Smile it won't kill you

Marcus smiled at the woman in her mid to late fifties passing him by with her dog, but her steely face didn't flinch as if she'd almost used her lifetime's quota of smiles up and any that now remained would not be bestowed upon him. Several seconds later, having now passed like ships in the daylight, a siren could be heard wailing in the distance. Perhaps she was the Chief of the Fun Police and had radioed for backup? No smiling to be allowed on my watch I'll have you know. Marcus allowed himself another smile to escape from his own seemingly limitless bank vault of smiles that today were bursting at the seams ready to make their escape. Spring had finally decided to make an appearance, the warmth of the sun stroked his face like a requited lover returned to his side. Why wouldn't you be happy on a day like this especially after the gale force winds and rain they'd endured the previous week? Perhaps those threats his mother had idly imposed upon him as a child about his face staying the same if the wind changed weren't so idle after all and the woman had gotten caught out in the gales and was now destined to spend eternity looking like life had pissed on her chips and shat in her handbag for good measure. That poor dog, he thought to himself, it probably didn't dare wag its tail. Perhaps he should jog back and catch them up and to talk to it in that voice that caring dog owners do that send their loved canine friends into a complete frenzy of excitement. Whooozagooddoggy? Yesssyouarearen’tyou, yes yes yes and give it a jolly nice scratch behind its ears for good measure and watch its tail go into overdrive its wagging happiness finally unlocked from the spell of misery that had beset it. If he was really lucky it'd shit itself it was so happy and she'd have to clear it up. She's probably got a poor suffering husband at home who equally dares not show any level of excitement and the only thing wagging behind closed doors is her finger at the pair of them. He didn't half wonder if she'd turned the last dog into the knee length boots she was wearing which now he thought about it didn't half have the colour of a golden Labrador, above which she'd been wearing a dress which screamed Sunday church regular. Perhaps it was against her religion to show any form of happiness? You never know in this day and age.