I should have listened to the signs.
The realtor had said Rainville was a hidden gem—quiet, clean, filled with "good-natured folks" and "happy families."
The perfect place for a fresh start after the divorce.
I didn't want noise.
I didn't want questions.
I wanted silence.
And i got it.
But not the kind I hoped for.
The first thing I noticed after moving into the small town was the smiles.
Everyone smiled.
From the kid delivering my groceries to the cop who helped me with my busted tire, from the librarian to the pastor at the church, they all carried the same stretched grin—lips pulled too far, eyes too wide, like they were trying to convince me that everything was okay.
But it wasn't.
And deep down, I knew.
I stayed quiet and observed them.
It was all... too perfect.
No one locked their doors. The air didn't carry the scent of trash or smoke.
Even the pets and animals never made noises.
They just sat.
Staring. Smiling, sometimes.
I swear I saw a dog smiling at me once—teeth bared in an unnatural way.
There were no fights, no noise, no arguments.
Just...peace.
A peace that clung to your skin like oil.
The worst was the funeral.
A child had died.
Hit by a truck.
The whole town came out—about two hundred people.
The parents stood beside the casket, both of them grinning as tears rolled down their cheeks.
And when the preacher gave the eulogy, he said:
"We smile, so they never cry."
The crowd echoed:
"We smile, so they never cry."
That night, I didn't sleep.
I couldn't.
I heard footsteps outside my window.
Then a knock.
Then silence.
Then a whisper.
It wasn't English.
It didn't sound human.
By morning, I found a pie on my doorstep.
Blueberry. Still warm. No note.
The days went by and i stopped going out.
Because the smiles began to follow me, like shadows.
Always turned toward me.
Always watching.
A child rode his bike in slow circles in front of my house for six hours. Never stopped.
Never blinking.
He just kept smiling.
The old lady across the street stood on her porch every evening at 6:00 sharp and waved at me. Never missed a day.
One day I waved back. The next day, she was gone.
Her house emptied overnight. No furniture.
No lights. No noise.
Just the smell of rot coming from the walls.
A month in, I found the journal in the attic of my house.
It belonged to someone named "Kevin J."
The last entry was dated six years ago.
"They come at night when you forget to smile.
They check. The teeth. The eyes. If they catch you with a frown… you disappear.
I smiled too late yesterday. I think I'm next.
God please help me."
The pages after that were torn out.
Bloodstains covered the binding.
Some of the hair inside the spine wasn't mine.
I tried to leave the next day.
Packed everything into my car and drove.
But the road out was just... gone.
There was no end. It looped.
Over and over. I drove for two hours and ended up back in front of my house.
The kid on the bike was still there. Still smiling.
That night, the sky turned red. No stars. No moon.
Only shadows crawling along the rooftops, whispering in dead tongues.
I watched them through the window.
Long arms. No legs. Just floating.
Their mouths were wide, stitched into permanent grins.
I saw one lean into a window across the street and vanish.
The next morning, the house was gone.
Replaced with a vacant lot and a "For Sale" sign.
The people? They were still smiling.
I finally asked someone—Collen, the mailman.
"What the hell is going on in this town?"
I saw his smile twitched. His lips cracked at the corners, blood spilling slightly.
"We smile so they never cry," he said softly, before leaning to my ear.
"They're under the town, Aaron. They wake when sadness lives.
"The only way to keep them sleeping... is joy.
Or the illusion of it."
I asked him who "they" were.
He didn't answer.
Then he screamed—loud and sudden—and sprinted into traffic.
"Collen!!"
A truck hit him at full speed.
No one blinked.
No one stopped.
They just smiled and waved the truck along.
I rushed to report it.
But found the police station empty.
Dust and bones in the chairs. Still grinning skulls.
I should have left then. I should have tried harder.
But I didn't.
Because I saw her.
She was in the back of the grocery store, curled up behind the shelves.
No smile. Just fear.
A girl. Maybe nine.
She whispered her name: Lisa.
Said she had been born here.
Her mother forgot to smile once and they took her.
Since then, she'd hidden in the walls, pretending to smile only when they come to check.
I asked her why she stayed.
Her answer froze me.
"Because I'm the only one left who can still cry."
I asked her how I could escape.
"You can't. Not alive. You can only choose how you leave."
Then suddenly-the lights flickered.
Something crawled along the ceiling.
Lisa screamed and shoved me away.
"RUN!"
I ran.
I made it back home.
Locked the doors. Boarded the windows.
They came anyway.
The shadows.
The stitched ones.
They didn't break in—they flowed in.
Through the walls. Through the cracks in the floorboards.
I suddenly got a severe headache.
They began whispering inside my skull.
"Smile, Aaron."
Then i remember what Collen said and tried to smile.
I tried. I really did.
But I was too afraid. My lips trembled. My eyes stung.
They didn't look happy.
One of them reached out with a rusted needle.
I tried to run, but something held me in place.
I screamed for help. But no one came.
I watched in horror as it got close.
It sewed the corners of my mouth upward, tearing my flesh.
Blood ran down my neck as they forced my face into their definition of happiness.
And then they left.
Just like that.
The pain was unbearable.
But when I looked into the mirror, I understood.
I was one of them now.
I wore the smile.
I wore the peace.
I was dead. But alive.
And now I wait.
I sit on the porch. I wave at newcomers.
I bake pies. I speak in sermons.
Because that's what we do here.
I smile.
We smile.
So they never cry.
End Log Entry: Aaron Maddox, presumed missing.
File Status: Sealed.
Location: Rainville — RED ZONE.
Note: Entry recovered from house remains.
Smiling corpse found seated in porch chair.
Stream Commentary; Tape #26. "The smiling town "
[Kai returns ]
And that... was the tale of The Smiling Dead Town."
(He chuckled )
"How many of you are still smiling?
Or did that story finally make you understand that not all grins are made of joy?
Sometimes... they're just stitched into your face so you don't scream."
[@Ovesix:That town wasn't smiling. It was trapped. A communal psychosis wrapped in a party mask. You saw it in their eyes—they were alldead before they even died]
[@Enchomay: Death is peaceful. But this... was something worse. There lives, hollowed out. They smiled not because they wanted to, but because they had to]
[@Jaija:Man, screw that place. Did you see that part where the guy found the babies with their mouths carved into smiles? I nearly threw out my popcorn]
"And let's talk about the watchers, shall we?
The ones behind the walls. Always watching.
Always whispering. Smile. Smile. Smile.
Until you forget how to frown... and start smiling at your own funeral."
[@642:The man thought he moved in... but really, he was invited. That's how it works, doesn't it? You think you found a home, but it was a tomb all along. All towns are cemeteries pretending to be neighborhoods]
(Kai lets the silence sit, then turns toward the screen. He's looking straight at you.)
"Reader. Listener. Smiler.
Ask yourself—have you ever laughed at something you didn't find funny, just to avoid conflict?
Have you ever smiled so hard it started to hurt, but you kept doing it... because everyone else was?"
(Pause. His tone darkens.)
"That's what this story is about.
It's not just horror. It's a mirror. We all wear masks, don't we?
Even you.
Especially you.
And if you wear it long enough, it stops coming off.
So here's your moral lesson, served fresh and steaming—"
"Never trust a smile that doesn't reach the eyes."
"Because behind it might be a scream that would never get out."
( he sits back, steepling his fingers)
And now, let's take a little trip.
You want to know where it all started, don't you?
Before the town was named.
Before the people forgot how to cry.
Before he came and whispered those three words:
"Let's spread happiness."
(Kai's goggles flash red.)
Next stream , little readers : "Let's Spread Happiness."
The origin of Rainville.
And the birth of the smiling curse.
Be warned… it's not a story for the sane.