Give Us A Smile: Sid's Fun Stories to Tell Little Children at Night

Gather round, kids, and I'll tell you a few stories… You like stories, right?

YEAH!!!!

Hehehehehe… good, good… Because I have lots to tell! Now… what shall my first story be…? Ah, I know! Let's start out with one of my favorites! It's called…

"Jigsaw"

Once upon a time, there was an old woman who lived all by herself. She was very old, and very lonely, but she didn't mind at all. This old woman had a passion for jigsaw puzzles--day and night, she would occupy herself with solving jigsaw puzzles one by one. It soon came to a point where that was all she did, except for sleep and eat.

One day, the old woman was working on a very large jigsaw puzzle. She had just bought it that very day, and was just now starting to put the pieces together. Slowly, one by one, she fit the puzzle together, until it began to resemble a nice house by the woods. The old woman started to like this house, and thought she had seen it somewhere. It looked very familiar to her.

As she continued to place the puzzle together, the old lady drew in a deep breath as she realized that the puzzle was her house. Every column, every window, every shingle and brick, it was all hers. The old lady shivered in fear as she continued to place more pieces together, and through one of the windows, she could see herself, placing pieces together from that very same jigsaw puzzle.

With quivering hands, the old lady put the very last pieces of the puzzle together, and was shocked to see the image of a man with a knife somewhere in the puzzle. The very last thing that the old woman heard was the sound of shattering glass. The End.

HEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!!

Waaaaaaaahh!!! That was too scary!!

Oh, hehehe, I'm sorry kids… should I tell a story that's a little funnier?

(sniffle) Yeah… that was too scary! Tell us a funny story!

Hehehehe… all right… Now, let's see… Okay, here's one. It's called…

"Eyes"

Once upon a time, there lived a man who hated the dark more than anything. He lived all by himself in a normal-sized house, and almost always kept the lights on. He was a very superstitious man, and believed in ghosts and demons and especially the Bogeyman. He had no friends, because everyone though of him as a big coward.

One day, the man came home from buying groceries to find that the power to his house had been cut off. The man tried everything he could to activate a light, but he couldn't find anything, and so he had to feel his way around. The man was in a cold sweat already, and he swore he could hear noises coming from the house that weren't his own.

The man eventually set his groceries in the kitchen, and decided to go see if he could do something about the light, so he went in search of a candle and matches. Suddenly, as he stepped into the hallway, he froze solid. There before him, staring directly at his face, were a pair of eyes shining dimly in the darkness. The man was stricken with terror, for it was nearly pitch-black in the house, and he had no idea what kind of creature this was.

The man was paralyzed with fear, so the only thing he could do was stare at the eyes and wait for his death. But the creature staring at him never moved; it just kept its eyes locked on him, waiting, watching, with unmovable, unlikable eyes. The man called out to the creature in a timid voice, but received no reply in return. The only thing he could do was look at the eyes and hope that the thing would go away.

Suddenly, the lights flickered back on, and for one single brief terrifying moment, the man thought that his days were over, and whatever had been looking at him would finally pounce. But as the lights came back on to full power, the man saw that he had been looking directly into the hall mirror all that time. The End.

(sniffle) That was still too scary!!

Hehehe… aww, poor kids! I tried to make it funny just for you!

(sniffle) It wasn't funny at all! It was too scary!!

Hehehe… well if you didn't like those last two, then maybe this one'll be better… it's called…

"The Hangman"

Once upon a time, there lived two young boys, Douglas and Yancy. They were brothers, who lived on a farm during the years before the Gate Rune Wars. Yancy was the bigger brother, the kind that always did well in whatever he set his mind to. Douglas was the one who did not usually do so well, so he looked up to Yancy as an example. Even though Douglas loved his bigger brother very much, he wanted to do something worthy of impressing him. Day and night he thought, but still couldn't come up with anything.

One day, Yancy was drafted in the war to fight for Lord Tir McDohl. He would be gone for some time, leaving Douglas all alone. Normally, with the more-gifted brother gone, all attention would now be drawn towards Douglas, and for a time it was. But Douglas wanted more than just attention--he wanted to prove to Yancy that he was just as brave and gifted as his brother. He wanted to do something bold, something unusual, something daring. In a slight fit of insanity, Douglas decided that he would hang himself.

Of course, he never planned on doing it on purpose. He had to make it look like an accident. For a few days, in-between doing his daily chores, Douglas would think about how he would make everything look like an accident. An idea came to him when he almost slipped from the upper rafters of a hay barn he had been working in. There were ropes situated in several key positions, and if Doug set things up right, he could make it look like he had slipped and "somehow" gotten his neck in one of the ropes.

The plan was foolproof, so after running through the basic design, Doug began to practice. He knew that he would have to have a high endurance for hanging himself, so whenever he could, he would practice hanging himself in private. With a stool, a nail, a watch, and a noose, he began his slow walk towards heroism. The first run-through, he stayed hanged for ten seconds.

The next day, he stood up for fifteen, then half a minute, then forty-five, then sixty. In just a few days, Douglas could stay hanged for one whole minute. But that wasn't enough: soon, he could go for two minutes, then five, then ten, then fifteen. Fifteen minutes turned into twenty, and twenty became half an hour. Douglas could stay hanged for half an hour. Then, one day, he broke his record and stayed hanged for sixty whole minutes--one hour. He could not last a second after that--one hour was his limit.

One day, Douglas and his parents received word that Yancy had been wounded in battle, and he was at a hospital. Douglas' time was now growing short: he had to get things ready for the day when his brother came back. It took him a week to set things up so that it would look like he slipped on the rafters and fell into the ropes, so now all he had to do was wait.

Finally, the day came when his parents were called down to the hospital. It was twenty-five minutes away if they went on foot, and they would probably take about ten minutes or so to get situated at the clinic, so the timing couldn't have been better. Douglas knew that he would be cutting things close, but he thought it would all be worth it. So, when his parents left to go get Yancy, he ran over to the barn as fast as he could.

Douglas had lowered one of the ropes that hung from the rafters so that it nearly stretched to the floor, but still left enough room for him to dangle. He then climbed up on a stool, and positioned himself so that the rope was snug around his neck. He knew that, in order for it to look like an accident, he had to appear like he was near death, so the hour spent hanging was essential. So without any further fuss, Douglas fit himself in the noose, kicked the stool away, and began to wait.

One minute passed, then five, then ten, then twenty. Half an hour passed. Forty-five minutes sailed on by, then fifty, then fifty-eight. He was cutting things very close. Douglas began to grow a little concerned when the fifty-ninth minute flew by, and for a brief horrific moment, he thought that his parents has been delayed somehow.

But as his vision became blurry and his face turned blue, Douglas managed a smile as he saw his parents and Yancy approach the farm. As soon as they were within listening range, he called out for them: "M-moooommm… d-daaaad… Y-Yancyyyy… h-h-h-helllppp…" Both his mother and father screamed out as they saw their son caught, but it was Douglas' blurry vision that saw the most horrific scene. Just before passing out, he noticed that both of Yancy's arms had been shot off.

Gaaaah-aaachchh-accchkkk-gaahahhhh!!!!

That was creepy! That was too scary! Don't tell us any more stories, please!

Hehehehe… just one more, okay? I promise!

Well…

It's really cool. I saved my best one for last.

Well… I guess so… Yeah, my mommy won't mind… Sure, one more.

Hehehe… you're gonna love it! I call it…

"Give Us A Smile"

Once upon a time, there lived two boys, Smith and David. Smith and David lived in a fairly small town, where not a whole lot happened. Smith was an average paper delivery boy and David's parents worked at a blood bank, so they both led pretty typical lives. However, one day, David told Smith about a creepy old man that lived in a house that was supposed to be haunted.

"It's real!" exclaimed David. "The entire place is filled with spooks! And old Mr. Drazil is their master! I heard he sleeps in a coffin and walks the night so he can drink people's blood!"

"You're just making up stories!" said Smith defensively. "There's no such thing as ghosts and vampires!"

"Oh? Then you won't mind coming along with me to expose Mr. Drazil for the monster he is!" stated David. Smith grew a little more nervous.

"…Well… it's not that I don't want to, it's just that… well, you don't just sneak into other people's houses, not even if they're old and creepy!"

"Chickeeeeen!" cackled David. Smith grew angry, and eventually went along with David to see whether Mr. Drazil was really a vampire or not. The day was becoming evening by the time they left their houses, and by the time they arrived at the haunting abode of Mr. Drazil, it was growing darker by the moment.

Mr. Drazil's house was one of those old, creepy manors that looks like it's always haunted by ghosts. The lawn hadn't been mowed in months, and there was even a graveyard on the property. Local people said that it was just the Drazil family mausoleum, but David said that it was filled with the people that Mr. Drazil drained of blood. The sky was dark and cloudy, and a dog in the distance began howling, so Smith was a little nervous.

"Go on!" ushered David, more or less pushing his friend. "Go in and see for yourself!"

"I'm going!" declared Smith, and both he and David slowly crept inside Mr. Drazil's house. The inside was very dark and musty, and had a few cobwebs strewn about. Everything was blanketed in a dark light, so it was very difficult to see inside. Suddenly, David pointed off to the side. He had spotted a coffin!

"No way!" hissed Smith. "It can't be!" But upon further examination, the boys saw that it was only a very old icebox. With a sigh of relief, both boys decided it would be better to leave the house as soon as possible. Suddenly, as they were creeping outside, they were stopped by a dark, shadowy creature!!! It was Mr. Drazil, as old and creepy and suspicious as ever!

"What are you children doing in my house?" he said in a creaky voice. Before Smith could answer, though, Mr. Drazil gasped in horror and pointed at David. "It's you!" he shouted. "You're the vampire!"

"Huh? Hey, we thought you were the vampire, old man!" said Smith. Mr. Drazil sneered but insisted that David was the vampire. David snorted and insisted on leaving, and Smith would have followed if he hadn't been stopped by Mr. Drazil.

"Hold it! Before you go, ask your friend to smile. When he grins, you'll see his fangs! Then you'll know that he's a vampire!" Smith looked at David questionably, and both boys shrugged.

"This is bull," snorted David. "I'm outta here!"

"Wait!" said Smith. "Just to be safe, would you smile for me? I'd hate to be charged with breaking and entering into an old guy's house, and besides, I wanna make sure."

"…Well, okay," said David, and slowly…

Ack, stop!

What? What's wrong?

Stop! This story is scarier than all of the others! Waaah-haa-haa…

…So?

…(sniffle) Well… maybe we should all smile too. I wanna found out if there are any vampires in here…

…Heh… okay…

And so, the children all bared their teeth, each one giving the other a pearly smile that assured everyone present that there were no vampires around. But in the middle of showing off their own grins to everyone, nobody noticed the fact that, for the first time in a long while, Sid had refused to smile.

The End

Secret disclaimer: I don't own any of the scary stories here, except for "Eyes", which I made up myself.