Creepypastas

Smiling Men

About five years ago I was living downtown in a major US city.

I have always been a night person, so I often get bored after my roommate, who is obviously not a night person, goes to bed. To pass the time, I used to walk around and spend time thinking.

I spent four years like that, walking alone at night, and never once had any reason to be afraid.

I always joke with my roommate that even the drug dealers in town are polite. But all that changed in just a few minutes in one night.

It was Wednesday, somewhere between 1 and 2 in the morning, and I was walking near a police patrol park some distance from the apartment.

It was a quiet night, even for the evening, with very little traffic and almost no one on foot. The park, like almost every night, was completely empty.

I turned to the small street to return to the apartment when I first saw her. At the end of the road, by my side, there was the shadow of a man, dancing.

It was a strange dance, similar to a waltz, but he completed each "box" with a strange step forward. He walked over, straight to me.

I decided he might get drunk, I stepped as close as possible to the other street to give him the sidewalk to pass me.

The closer he gets, the more I realize how gracefully he moves. He was very tall and skinny, and wore an old suit.

He danced even closer, until I could see his face. His eyes were wide open and wild, his head slightly tilted back, looking up at the sky.

His mouth formed in a wide, painful cartoon smile. Between her eyes and smile, I decided to cross the street before she danced closer.

I turned my eyes from him to cross the empty street.

When I reached the other side, I glanced .. and then stopped silent. She stopped dancing and stood on one foot in the street, parallel to me.

He faced me but still looked up, a smile still wide on his lips.

I'm really surprised by this. I started walking again, but kept staring at the man. He's not moving.

After about half a block between us, I turned away from him for a moment to look at the sidewalk in front of me. The road and the sidewalk in front were completely empty.

Still amazed, I looked back to where he stood but found him gone. For a brief moment I felt relieved, until I realized it.

He had crossed the street, and was now slightly crouching. I don't know for sure because of the distance and the shadows, but I'm sure he's facing me.

I looked away from him for no more than ten seconds, so it was clear that he had moved quickly.

He took giant excessive steps, as if he was about to sneak up on someone. Unless he moves very, very fast.

I want to say at this point I ran away or took out pepper spray or my phone or whatever, but I didn't. I just stood there, completely silent as the smiling man headed towards me.

And then he stopped again, about a car away from me. Still smiling, still looking up at the sky.

When I finally made a sound, I said the first thing that came to my mind. What I want to ask is,

"What do you want ?!" in a furious manner

He was silent, he could hear it. I heard my own voice clearly, and it only made me more afraid. But he did not react at all. He just stood there, smiling.

And then, after feeling like forever, she turned around, very slowly, and started dancing walking away. Like those.

Not wanting to turn his back on him again, I just watched him leave, until he was far enough away that he was barely visible.

And then I realized something. He didn't move anymore, nor did he dance. I watched in horror as its far-flung shape grew larger. He came back to me. This time he ran.

I ran too.

I ran until I got off the side road and back to a brighter road with less traffic.

Looking back, he was not there. All the way home, I kept glancing back, whether to see her stupid smile, but she was never there in sight.

I stayed in the city for six months after that night, and I never went for a walk again.

There's something on his face that always haunts me. He doesn't look drunk, he doesn't look tall. He looks really crazy. And that's a very, very scary thing to see.

***************************************

To Be Continue ...

...

...

...