Mister Wink
Annie wasn’t enjoying dinner, her eyes instead staring down at her light-up shoes (which had been a gift from her Grandmother) beneath the table. It wasn’t because she disliked the meal her Mother had prepared. She loved hot dogs and refried beans, especially the bacon flavor in the beans. She just wasn’t interested in looking up that night. Her Mother and Father were shouting again. Annie, being just shy of six-years-old, didn’t understand a lick of what it was they were shouting about, but it made her stomach churn.“All I’m saying is that—”“That’s all you ever do! Say! You never actually get out and do.”“Hey! I’m the breadwinner of the family here. It’s because of me that there’s food on the table tonight!”“Paul…”“What? What, Eileen?”“Your line of work—”“Oh, what? I’m not good enough Eileen? Not good enough for you? My line of work gets us what we need, doesn’t it?”“I just wish that you could try a little harder!” said her Mother, tears in her voice. “What… what kind of a future are we giving our daughter if all you ever make yourself out to be is a—”“Shut up! Just, shut up you hag! I’m the one who feeds you. You wanna argue with me? I’ll just keep all the money for myself. Not give you a dime of it. No, not a dime.”Her Mother bit her lip, turning to the side to face away from Annie. “Paul… can we continue this later? After… after she’s in bed?”“There’s nothing to continue. The fact is I have a job, you don’t. You do what I say, or you don’t get any of the cards in this relationship.”Annie looked up for a moment to see her Mother’s eyes filled with water, her head hanging. The pit in her stomach continued to swirl, making her want to bring food up and out of her throat rather than put it in. She quickly looked back down at her light-up shoes, hoping in vain that watching the pink and blue lights on the soles would bring a smile to her face.“Annie?” came the soothing voice of her Mommy. She didn’t look up.“Leave the poor kid alone, Eileen. Aren’t you tired of bossing her around?”She could almost hear her Mother holding her breath.“Annie? Would you please eat some dinner?”She shook her head.“Why not sweetie?”“Leave the darn kid alone, Eileen.”Annie may have considered giving a response, but her Father’s snarl abated that.“Honey, you need to eat something. If you don’t want your hot dog, how about I get you some mac and cheese? Would that taste good?”“You’re not making her another meal, Eileen. She either eats this, or she goes to bed!”Annie stood up from the table, not bothering to look at the brilliance of her feet as she marched off. She went right up to the base of the stairs and began heading up in a heavy-footed manner to let her parents know she was not pleased. The pinks and blues of the shoes filled the top of the stairwell as she got to the end, going straight for her room without bothering to turn on the light. She didn’t take off her shoes, her socks, she didn’t even change into her favorite kitten pajamas. She simply climbed up into the small bed in the corner of what best resembled a large closet and put her head on the pillow.Muffled shouts and groans carried up the stairwell, Annie paying mind to none of them as she shut her eyes tight to try and fall asleep.“Go to bed. Go to bed. Go to bed!”If her Mother came up to say goodnight that night, Annie didn’t hear it. She was out within the hour after letting her tears drain her of energy. The room was still dark, but Annie could see. She saw everything. The small dresser, the door creaked open just a tad, the edge of her blankets which created a barrier of protection around her. Even though she knew it was night, she couldn’t find it in herself to feel tired. She was just… wired.In a strange move, she got out of bed and looked out her second-story window to the backyard. She gasped as her mind registered that their fence was gone, in its place a wide open field. Her heart sped up as a massive smile grew on her face, seeing a herd of unicorns grazing in the bright green pasture.Excitedly, she ran downstairs and out into the backyard, not even noticing that it was now as bright as noonday out there.“Unicorns!” she exclaimed, running towards the majestic creatures. They looked up at her, almost smiling as they began to run away in a playful frolic. Annie laughed, spinning in circles as she followed. “Wait for me! Wait for me!”The creatures were now in a full-on sprint, practically gliding through the air as their powerful legs allowed them to leap for seemingly miles at a time. Annie began to feel herself doing likewise, making massive bounds as she got closer and closer to the horses—She was suddenly stopped, jerked out of the air in an instant. Her feet went gently back towards the ground, the large hand around her chest being cautious as it lowered her.“Be careful there, little one,” came a strange voice. “There’s a cliff right there. Last time I checked, only unicorns can fly.”Annie looked up, her eyes filled with wonder as she saw what was standing before her. A dark figure towered above, leaning over her like a muscular tent. He wasn’t dark in the sense of his skin or hair or anything, he just seemed encased in a shadow. He had a bald head, two piercing black eyes which somehow gave off a glow. He had no nose, but his mouth—oh, there certainly was a mouth alright. It was full of crooked teeth, yellow, to a certain degree. But, it didn’t make the man look unattractive to any degree. The rotten teeth almost seemed charming. The black and red vest which he wore Annie soon realized was more of a body suit, as no more of his skin below the collar was shown anywhere. His hands, though, his hands were huge! Massive, talon-like paws which could easily wrap around Annie’s entire body, as they just had when he grabbed her.“Who… who are you?” Annie stuttered, a sense of unease washing over her.“Why, me? I’m Mister Wink.”Annie raised an eyebrow. “Mister… Wink?”“Yes. They call me that because I wink at people who I like,” he said, winking at Annie. She blushed.“You like me?”“Why, of course I like you! You seem like a fun little girl!”“But… I’m not fun. I just cost money.”He frowned. “No, not at all my darling! How could someone so beautiful like you be unfun?”She chuckled. “You’re nice.”“Well,” he huffed, playfully. “I try to be. Being nice to people is what keeps the Earth turning, you know.”“It is?”“It sure is. Without niceness, nothing could ever happen!”Annie frowned. “Nothing ever happens at my house.”“Nonsense. I’m sure you have a lovely home.”“No. Mommy and Daddy scream a lot. Screaming isn’t nice.”“No, you’re right, it isn’t. But I’m sure your Mommy and Daddy are nice in other ways?”Annie was too focused on looking down at the grass to notice the smile which crept across Mister Wink’s face. “I don’t know. Maybe.”“Well, here, little Miss Annie, everything is nice all the time.”She looked up to gawk at him. “You knew my name!”“But of course. I can read minds, you know.”“Really?”“Really.”“Okay…” She squinted, trying to think. “…what am I thinking of now?”Mister Wink made a face as he extended his hand out towards her head, mushing his features together as he stuck out his tongue as if in deep thought.“You’re thinking of… your kitty cat pajamas!”She laughed. “No, I’m thinking of the number seven! You silly goose, you can’t read minds!”Mister Wink laughed. “Maybe not, but I’m practicing.”Annie continued to chuckle, smiling up at this strange new friend she seemed to have made.“Are you hungry, Annie?”She nodded. Mister Wink turned around, bringing out a bowl of ice cream. Annie gasped, a wave of excitement coming over her.“Ice cream?”“Ice cream!”“Yay! Oh, thank you Mister Wink! This is exciting!”“I couldn’t be any happier to give it to you.”She took a large spoonful, licking her lips as she ate.“Thanks!”“You’re very much welcome.”She downed the ice cream, smiling as she did so. She found herself staring off into the distance at the vast fields around her and Mister Wink, unsure what exactly to do next.“I think school is coming again soon.”“Yes, yes. You’d best be off to school,” Mister Wink said. Annie stood up, waving him goodbye as she began running back to her house. Things… things started becoming fuzzy. Started shaking, even. Shaking, fuzziness…“Annie!”She opened her eyes to look at her Mom with a dazed expression.“Annie, it’s time to get ready for school.”“Okay…” she grumbled, turning to climb out of bed.“I’ll have breakfast ready for you in ten minutes. I love you.”She departed the room, leaving Annie in there by herself. She looked out the window, frowning when she saw the fence outside.“Dream,” she sighed. She climbed off the bus, the afternoon sun beating down on her as she crossed the street to her house. She hadn’t been feeling well that day. Her heart just seemed to be in a perpetual state of sinking all throughout Misses Carson’s lessons.She mosied up to the front door, the yellow patches of grass in their yard of weeds white noise by this point. She put her hand to the doorknob, staring at the oh so familiar patches of chipped paint as she twisted the handle and went through.The subtle sounds of rock ‘n’ roll became more aggressive as she stepped inside, the smell of beer filling her nostrils.“Hey, Annie!” her Father shouted as she walked in. She glared at him.“Yeah?”“Turn out the lights when you go upstairs, will ya?”She nodded slowly as her Father’s concourse of sickly looking friends stared at her, half with a wild smile and half with a menacing frown.“Good girl. Good girl, Annie.”She made her way over to the stairwell, shutting off the lights.“Heck yeah, Paul! This is way better in the dark.”Annie ran up the stairs as quickly as she could, immediately turning left to go to her room. She went in and put her backpack down, any thought of doing the assigned spelling homework far from her mind. She instead sat on her bed, wondering where her Mother was. She never went to these sorts of things. She was probably out shopping, making that her excuse as to why she couldn’t be her husband’s “babe.”Shouts and hoots reverberated up the stairwell, and Annie climbed in bed and put the pillow over her ears to dilute their potency. Before long, she found herself getting sleepier, and sleepier….A sudden noise jolted her from her slumber. She looked up to see a hole in her window, some sort of ball had been thrown in.“Throw it back!” came a familiar voice. Annie went up to the window, looking out skeptically.She gasped. “Mister Wink!”“Annie, come out and play ball with me!”She turned and looked at the pink baseball, which almost seemed to be smiling. Excitedly, she rushed over to grab the thing and began running down the stairs. The house was suddenly empty, an eerie sense of silence over the living room which had been chaotic just a few minutes ago. Annie paid no mind to it, though, she was just happy that her new friend was back.She rounded the corner, ball in hand, and went right up to Mister Wink and gave him a bigger hug than she’d ever given either of her parents.“Mister Wink! I thought you were a dream!”He reciprocated the embrace, squeezing her tight. “Well, then, you would have thought right!”She stepped back. “What?”“I am a dream.”She looked around herself. “You mean… I’m dreaming?”“Yep. You’re really back in your bed right now with the pillow over your head.”She turned around, the flowers in the sky suddenly making sense.“So, I’m not really awake?”“If you were really awake, would the grass be frosting?”She suddenly became aware that her feet were bare, enveloped in some sort of soft and squishy texture.“Woah!” She bent down and put a glob on her finger, sticking it into her mouth. “This is awesome!”Mister Wink smiled, his crooked yellow teeth giving off an odd feeling Annie couldn’t quite put her finger on.“So, little miss Annie, what should we do first?”She beamed at him, her senses full of wonder.“Can we fly?”“You mean like in a… plane?”He sidestepped, revealing a small crop duster behind him.“Woah! You can fly a plane?”“I think that you can fly a plane too, can’t you?”She was suddenly wearing white gloves, in a small suit resembling the suits of the flight attendants she’d seen on television.“Maybe I can!”“Good! Larry, fuel us up!”Annie looked around Mister Wink to see a small boy carrying a hose to the plane.Annie stared at the boy, waiting for him to turn around. He looked her age. Same height, a familiar children’s hairdo, body proportions that would suggest he was indeed a Kindergartener. He never did, though, simply fueling up the plane hurriedly and running off once he got it done.“Come on, Annie!” Mister Wink exclaimed, grabbing her hand. Her thoughts turned away from the boy, and she sprinted to keep up with the lanky legs of Mister Wink.“Can I drive it?”“Sure can!”He helped her up into the cockpit, climbing in the seat right behind her. He tucked his knees up into his chest comically, again making faces which caused Annie to laugh.“You’re so funny, Mister Wink.”“My Momma raised me to please!”She started the engine, somehow knowing how it worked. A huge grin on her face, she took off and soared into the sky. Annie stared out the window of the bus, hands on the foggy glass pane as she squinted to try and get one last glimpse of the neighborhood before they turned the corner. Every day they passed through that neighborhood with green lawns and fresh sidewalks. She thought it was so pretty, she tried to soak up every last moment of it she could. Alas, though, it was always fleeting. Before long she had to look at the boring old familiarity of her neighborhood, dreading coming home to her belligerent Father and powerless Mother.Alas, the bus did indeed stop, and she got out of her seat to walk towards the front, through the swarths of straight-faced kids. She got down and crossed the street, her shoes lighting up the cracks in the road and sidewalk with blue and pink flashes. She got to her front door and went in, not bothering to dust off her shoes before coming into the house.“Hi, Annie! How was school today?”Annie didn’t respond at first, looking around hesitantly. Her Father didn’t seem to be there. Maybe she could talk.“Okay.”“Yeah? What did you do?”“We talked about spelling today.”“Oh? What’s the longest word you can spell?”She got a grin. “There. T, H, E, R, E. There.”“Good job!” her Mother cried. “Oh, honey, I’m so proud of you!”She went in for a hug, a sense of warmth coming upon her.“I love you Mommy.”“I love you too, Annie.”“Well, don’t tell your Father, but I got you something special at the store yesterday. I wanted to give it to you last night, but you were asleep.”Her eyes widened. “What is it?”She pulled out a small chocolate bar from behind her back, flashing the shiny label. Annie’s eyes got wider, and her grin became uncontrollable.“Oh, thank you! Thank you thank you thank you Mommy!”“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”A slam of the door, and their hearts simultaneously froze. Around the corner marched Paul.“What are you saying thank you for?”Annie hung her head, hiding the bar behind her back.”“Oh! Uh… nothing, dear. What… what are you doing home so early?”“I got laid off.”“Laid off or fired?”“Shut it, Eileen. What’s Annie so excited about?”“Nothing, Paul. She was just happy to be home.”“Uh-huh. ‘Cause kids always say ‘thank you’ when they’re just excited about being home.” He bent down to stare Annie in the eye. “What was it, kid?”“Nothing, Paul!”“Shut up!” He jumped back to his full height, putting his hand on Eileen’s face and pushing her backward. She stumbled into the wall, falling to the ground. “What was it, kid?”Annie’s tears ran on either side of her lips, but the lips themselves stayed firmly in place.“I asked you a question, sweetheart. What did Mommy give you?”Shaking, she brought out the golden wrapped chocolate bar, handing it over.“Eileen… I got laid off today! You know we can’t afford these luxuries!”“I bought it yesterday before you were laid off!”“How am I supposed to believe you?”“Because I didn’t find out until just now!”Annie stepped out of the way as her Father marched past her, a scent of fermented rice and barely following close behind him. She turned away and went for the stairs, sprinting up them right to her bedroom. She slammed the door behind her, the echo of it only drowning out the shouts for but a moment. She jumped in bed, closing her eyes and thinking of Mister Wink.“Please come here, Mister Wink. Please. Please, Mister Wink, please.”Her ears felt about ready to burst. She could feel them rattling like the ground in an earthquake, the pressure building like a geyser right before it pops. Oh, she couldn’t handle it. It was too much. It was—Silence.She sat up, looking around the room. It was darker than she remembered, like the light of an evening sun. She stepped over to the window and was delighted to see her friend out in the backyard.“Come on down, little miss Annie! We’re about to watch a movie!”Annie excitedly went flying down the stairs, through their empty halls and towards their backyard. She stepped out into a wonderland. The trees were covered in pink and purple blossoms, the grass tickled just so, and butterflies filled the space.“Come, sit down next to me!” Mister Wink shouted. “We’re about to pick out the movie!”Annie rushed over, sitting down on the couch made of flowers Mister Wink was sitting on.“What movie are we going to watch?”“I don’t know, how about you choose?”Annie looked over at Mister Wink, smiling. Her smile… her smile faded just a little, though. She… she saw that boy again. Standing off to the side, facing away. There were two of them, actually. Two boys and another little girl, all standing facing away.Annie’s smile grew. “Friends!”Mister Wink turned to look where she was looking. “Oh. Them? They didn’t want to watch a movie with us.”“Oh… why not?”“They… just didn’t want to.”Annie frowned. “Oh. I thought they would watch with us.”She felt the gentle touch of Mister Wink’s talon on her chin, turning her head upwards. “Would it make you happy if they did watch with us?”She nodded. “Yeah.”Mister Wink smiled. “Well, if it makes you happy, then it makes me happy. Kiddos! Come and watch the movie with us!”Annie looked up at the kids, waiting for them to come running over and excitedly join them. Instead… she developed a sense of confusion as all three slowly began spinning around. They did it at the same rate, all going counterclockwise. The backs of their heads became the fronts of their heads, a massive grin plastered on each of them. It was… it was the biggest grin Annie had ever seen out of anyone. It almost literally went from ear to ear. It wasn’t a thin smile, either. It was a large, toothy grin with puffy lips and wrinkled eyes. Their eyes… though. Their eyes weren’t… they weren’t in line with the rest of their face. They were in their proper positions, sure, but they didn’t seem right, somehow. Almost like they were saying something different from their wide toothy grins. Their eyes… they just… betrayed their expressions.“We like to make Mister Wink happy,” one of them said. The three of them walked over and sat down in front of Annie and Mister Wink on the couch, staring at the massive television screen.“Alright, Annie, what should we watch?”“Do you have any horse movies?” she asked excitedly.“We sure do! Let’s find some!”Despite the strong sense of comfort she felt as Mister Wink placed his hand around her shoulder, Annie had a pit in her stomach. She couldn’t understand why. Coming to this dream world she was having the time of her life. There was no fighting, no yelling, no hitting or slapping. Everything was just so perfect here. She didn’t want it to ever end. Annie sat at her desk the next day, staring out the window at all the other children on the playground. She didn’t get recess today. She had hit a boy who called her ugly. It didn’t seem fair. He started it, afterall. She was just showing him what he was good for. Nothing.She breathed in and let out a sigh, turning her head over to look at the bulletin board. It was covered in her and her classmate’s artwork. They were all supposed to draw their house. Lots of kids used bright colors in theirs, using the greenest crayons they could find to draw the trees and grass around them. Annie had just used yellow. It made more sense to her.“Hey… turn that frown upside down!”Annie sat up, looking right at Mister Wink.“Mister Wink? Am I sleeping right now?”“You sure are. Stand up!”She did so, turning around to look at her not so empty chair. There she was, eyes closed and her stomach only gently falling and rising.“Yes! I’m asleep!” she exclaimed. “Mister Wink, I’m glad you came!”“Of course! I hate to see you sad.”She blushed. “You wanna play?”“What else would I want to do with my best friend?”Smiling, she took his massive hand and led him outside.“We can go back to my house and I can show you my doll!” she said excitedly. “She has black hair and blue eyes and her dress is purple!”“Oh, she sounds lovely, Annie, but I’m afraid I can’t go.”Annie slowed to a trot, turning around quizzically. “But… why not?”“I… I can only go inside someone’s house if I’m invited in. I can’t if you don’t invite me in.”“But… I did just invite you in.”“No no, you have to say the specific words to invite me in.”“Well, what are they?”He got down on one knee, his black glowing eyes staring into her bright hazel ones. “Can you promise me that you’ll say them if I tell them to you?”She nodded. “Of course!”“Excellent!”Mister Wink clapped his hands, and a school bus suddenly drove up. The doors opened, revealing one of those smiling boys from last night was in the driver’s seat.“I love to make Mister Wink happy,” he said.“No, Annie,” Mister Wink began. “You’re sure that you’ll say them?”“I promise!”“Okay, say: ‘I, Annie Lewis—’”“I, Annie Lewis!”“—do hereby solemnly swear—”“Do hereby solemnly swear!”“—to allow Mister Lucius Winker—”“To allow Mister Lucius Winker!”“—to enter into my home—”“To enter into my home!”“—and grant him all the rights—”“And grant him all the rights!”“—associated with his presence as an entity.”“Associated with his presence as an entity.”Mister Wink smiled, the glow from his eyes suddenly diminishing.“Excellent.”Annie was suddenly jolted awake, her teacher’s palm on her shoulder.“Recess is over, Annie, time to wake up.”She sighed, looking around for Mister Wink. He was nowhere to be found, and she turned her attention back to Misses Carson’s lessons.“I want to sleep,” she muttered. Mister Wink and her hadn’t even gotten the chance to play together. He just… left. Left her all alone, back in the world where her parents fought and shouted and nobody at school wanted to be her friend. A single tear rolled down her face, her gut clenching. Annie was up in her room shortly that evening. Her Father was the only one home, her Mother out on the hunt for a job. He kicked her out of the living room quite quickly, which she didn’t mind, she didn’t like the smell of his beer. She had gone right up to her room and shut the door, then went and sat on her bed. She stared at the ground, her brow furrowed and fists clenched. She lifted her pillow, knuckles getting whiter and whiter.“Ergh!” she cried, throwing the pillow across the room. “I hate it! I hate it I hate it I hate it!”“Hey, Annie, there’s no need to hate.”Annie looked up in confusion, staring at Mister Wink from across the room.“I’m… I’m sleeping?”“No. You’re not sleeping.”“But then… how are you here?”“You invited me in, remember?”“Yeah… but I thought you could only be in dreams.”“Oh, Annie. Sweet little miss Annie. I can only be in the dreams of those who don’t invite me in. But now, you let me into the real world.”Annie felt herself getting excited, running over to Mister Wink to deliver to him a big old hug. But…She hit the wall. She ran right into it.She turned around, rubbing her forehead.“Mister Wink?”“Yes, child?”“How come I didn’t feel you?”He got down on one knee, his body making a crunching noise which Annie had never heard before. Every degree his leg bent another pop and crack sounded. Until he was at Annie’s eye level.“Because, I can only talk to you when you’re awake. In order to play together, you still have to be asleep.”Annie scowled, plopping down to the floor. “So you’re here now but I still can’t play with you.”Annie heard the front door downstairs open, and it wasn’t long before the cacophony of shouts and growls filled the house.“Mister Wink, will you help me go to sleep? I don’t want to hear Daddy fight Mommy.”“Oh, Annie, of course I’ll help you go to sleep.” He turned and nodded at someone, his crooked grin seeming to fill the room with a sense Annie couldn’t quite describe. Out from behind him one of the smiling children came, his right hand encased in a metal ring with a chain leading back to Mister Wink. Annie raised an eyebrow.“Why… why are you connected with him?”Mister Wink’s lips curled into a gleeful snarl. “They get afraid when they’re separated from me. I make them join me with these chains.” He lifted up a bundle of the linked rings, which Annie had failed to notice before. “You just can’t see them in the dream world.”Annie’s stomach contorted, something primitive inside of her telling her that she needed to get out. To run. To leave and never think of Mister Wink again. But she didn’t understand those feelings. Mister Wink had been nothing but nice to her. He’d been the parent she’d never have. Someone tender, like her Mother, but strong and independent at the same time. He never yelled, or hit, or slapped, or said mean words. He was so nice. The nicest person on the planet, in Annie’s opinion.She shook away those odd feelings, feelings she knew were false.“So… will you help me? Help me fall asleep?”“Yes. Curtis, come here.”The boy walked forward, his massive grin outlined by trails of tears on either side.“I love making Mister Wink happy,” he said, voice shaking. He extended his arms, handing something to Annie. She reached out and took it, staring at the bright orange and white bottle.“This… this is Mommy’s medicine.”“Annie?”“Yes?”“Do you want to stay with your parents?”She shook her head fervently. “No! No! I don’t like it here! Daddy is so mean!”“Would you want to stay with me?”“Oh, yes! Yes Mister Wink! You’re so nice, you make me feel like I’m loved!” Her tears seemed to be a strange combination of happiness, relief, and terror.“If you take those, Annie, you can stay with me… for forever.”She looked back and forth between him and the capsule, nodding slowly.“Promise? For forever?”“I promise you, Annie. Open the case.”Her hands grabbed hold of it, a strength she had never felt before suddenly coming over her as she broke the seal.“How many?”“All of them.” His smile was becoming wilder and wilder by the second, the glow in his eyes now completely replaced by a black void. “Every last one.”She lifted one pill out of the jar, putting it on her tongue and swallowing. She did it again. And again.Mister Wink no longer seemed to have skin, just a black nothingness only broken up by the wild smile his jagged yellow fangs curled into and the eyes which absorbed everything that touched them. Slowly, Annie started to lose feeling in her throat. Then her chest, and she collapsed. Her legs felt weak, her hands shaking as she continued to swallow the pills.“Smile, Annie.” His voice had turned deep, and the pit in her stomach cried louder.She couldn’t help but obey, smiling and nodding as she slowly became aware of the weight which appeared on her right wrist.“You like making me happy, don’t you?”“Yes, Mister Wink. Yes.” Credit: The Quiet One Copyright Statement: Unless explicitly stated, all stories published on Creepypasta.com are the property of (and under copyright to) their respective authors, and may not be narrated or performed under any circumstance.