Smile pt 1 in Attempts at creativity

It’s difficult to pin down exactly when the myth first came about; the earliest anybody can tell might be as far back as 2016. Only now, though, has it really gained traction. Smilers. The next creepy urban legend hiding out in some small (maybe medium) town in Oregon. Only one even slightly legitimate picture exists to act as proof. It has all the poor lighting and blurry quality necessary to feed an urban legend. The intrepid photographer is one Erin Stilhouse, a lathe operator out of Cagney, Oregon.

This is where Allison Asher comes in. She’s a debunker of internet phenomena with some degree of success. This sort of unverified, fringe creepiness gets her motor running and pointed straight at the town of Cagney. She had attempted to contact Erin regarding her famous picture but had no success; it would seem as though Ms. Stilhouse had vanished. If that didn’t get the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, well, she was in the wrong profession.

Allison rolled into town on August 28th at around 2:30pm. A prominent dinner seemed a likely if somewhat cliched place to begin her investigation. Buller’s Diner. It was clean, simple and had pleasing food smells. It was clearly a busier time of day since she stood at the door by a podium requesting she “Wait to be seated” doing just that for a good 5 minutes. A pleasantly plump young woman finally strode over to the podium, stood a bit to catch her breath and brushed a few loose strands of reddish-brown hair back before addressing her.

“Just one?” Her voice was steady and almost calm. Alli nodded. “Right this way.” The hostess was quicker than Alli was expecting and she had to put in a strong stride herself to keep up. They arrived at a booth in the back with smaller seats meant for couples, no doubt. “I’m Angeline and I’ll be your waitress,” Angeline plopped a laminated menu down “Do you want anything to drink to start?” Alli pulled the menu to her, carefully and unconsciously lining the bottom of the menu with the edge of the table.

“Coffee, please. And then, uh, a plate of fries? Like a side of fries…is that okay?” Angeline cocked her head curiously then straightened back up and gave a small laugh.

“Of course. Coffee and fries.” Angeline left the menu and scurried off. Alli pulled out her phone and began running through her process for the day: should she ask the waitress for information? The place was pretty busy. She pulled up the Erin Stilhouse’s picture and looked it over for what might have been her hundredth time.

The creature was, at first glance, very human looking. It wore clothes, shorts and a polo shirt with some fairly generic sneakers. Its legs were terribly thin, making the kneecaps look bulbous in contrast. Its arms were thin as well, almost skeletal. That part of the picture was hardest to see. It was the face of the creature that got you: no eyes, no ears, no nose. No features at all to speak of except the smile…a large, toothy smile that went from what would be ear-to-ear were there any to speak of. The body was turned right, almost ninety degrees from the head which stared straight at you with just a smile. Alli’s heart was beating fast; if this thing existed, she would find it.