“Make Me Laugh”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

“Make me laugh.”

I wake up in complete darkness. My hands are tied behind my back and there’s rough fabric pulled over my mouth, preventing me from making a sound. There’s also some seriously creepy music playing from behind me, which is really freaking me out.

Then, footsteps.

They’re heavy, thumping against the ground with muffled stomps. My heart thuds at twice the speed of the footsteps, pounding at my rib cage.

The footsteps grow louder as they approach where I’m sitting.

Then, they stop. Unfortunately, my heart continues beating at the speed of light.

A piercing light appears above me, temporarily blinding me. I squeak a bit into the cloth over my mouth and squeeze my eyes tightly shut, shrinking back from the light.

A wait a few moments before slowly blinking.

Immediately, I jump back again. Right in front of me is about the ugliest man I’ve ever seen.

All his teeth are either rotting or crooked and he’s got hair pretty much everywhere. And don’t even get me started on his skin; all I’ll say is that moisturizer isn’t going to do much for him anymore.

He peers at me intently, tilting his head slightly as if he’s an inquisitive puppy. I can feel–and smell–his breath and I recoil in disgust.

His chapped lips slowly stretch upward into a smile. Blood trickles down his chin as his lips crack.

He opens his mouth and a soft, scratchy voice whispers, “Make me laugh.”

I simply stare at him in horror. To be completely honest, even if I wasn’t frozen in place by sheer terror, I’m not sure I’d be able to make him laugh without using my hands or mouth.

As if reading my mind, the man licks his lips, lapping up the blood, and says, “Ah, yes, of course.” He pulls down the fabric over my mouth and snarls, “Is that better?”

Again, being frozen in place by sheer terror doesn’t really make great comedy.

Although, this man may think the opposite.

His grin widens even more, as do his eyes. He begins cackling maniacally, throwing his head back and clutching his stomach.

I can only stare at him, my brain and heart racing to find an escape.

He stops laughing just as suddenly as he’d started. His eyes snap back to mine and he pulls out a knife.

“Not funny enough,” he hisses before raising his knife.

Final Comments: Ah, this one felt better. I mean, not better because of how dark the story was, but better as in the writing flowed much easier than it has been for the past couple of days. I swear I’m not insane…

Overall Rating: 😅