BANNISTER PRESS

The silence in the apartment fills the space, her ears, her head. She coughs when she thinks about the quiet— a warm wet blanket pressing across her face. If she listens carefully, from behind her bedroom door she hears whispering, no— whimpering, no— weeping.

Janel lives alone.

“In A Quiet Smile” by C. Piveral dips into horror with the story of Janel and Dottie’s creepy smile. It’s been weeks since Janel left her apartment. Dottie’s quiet smile and judgment drain the energy she needs to face the outside world. Dottie never leaves. 

C. Piveral‘s stories combine the dark and whimsical. Her short fiction has appeared in magazines and anthologies such as Flame Tree Press’s Robots & Artificial Intelligence, ZNB Presents: Year One, Common Deer Press’s Short Tails, Apparition Lit, and more. 

How did you come up with an idea for your story? 

I am fascinated by the idea of the “uncanny valley” when things are almost human but not quite. Many years ago I worked for a costume shop where I was sometimes hired for singing telegrams and costumed events. A big phobia for many people are clowns. The reason I learned is because the clown hits a sort of “uncanny valley” of emotions. Because many clowns are always smiling you can’t read their true emotions.

I started thinking the same is true for those antique porcelain dolls because their expressions never change. Have you ever had the experience of someone smiling at you while they wished you harm? Aggressive smiling is a sort of visual gaslighting.

Dottie, this cherubic character, walked onto the page and started giving her hurtful opinions with a smile on her face.  

How does your story relate to the theme of “feeling other”? 

The anthology call was perfect for “In A Quiet Smile,” because so often we listen to these negative opinions and they keep us separated. We see others going about their daily business and think we don’t belong out there among them. We let shame and self-criticism prevent us from interacting. To borrow from the ’70s film “When A Stranger Calls,” often the call is coming from inside the house.

How do you keep your creative spark alive?

Years ago Jeanne Cavelos, my Odyssey Workshop leader, introduced me to the “leaf-mould” as described by Tolkien. Everything that you read, all art and essay, and all experiences go into the compost heap of your mind. Once you have time to sit and play with all the things composting in your head that creative spark grows. Oh, and a dry erase board!

What’s next for you? Do you have any stories coming out in 2025?

In 2024, I finished a novel about a psychopomp (Death) who finds himself, after a recent encounter with the living, crying at songs on the radio and struggling to get souls to their hereafter doors. Souls start piling up and if he doesn’t set things right he might be the next one on Grimm’s list. I’ll be shopping that novel around in 2025 while I continue the next group of short stories. 

Thank you, C. Piveral!

For more of C. Piveral’s work, visit her website at www.cpiveral.com.
OTHER: the 2024 speculative fiction anthology can be found at Amazon.