Smile

2012 | Fiction & Poetry | Horror

He was standing there. Right there. He kept shouting that he was going to go but.... he wasn't moving... he wasn't. I thought he was bluffing... I only turned my back on him for a moment. A moment! Had I seen him go... of course I would have followed. Of course I would have gone after my younger brother! The thought of him lost in this shopping centre... alone... it sends shivers down my back.

I have to find him. I WILL find him. Anything to get out of having to make the call home to mum. She's going to be so mad...

* * * * * * *

Alex's mum was tired and over-worked. Holding down a full-time job, keeping the house clean and looking after the children - the youngest of which was still a handful with his ADHD as they tried to get the medication right - she just wanted a break. Even if it were only for an afternoon - so she sent Alex to the shopping mall, with his younger brother who was throwing a tantrum because he wanted to go to the toy store to spend his pocket money. She never once thought Alex would lose his younger brother in the crowds.

And no one would have guessed how the day would have ended or just how many more children were missing.

'Smile' is a new horror from the best-selling author behind the 'Happy Ever After Trilogy' - told through the eyes of the main character as he frantically searches for his missing brother.

Matt Shaw (Author)