Exercise: Flash Fiction - Teeth

Her eyes could make a musician out of a music phobic. The bubbling mirth in their depth invited everyone to just plunge head on. And they did; to look for their favourite sweet that her smile promised. She made them seem like a bunch of diabetics who had been denied sweets for eternity.

Wherever she went, people paused in middle of their work; almost as if it was orchestrated. They would turn to her and just start sharing their deepest darkest secrets. What happened to all these outwardly sane looking normal people? Did they see a messiah in her? Nobody knew the reason; the reason for this strange reaction.

One day I went up to her. I, too, wanted to know about her magic. A shy smile greeted me; a smile that instantly lit my eyes too. I could not help it. What magic was this? Feeling a lightness that I hadn’t experienced in many moons, greediness reared its head. Her laughter is what I craved now, feeling sure that it would wipe away all the hurt, the pain that life had presented me with.

With this goal in mind, an invitation to laughter club was but natural. On hearing my request, I thought I saw a shadow pass over eyes, but then she agreed to join us next morning.

Why did the sun have to sleep so long? I was impatient. Finally we met at 7 am and started with a small “hee hee”. Then followed some “ha ha ha ha” and some of “ho ho ho ho”. And finally the laughter I was waiting for…

Opening our mouth wide, we laughed and then I saw.

No teeth.