She jogged to the beginning of the stairs and pulled up, her abdomen cramping and lungs heaving. She walked out overlooking the gray sky and the stormy teal current. One flight below her view, a weathered man with thinning greasy hair and a puffy winter jacket stood shredding on an invisible guitar, rocking out to the private concert streaming from his over sized headphones. She smiled wishing she could take a picture and capture the strange homeless guitarist as he worshiped experience and the waves crashed beyond him.
Tiptoeing past him, she smooshed through the soft sand down next to the lapping water where the moisture seeped up and trimmed the earth. A small pod of dolphins bobbed in the shallow surf and the deeper rollers. She smiled watching their fins peep through and their noses cut through the surging liquid
.
On her way back to the top and the street, she jogged upstairs past the man who had by this point removed the music from is ears and stood contemplating the surf. She flashed a smile in his direction. He stared up, grinning. His crinkled leathery brown skin sagged a bit. bristly silver hairs poked through about the yellow mouth. The eyes were glazed and distracted, but he grinned back, happy to be noticed not shunned.
He mumbled something unintelligible, so she asked, "Did you see the dolphins?" She was halfway up the next flight when he happily moaned, "No."
She stopped and pointed out, "They're right there. The dolphins."
He pointed at her and kept grinning, open mouthed. "You have a beautiful smile," he pronounced in an enunciated slur.
"Thank you." The smile grew into her whole face and shot out her eyes.
She had never considered anything particularly remarkable about her smile. In fact, most of the time it bothered her. The way her whole face scrunched up to allow her teeth to show. The way her large cheeks swelled and hid her eyes. When people took pictures, she always cringed at how her eyes practically disappeared into brown slits. So she worked to hold her eyes wide, straining her forehead muscles.
But despite all this, people always commented on the smile. Perfect strangers most of the time, usually older folk. "Keep smiling."
"That girl has a beautiful smile." The tech assistant, a white haired old man who loved to tease, would come into the library once a week, never failing to say something about the smile. "Well I will fix it for her becuase she has a great smile." And it always just made her smile grow.
"Ya," the leathery man on the stairs grinned through his gums. You are gonna make a boy. No," he trailed off. "Ya. Your husband weally..." She thought he said "really happy." But she just kept smiling and waited patiently for his mind to communicate with the muscles in his mouth. She felt unthreatened and unworried, enjoying being sweet.
"Ya." He finished, grinning straight into her eyes.
"Thank you." She said sincerely. "Have a wonderful day." She trotted up the stairs blushing and still smiling.
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