The Smiling Friend

In the sweltering backroads of rural Louisiana, the old Briar Hollow Orphanage rots beneath moss and memory. The walls creak, the air smells of mildew and despair, and the children whisper about the boy in Room 12 - quiet, pale little Samuel, who's never without a smile.
He says he has a friend. An imaginary friend. One with feathery hands who loves to make people laugh... and laugh... until the sound dies in their throats. When the cruel caretaker, Miss Duvall, turns up dead - her face twisted in a rictus of hysterical joy - no one believes Samuel's story.

Then Marie, a kind-hearted woman sent to keep the orphanage running, tries to comfort the lonely boy. But as the nights grow longer and the laughter echoes through the halls again, Marie begins to realize the awful truth: Samuel's friend isn't imaginary at all... and it's so very eager to make her smile.