Mr Dawson was an old grouch, and everyone in town knew it. Children knew not to go into his yard to pick a yummy apple, even off the ground, because old Daws, they said, would come after you with his BB gun.

One Friday, 12-year-old Janet was going to stay all night with her friend Amy. They had to walk by Daws house on the way to Amy’s house, but as they got close Janet saw him sitting on his front porch and suggested they cross over to the other side of the street. Like most of the children, she was scared of the old man because of the stories she’d heard about him.

Amy said, “Don’t worry Mr Dawson wouldn’t hurt anyone”. Still, Janet was growing more nervous with each step closer to the old man’s house. When they got close enough, Daws looked up with his usual frown, but when he saw it was Amy, a broad smile changed his entire countenance as he said, “Hello Miss Amy. I see you’ve got a little friend with you today.”

Amy smiled back and told him Janet was staying overnight and they were going to listen to music and play games. Daws told them that sounded fun, and offered them each a fresh picked apple off his tree. They gladly accepted, Daws had the best apples in town.

When they got out of Daws’ earshot, Janet asked Amy, “Everyone says he is the meanest man in town. How come he was he so nice to us?”

Amy explained that when she first started walking past his house he wasn’t very friendly and she was afraid of him, but she pretended he was wearing an invisible smile and so she always smiled back at him. It took a while, but one day he half-smiled back at her.

After some more time, he started smiling real smiles and then started talking to her. Just a “hello” at first, then more. She said he always offers her an apple now, and is always very kind.

“An invisible smile?” questioned Janet.

“Yes,” answered Amy, “my grandma told me that if I pretended I wasn’t afraid and pretended he was smiling an invisible smile at me and I smiled back at him, then sooner or later he really would smile. Grandma says smiles are contagious.” —Author Unknown