Her Smile

The man climbed through the broken window into the toy store, careful to avoid the glass. The bears and dolls seemed to watch him as he walked down the dusty aisles, looking for something that would make her happy. He smiled just thinking about her, the only thing left in his life. The only reason he kept one foot in front of the other.

Nothing around the store was good enough to make her happy. Everything was dirty, damp from the rainwater that leaked through the cracks in the ceiling. He walked around to the counter and climbed over, careful not to touch the cashier, his body draped over the glass counter. The man looked back at the cashier and put his hands together in prayer.

“Rest in peace,” the man whispered, his voice breaking the silence. "and may heaven treat you well."

He turned and went through the door behind the counter marked STAFF ONLY. The storage room would serve him better than the rest of the store. He pulled out his knife and opened the nearest box labeled order no. 348790 FBY2. He turned over the box and thousands of small toy cars tumbled to the floor, creating a cloud of dust and a loud crash that resounded through the tiny room. These wouldn't top the bunny with the pink dress. Besides, she preferred pink things instead of blue. He thought about all the toys she had as he walked over to another box (order no. 348791 FBZ3), and sliced it open.

Before he could see what was inside, he heard a loud BOOM from outside the store.

Her eyes widened as she watched black smoke rise from downtown. He was down there. She ran back inside, abandoning the chalk in the driveway. Upstairs, in his bedroom, was a gun. A Glock Inc. .40 that she had wrapped in pink duct tape, her gun. She grabbed it and looked at the red stain on the wall by the bed. Did they get him? She shook her head and began to cry.

No.

No.

No.

He stuck his hand in the box and threw the toy in his backpack, not focusing on what it was. This would have to do if he wanted to get home. He turned to the door of the storeroom, his breath quickening. He heard something jump through the window of the store, the glass crunching under it's feet.

It was them.

He backed into the wall. He remembered how they had killed his wife, thrust her into the wall, the blue one by their bed. He remembered her screaming.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and crouched down behind some of the boxes as they entered the room, kicking aside the blue cars. The cars turned on and beeped, flashing green and red lights. Now was his chance.

To escape.

To run.

Her eyes scanned her room. Looking for her boots. They were pink, her favorite color. He knew that, just like her papi had. She found her shoes and put them on, stuffing the laces inside with her feet. She ran back downstairs, gun in hand and back out the door, into the front yard. Her house was so fancy compared to the other houses on the cul de sac, abandoned and forgotten. He had just cut the grass and she had left her sprinkler in the yard along with her tea set. He was always getting her nice toys. She had to go get him now. She began to look for her bike, leaning against the side of the house, pink; like everything else.

He ran as fast as he could, abandoning his knife in the road, jumping over fallen lampposts and the dismembered. They followed close behind, firing at his back. He ducked behind a wrecked car and took off his backpack, rummaging around inside for his gun. He pulled out it out, then immediately threw it back in the bag.

It was out of bullets.

He gulped and peered over the side of the car. They were still coming, more slowly now. They were enjoying this. He turned back to his bag and dumped out the contents, weeding through the granola bars and juice pouches, the boxes of bullets and batteries. There had to be something. Cold sweat trickled down his face, burning his eyes as he reached into the front pocket and they jumped on top of the car.

There were two of them.

His eyes widened in fear as he pulled his hand out of the backpack and threw the object at them.

The toy locket smacked the gun in one of their hands, the bright yellow heart lighting up and singing You Are My Sunshine in a high pitched voice that echoed through the empty street. They watched it clatter to the ground and he got up, throwing himself at the one with the weapon.

Her training wheels kept the bike steady as she rode across the deserted highway, towards downtown. The abandoned cars looked sad and disheveled, their windows left open and a few of the radios still playing songs from years ago. She sang along to the ones she knew and just nodded to the beat of the ones she didn’t. He always kept the radio on in the kitchen, her new… papi. She grinned and pumped her legs harder. She was almost there.

He smashed its face into the cement, next to the one he had already killed. It groaned and tried, weakly, to shove him off. He slammed it into the ground again,

“Stop moving!” he yelled, covered with sweat. There was no reply, only the blood pooling from it’s face. He rolled off, gasping for breath and wiping his face on his sleeve.

Thank god.

Thank god.

Thank god.

He stood up shakily and walked back to his bag, shoving the stuff back inside. He could check a few more of those things off his list. He looked around for the locket, following the sound, and found it stuck under the car, singing You Are My Sunshine more loudly than ever.

He smirked and stuffed it back in his bag. That must have been in order no. 348791 FBZ3 from the toy store. He stood back up and peeked over the broken car. Nothing but destruction, not a living soul. He was safe again.

Her bike screeched to a stop as she reached the exit that said downtown. The exit went uphill and disappeared among the tall buildings. She was here. The cars that had stopped on the exit were packed too close together to make room for her bicycle so she got off and started walking.

She was halfway up the ramp when she heard the sound of a door slam. She dropped her gun and looked around for someplace to hide. One of the cars behind her was open and she ran back, climbing inside. She began to hear the faint footsteps as who've it was got closer and closer. She curled into a ball in the front seat, plugging her nose so as not to inhale the dust. She closed her eyes and waited for whoever it was to go away, to walk past her.

One.

Two.

Three minutes passed. the footsteps stopped by the car door.

“Kid?” The man looked down at the little girl in the car. She looked up and smiled. He grinned and picked her up, hugging her tightly. She hugged him back and his smile grew wider. He had made her happy after all.