The boy sat on a cracked, weathered bench in the park. His small frame shook in every sob he drove out of his lips. His tear-stained face reflected loneliness, and his cries were the only sound to be heard in that vast empty playground. The swings creaked in the light breeze, but nobody was there to push him or to join him and play around him. His legs hung over the side of the bench, his feet kicking absent-mindedly against the rusty iron supports while rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his too-large sweater.
He spent hours sitting there, hoping someone—anyone—might come and ask him to play. But no one ever did. The other kids didn't like him. They had made that clear when they laughed at him during school. It wasn't what he said, or how he played—it was his smile. They told him it looked weird, crooked, too forced. And after that, no one wanted to be his friend.
His shoulders shook as another wave of tears washed over him, but then he heard the crunch of gravel under heavy footsteps. He looked up, startled, and saw a tall man approaching. The man wore a long coat, dark as the gathering dusk, and a hat that cast shadows over his face, but his eyes gleamed with a strange kind of light.
"What's wrong, little fella?" the man asked, his voice soft but carrying a weight that made the boy sit up straight.
The boy sniffled, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. He wasn't used to strangers talking to him, but there was something calming about the man's voice, like it wrapped around him and made everything else disappear for a moment.
"I... I don't have any friends," the boy mumbled, staring down at his scuffed shoes. "They don't like the way I look. Or the way I smile."
The man crouched down so that his face was level with the boy's, his eyes searching the boy's face with an intensity that made the boy squirm. "What's wrong with your smile?" the man asked, his tone curious, as if the answer truly interested him.
The boy hesitated but then forced a grin. It was the same smile he had shown the other kids, the one that made them laugh and call him names. It felt stiff, awkward, as if his face didn't know how to move the right way.
The man didn't laugh. He tilted his head slightly, his expression unreadable. Then, slowly, a smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
"You know what," the man said, standing up and brushing off his coat, "I can fix your face. Your smile. Make it so no one will ever laugh at you again."
The boy blinked, his breath catching in his throat. "You can?" he asked, disbelief and hope mingling in his voice.
"Of course," the man replied, his grin widening. "But there's a catch."
The boy's heart sank a little, but he was too intrigued to let the man's words go. "What kind of catch?"
The man's eyes glinted in the fading light, and he stepped closer, his shadow falling over the boy. "All you have to do is agree to my conditions," he said softly. "Shake my hand, and the contract will be sealed."
The boy frowned, trying to understand. "A contract?"
The man nodded, his smile never fading. "Yes. A simple agreement. I'll give you the smile you've always wanted, and in return, you'll owe me a favor. Nothing big, just a small thing. One day, I'll come to you, and you'll do it for me. Agreed?"
The boy didn't think too long. He had spent so many days wishing he could just look like everyone else, that he could smile without feeling embarrassed. What was one small favor in exchange for that?
He reached out his hand without hesitation. "I agree."
The moment their hands touched, a sharp, cold jolt shot up the boy's arm, and he gasped, his body stiffening as a strange sensation rippled through him. The man's grip was strong, almost too strong, and the boy's fingers twitched in the man's cold grasp.
The park around them seemed to blur, the trees and the swings fading into a dark haze as the man's eyes locked onto the boy's. The world spun, and the boy felt his knees grow weak, but he couldn't pull his hand away.
The man's grin grew impossibly wide, his teeth gleaming as he leaned in closer. "It's done," he whispered, his voice echoing in the boy's ears like a distant bell. "Your smile is now perfect."
The boy's hand slipped away, and he felt the world spin out of control. He stumbled backward, his feet heavy as lead. A wave of dizziness washed over him, making his head reel. The pressure building behind his eyes was suffocating. He tried to cry out, to ask what was happening, but his voice caught in his throat like a trapped animal.
Before he could comprehend the change, a wave of cold washed over him, and his vision darkened at the edges. His legs buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground, the last thing he saw being the tall man's smirk as he turned and walked away.
His eyelid flustered closed, and the world went back. He had fainted, body lying still and limping on the cold park floor above.
In the distance, the swing swayed gently with the wind, the little playground silent once again, except for the echo of that man's parting word.