Ol’ Willie is one of the greeters that works the front entrance of the store during the day. He can only work during the day because at night he takes his true form. By day Willie is a short man, about as round as he is tall. His cottony puff of curly, gray hair circles his head like a cotton candy halo. His plump cheeks make his black eyes look like coals burning deep inside his skull. He walks with a limp, as if one of his legs is shorter than the other.
Sam told me that Willie’s true form is an ogre and that he spent half a century living in an old mining cave in a mountain not far from here. He survived off of eating cave spiders and mice until Catherine and her associates convinced him that he could live a normal life in town.
People say that ogres eat babies and small children, but Sam said that was part of the deal for bringing him back into civilization—he can’t eat any more children.
I haven’t seen his true form, and most people here won’t talk about it. I’ve heard whispers that he is ten feet still and still just as wide. He has two teeth that protrude like tusks from his bottom jaw. His skin becomes a steely gray, and he looks like an impenetrable rock wall.
Willie usually seems sad—almost hopeless, until a young mom comes in the store, pushing a stroller with a chubby, smiling toddler, or a tiny new baby in an infant carrier. Then his face grows soft, almost young and pink. His eyes crinkle at the edges as he smiles. All the babies love him and they smile back, like sheep grinning at the wolf.
