This post is part of Writer’s Digest February Flash Fiction Challenge. Flash Fiction is a short, often under 1,000 words, style of writing. I hope you enjoy my 28 contributions!
Day 27 Prompt: Something That Makes You Laugh
Big Sky Gazette
March 8, 1936
The Mysterious Case of the Giggles
An inexplicable phenomenon known as “contagious giggles” grips Laurel Township, five miles southwest of Billings.
LAUREL, March 7 – Susanna Gumphrey, describes the odd scene. During dinner on Saturday night, Susanna’s grandson, eight-year-old Jeremy Gumphrey, accidentally flung his mashed potatoes, striking his five-year-old sister, Helen, in the face. Quite suddenly, the table erupted in an uncontrollable laughter that refused to subside.
“It really is entirely inexplicable. One moment, we are enjoying a big family dinner, the next, we are rolling on the floor laughing. It was rather uncomfortable and painful,” said Adrian Gumphrey, Jeremy’s father.
Members of the Gumphrey family described that unfolding situation. Grandfather, Robert Gumphrey, excused himself in between heaving chortles, to go outside and get fresh air. While laughter continued to sound from the small home on 1st Avenue, a couple out for an evening stroll seemingly caught the laughter bug from Robert. Mr. and Mrs. Allen Clifton began laughing inexplicably at the sight of Robert and hearing the laughter from inside the home.
Before long, neighbors emerged from their homes to inspect the cause of the disruption, only to be infected themselves.
“I’ve never seen anything like it. I joined my husband outside, unable to catch my breath inside the cramped dining room. When I got outside, there must have been fifteen people hunched over in a fit of the giggles!” added Sarah Gumphrey, the children’s mother.
After nearly two hours, thirty-three people in all claimed to have been infected with this mysterious spell. Four individuals had to be hospitalized after complaining about chest pains, while another six individuals became physically sick after the relentless belly pains. Minor flare-ups were reported for the next several hours, the most recent just one hour prior to the printing of today’s edition.
The Gazette consulted local psychologist, Dr. Edmund Schneer, who summarized the event in the following way: “This odd phenomenon is just that, a phenomenon. Inexplicable, scientifically dumbfounding, and completely random.”
