Smile.

       So today I saw her for the first time.
She was nothing close to beautiful but she had all the world's wilderness hidden in her eyes. Her eyes were deep and brown. So deep that even the ocean would surrender its depth to it. She was wearing a tiny black dress. A dress that only covered the hem of her inner. It was not an inch longer. She was tiny, just like me. I assume she was around 17 or 18 but definitely not more. Her hair was cut like a tramp's untidy hair. Short, black and unkempt, exactly that way. And she, for me, was magic.
I saw her in my backyard this afternoon. Staying in a country side makes me lonely and she, I assumed would be my only friend. I went up to her slowly and asked very politely, "Hey there, looking for something?. I am Ronda, I can help." She looked at me and smiled and that smile I cannot describe. The curve on her lips made the skin near her eyes wrinkle and at that moment she looked thirty years older. I was so astonished that before i could react she vanished. Simply vanished as if she was a fairy. I returned home and took a bath.The day continued like any other day except that I couldn't get over the girl. The girl whose name even was a mystery to me.

       Today I saw her near the fence.
 I need to talk to her, I thought. I ran out of the house into the garden. The rose bushes bruised my skin. Today she was wearing a short white dress. It was white. Maybe whiter than snow. She looked at me and smiled again. But today her smile was different. It didn't make her skin wrinkle. And her eyes seemed to have changed its color. Not really though but they were a lighter shade of brown. I finally reached the fence and she still seemed far from me. I shouted out to her, "Hey, I am Ronda. You are?", She laughed loudly like that was the funniest joke she had ever heard. I gazed at her wild perfection and suddenly she replied "Smile". I wanted to confirm what she said and asked, " Smile. Is that your name?" She nodded. A nod you could never get if you did not look at her intently.

     Today I saw her early morning.
She was standing outside my backdoor and staring at me from the corner of the curtain with her cold brown eyes. Her dress was red today. A tiny red dress. "Smile, what are you doing here?, Come inside. " I don't know why but i didn't want my aunt to find out. I wanted to be alone with her. Like she belonged only to me. My only friend. I couldn't accept to share my moments  with anybody. I couldn't introduce her to earthly beings because for me she was a fairy, she was my fairy.
She came in and stood in one corner. Near my cupboard. She didn't talk much but in her constant smile i found my home. My real home. She suddenly walked up to me and let out a laugh. A coarse loud laughter. The laugh was so screechy that it hurt my ears. but I didn't mind. After a while she stopped and said, "You look ugly, let me give you a makeover."
I agreed at once. She brought out the scissors from my drawer.I wondered how she knew it all but I dared to question her. She came to me and said, "Ronda, your hair is too long and beautiful, and too much beauty is ugly."
In the evening my aunt returned and screamed, "Ronda, learn to be ladylike. You have cut your hair like a tramp. You should not have tried to scissor your own hair."

    Today she visited as usual.
She sat near the window with a bag in her hand. I asked her,"Smile, what's there?". " A few dresses."she replied curtly. She was beautifully strange and her ways were magical to me. I knew nothing more than her name but I dared to ask. I couldn't lose her. She was my only friend. Suddenly she walked to my wardrobe and opened it. She burst out laughing. But this laugh was different. It was sensuous and demanding. It was loud yet alluring. I waited for her to stop. She then turned to me and said, "Ronda, your clothes are too decent and to much decency is indecent". She unzipped her bag and gave me a little blue dress. She smiled and asked me to wear it and left.
In the evening my aunt was furious to find all my clothes in tatters. All of them had been cut short. She stormed out of my room ordering me to fix them up into decent robes but I didn't care to listen, after all, 'decency is indecent.'


    Today she came a little late. My aunt had already left by then.
She was wearing a tiny purple dress. She walked in with a smile. A smile that had thousands of stories to tell. Her eyes looked bright. She had a matchbox in her hand. We sat quietly for a while and then she walked up to my bookshelf. She opened it and laughed. A laugh that was too heavy. It was dark and whole. It was as dark as the thickness of the night. And then she stopped. She turned to me and said, "Too many books I see, too much knowledge, but Ronda my darling, too much knowledge makes you blunt." Then she gently began to bring down my books one by one and stacked it right outside the back door. I wanted to stop her but I couldn't. I let her bring down my life slowly and gently. After she was done she called me, "Rondo, come do this". She lit a matchstick and handed it over to me. I wanted to blow off the match stick but my mouth didn't seem to have enough air. I wanted to ask her to blow it off but i couldn't speak. My voice didn't have strength enough.Only warm tears rolled down my cheeks. I dropped the lightened matchstick on the books and witnessed my life turning to ashes.
In the evening I heard my aunt saying, "She needs help, Frank. She needs serious help."

After dinner I cried myself to sleep. And in my dreams Smile appeared and she questioned me time and again, "why do you listen to me, Ronda? Why? Why?". I had no answer.

     Today she was already there when I woke up.
She was sitting on my bed as if she was waiting for me to wake up.Today she was wearing the same black dress she wore the first day I saw her in my backyard. As I woke up she smiled at me. Her smile was warm. It made me feel like home.Her eyes were deep today. A very deep brown. I felt a great deal of affection from her. There was warmth and oneness. She was my only friend. She suddenly took my hand and walked me to the mirror. I stood there frozen and she stood right behind me.
Alas! Two identical figures with tiny black dresses. Two heads with black tramp like hair. Two pairs of deep brown eyes both having the capacity of challenging the oceans. The only difference was Smile was laughing, a laugh so loud and deep that it made my existence shudder  as I stood there stone stiff. She left my hand and walked a few steps backward. I could see her reflection on the mirror. She went to my drawer and took out my scissors. Then she came and stood behind me. For a split second i wanted to run away but how, how could I leave my only friend.?
She took my hands and gripped them tightly and slowly whispered into my ears, "You are too lively Ronda, and too much life leads to death." I saw her hand moving upwards, it was moving towards my throat. I finally smiled and said, "Smile, you are my only friend."

In the evening, my aunt found my blooded body near the mirror.