When His Favorite Joke Walked Away Novels & Stories

" After she left, I found a tiny crack of light in all that darkness. I went to the prison and told Joshua everything. He broke down, sobbing, begging me to forgive him. But I was done listening. Fifteen years later, he got out. Mid-forties, but he looked ancient—worn out and hollow. I saw him outside our Michelin-starred restaurant—me, Philip, and our son were just walking in. Some old man was digging through the trash. He looked up and locked eyes with me. Recognized me in a second. Just stood there, staring. Didn't say a word. Then he turned and walked off. Never saw him again.

Was he observing us all this time like a hawk? "How did you know?" I asked, and he shrugged. "I'm good at observing." He said, and I nodded. This was so awkward. I wanted to run away. "Hey, you wanna hear a joke?" He asked, and I took a deep breath, finally giving him my full attention. I should appreciate his bravery for coming up to me and talking to me. ..... I chuckled when he told me a lame joke. He had a lot of them, and the poor guy looked like he was trying to find someone who would listen to them. In his world, there was no such person, but surprisingly, he found me.

The laughter that followed felt like a punch to the stomach. Heat flooded my face. There it was. The joke everybody expected. The joke everybody laughed at. The joke I pretended didn’t matter. Walk away. That’s what I always did. Walk away and survive another day. But something felt different. Maybe because I’d barely slept. Maybe because Mom had left before sunrise again and forgotten to say goodbye. Maybe because I was exhausted from carrying around the weight of everybody else’s opinions. Or maybe I was simply done. For once. Just once.

Bright and early the next day, I showed up at the office as usual. I ignored the whispers and stares, and made a beeline for my desk to start clearing it out. That was when Lily waltzed over, oozing fake sympathy. "Janice, can't you take a joke? "Come on, it was just a little toilet cleaning. Why'd you have to go and tell Mr. Hoffman you're quitting? No need to blow things out of proportion. "Look, I'll even dip into my own wallet and toss you a little extra cash to make up for it.

he called out, "I never teared up in front of you. That was just an act." ​Before I could even process the joke, he turned and walked out the door, leaving me standing there with a goofy grin on my face.

On matriculation day, I carried my acceptance letter to the campus grounds to register alone. But before I could cross the threshold, the guards drove me back into the street with their anti-riot forks. Humiliated and bewildered, I reached for my phone to call my childhood friend, Daisy Reid. A sharp laughter rippled through the receiver. “Violet, are you truly that blind behind those glasses? The letter you swept off the desk was a forgery I mocked up. Your actual one is still sitting at home.” Panicked, I hastily booked a return ticket and hurried back to search for my letter. I scoured the house for hours, turning up nothing. Just then, Daisy’s personalized ringtone sang out from my palm.

"If I hadn't looked, how would I have known that the person my fiance loves the most is his ex-girlfriend?" A flicker of guilt flashed through Jared's eyes, but he immediately blustered to cover it up. "It's just a joke between friends! Must you make such a big deal out of it? I swear, you're getting more and more unreasonable every day!" With that, he haphazardly stuffed the gift boxes back into his suitcase, picked it up, and stormed off to the guest room. All that was left was that cheap pair of pearl earrings lying alone on the floor.

Ten years after being reunited with my birth family, the Lancasters, I still reign as the family's undisputed attention magnet. When Dad forgets to take his medication, I put on a pair of sunglasses, barge into the conference room, and take away his coffee. "Mr. Lancaster, you're suspected of abusing your stomach. Please come with me." He scowls as he takes his medication, while the other shareholders fight hard to contain their laughter. When Mom has insomnia and can't sleep, I put on a white bedsheet and drift into the room. "Your application for an early death has been rejected as your daughter objected to it." She scolds me for saying such cursed things, yet tears stream down her f

The day before Thanksgiving, my younger sister, Lily, suddenly offered to braid my hair. I had barely sat down when I heard the sharp snip of scissors behind me. The hair I had spent seven years growing for my winter marking ceremony had been cut off at the nape of my neck. Rowan had once promised that when we officially became mates, he would pin up my hair himself and place a moonstone crown on my head. But Lily collapsed onto the couch laughing, still clutching the severed length of hair. “Sorry! I cut off a little too much. Claire, you look like a wolf who failed to shed properly!” My mother laughed too. “It looks better this way. At least you won’t wear it loose all the time.” My father

We were walking in absolute silence, until Joan cracked a joke. “Why did the chicken cross the mountain? To get to the other side!” she declared, but we all just stared at her in confusion. Donatello’s laughter pierced through the harsh silent judgement she was receiving. It made everyone smile. Everyone except Arthur and I that is. It was pretty funny how everyone just stared at her in disgust of her joke, but I couldn’t help but not smile. I just didn’t want to be happy.