Laughing Outside Crying Inside Novels & Stories

Jason said nodding. I smiled weakly. But inside I was crying and screaming.

We had just scared each other half to death. The absurdity of it all slammed into me so suddenly that I could not stop myself. I burst out laughing. At first it was just a small sound that escaped my chest, a breathy giggle that surprised even me. Then it grew, spilling out in waves, until I had to bend slightly at the waist, my free hand pressing against my stomach as laughter shook through me. “Oh my God,” I said between breaths, tears stinging the corners of my eyes. “You two screamed like a pair of teenage girls in a haunted house.”

“Hahaha—” Stephen suddenly laughed in anger. After a few laughs, he raised his hand and slapped himself hard. Smack! Once. Smack! Twice. Tears swirled in his eyes, but he did not seem to feel the pain at all. Adam and his assistant grabbed his hands, shouting, “Calm down!” Stephen’s laughter disappeared. He began to cry softly. Then, the crying grew louder until he was sobbing uncontrollably like a child.

She stared at me for a second then she started to laugh like something had finally snapped loose in her head. I stared at her, unimpressed and thoroughly done. She is still drunk and whatever was happening behind her eyes had nothing to do with me. I shook my head once and turned toward the door, leaving her there to deal with herself. Then I heard it. One sharp sniffle. Then another. I paused. By the time I turned back fully, the laughter had collapsed into something else entirely. She was crying. Tears streamed down her flushed cheeks as her body shook and folded in on itself until she was curled on the cold floor and heaving like she couldn’t get enough air. It was sudden and unrestrained

Lily stepped into her apartment, a hollow feeling clinging to her chest. The tears she had been holding back finally streamed down her face. She felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, the memory of the restroom conversation gnawing at her mind. The laughter, the mockery—it echoed in her thoughts, amplifying her pain.

They cry inside their hospital room. *DAMN! I DO NOT WANT TO BE PART OF THIS FAM. JUST WHY? WHY CAN'T I JUST GO AWAY? I'M SICK OF HEARING SOMEONE CRYING.* Because deep inside Joanabe, (Joenabell) knows that she can remember herself crying alone with no one to hold and to shoulder on. She's a living empty soul. The loud mourns of crying are all that can audible in this room. AFTER A WEEK OF THAT DAY

I couldn't bring myself to look that pathetic in front of the person who hurt me. I stared at the wall, my eyes burning. My breathing slowed, but my heart still felt like it had been stomped on. Like it was being buried alive. And then the softest sound escaped me. A laugh. A single broken laugh. I was crying and laughing at the same time, because it was all just so ridiculous. My life. This hospital. The people I was surrounded with. The woman I was trying to become. Was it worth it? Was any of this even worth it?

“Don’t apologize. I’m glad you told me.” She sniffed, her nose turning pink. Laughed again, this time watery and choked with emotion. “You’re gonna make me cry in public, bitch.” “Same.” I sniffed. We sat there for a minute, crying and laughing at the same time, tears mixing with smiles, people at the next table glancing over and then politely looking away. It felt ridiculous. It felt good. It felt ridiculous, absurd, like something out of a cheesy movie. It felt good, cathartic, like a weight had been lifted from both of our shoulders.

Mine dissolved, breaking apart into raw, racking sobs that tore from my chest, each one shaking me like an earthquake. And there, with Claire watching helplessly, I shattered all over again. “I—I’m sorry,” I choked between shallow gasps, my voice breaking as I smeared at the tears streaking my cheeks with trembling fingers. “I think it’s just my pregnant hormones. I can’t stop—” My throat caught as a strangled laugh escaped me. “I can’t stop laughing and crying at the same time.” The sound was hysterical, cracked, the laughter of someone too far gone to tell the difference between humor and despair. Claire didn’t laugh with me. She only watched, her gaze heavy with sorrow, her silence scream

His face twists in surprise. I laugh loudly, unapologetically. The sound echoing off the walls of the room. It's the type of laugh where your stomach muscles hurt, your eyes water and you don't even know if you're crying or laughing anymore. "Excuse me..." I wipe the corners of my eyes, drying off the tears of laughter. "I thought I heard you say..." Another burst of laughter breaks free. Unrestrained. I slap my knee through the fabric of my dress as I laugh harder.