A very simple and tiny short story, maybe for children, about a smile. I wrote it a couple of hours ago. It came as easy as a thought that began "once upon a time there was a smile". And the rest came afterwards. Hope you like it, if you read it. (Please, if you do, could you write any comment? I'd like to know what people think about it ;).

A Smile

Once upon a time there was a smile. She was so bright, lovely and happy that everybody thought she would never fade. From time to time she was shier than she used to be, but it only lasted some days, so later on, she would be as nice as always she had been.

Occasionally, she started to leave during some hours, then days and finally, weeks. Nobody knew where she had gone. Neither the smile did. She found herself in a dark place without anything, apart of black.

The smile was imprisoned during a lot of time in a jail of sadness and she could not get off it. She waited and waited and waited. She nearly got desperate. Until one day (although she did not know when was day or night), a tiny little ray of light entered the dark. She was very happy. How could that have happened? But it did.

Eventually and very slooooooooowly, the light got bigger and bigger and more and more powerful, till there was no darkness at all.

At least, the smile was free again.

She went out –very carefully,– and rejoined her friends who were all as happy as she for her return.

And they lived happily ever after? Well, they did. Sort of. There were times that the smile felt pretty sad and she disappeared a little while, but she knew the way to come back, so her little trips lasted just a few days.

(c. Isthar Piñol aka Inanna Pilgrim)