgot to smile! What a fool!" His voice was bright, almost delighted, devoid of any fear.
Across the courtyard, another boy, Torren, had gone utterly pale. His lunchbox slipped from his fingers, but he caught it just in time, his jaw clenched tight behind his grin. His legs trembled as he turned and walked away, too fast, too stiff, yet still smiling.
Aurex watched them both. One smiling without fear. One smiling through it. He didn't know which was worse.
At dinner, Aurex couldn't bring himself to touch his food.
"Are you feeling okay?" his mother asked, her smile unwavering.
He nodded. "Just tired".
His father set a hand on his shoulder. "We're lucky to be here, son. Eliston gives us peace. All it asks is that we follow the rules".
"I know," Aurex replied.
His sister giggled. "You look like you saw a ghost".
Aurex managed a smile, then excused himself.
That night, lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, he thought of Renn. Of the lonely sandwich. Of the unsettling grin on the statue's face.
"If it happened to him, it could happen to me," a cold voice whispered in his mind.
But worse than that was another thought. One that settled like a cold knot in his stomach.
"What if I'm the only one who sees it?how weird everything is becoming, What if I'm the only one who wants to leave?"