Something Light - The laugh that can't be stifled

Have you ever experienced this?

“Well, I saw that and wanted to laugh. Not just wanted to – I tell you that laugh was down in my stomach, like bad beef; it meant to come out. Desperately it strove for placid thoughts; which meant, of course, not looking at Mr. Holgen’s hat. Not thinking those words. And yet they called, like a summons, like a hissed invitation, SHOOT ME!, calling to the laugh inside my belly.

You want torture? A giggle crept up the old esophagus; I swallowed it down. My eyeballs watered. The worst of it was I seemed to be the only kid who’d noticed. Either that or everyone else had iron control, a terrible thought. I looked around; glazed faces everywhere. No one else had seen!

Oh, but that moment was a lonesome place. Mr. Holgren talked on; I molared the inside of my cheek; the laugh stayed put but I felt it down there, accruing strength. Goodness, it made me nervous…I swallowed about twelve times. Then Peter Emerson leaned over to my ear. “Bang”, he whispered. I knew defeat. Through mouth plastered hands the laugh ripped forth – hoo-hoo-ha-ha-wha-wha-wha – a ruddy bray that condemned me to the stares of aghast pilgrims and who knew what violent repercussions at the hands of Mr. Holgren. I laughed so hard my sight went dark.”

From Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger