omg I just wanna say I loved your creep story and I physically NEED more your so fantastic at this 😭
You make me giggling and kicking my feets😋😋😋
The Last Laugh
Waring: the story is dark, psychology
❖
You were hired for your sense of humor
That’s what Josef said, anyway.
You were the kind of videographer who joked your way through everything, even the terrible parts of life. Comedy was your armor. Your friends said it protected you. Your parents said it covered up “concerning emotional avoidance.”
Josef said it made you “fresh.”
He said it like you were a fruit he was checking at the grocery store.
❖
Josef opened the cabin door with a grin that nearly split his face.
“(Y/N)! Oh man, you look even funnier in person.”
You blinked.
“In… what way?”
Josef clapped your shoulder. “In the way where I instantly want to be your best friend. Come in!”
Inside, the cabin was decorated like a kindergarten classroom run by a serial hoarder. Crayon drawings on the fridge. A rubber snake on the couch. A rocking horse in the corner.
“What’s all this?” you asked.
“Oh,” Josef said, waving his hand, “memories. Half of them aren’t even mine. I collect feelings the way people collect stamps.”
You laughed, unsure if it was a joke.
Josef leaned in.
“I like your laugh. It sounds scared.”
❖
He wanted to film a “life documentary,” though he never explained what that meant. The tasks were absurdly
He made you film him:
singing a lullaby to a pumpkin
giving a motivational speech to a houseplant
racing you through the woods while making monkey noises
staring at the sunset while whispering, “Time is a circle, (Y/N). Tick tock.”
You tried to be professional—really, you did.
But the absurdity got to you, and you kept cracking jokes.
“You know,” you said at one point, “this is exactly the kind of job my mother told me to avoid.”
Josef gasped dramatically.
“Your mother sounds so wise. I bet she hates fun.”
“She hates men in cabins,” you said.
Josef’s smile twitched.
“Ah. Smart woman.”
❖
It was after dinner—microwave burritos and Josef’s cheerful commentary about “digestive danger”—that the air shifted.
He sat across from you, hands folded like he was preparing to deliver a sermon.
“(Y/N),” he said softly, “I’ve been thinking about endings.”
“You mean endings to the film?”
Josef tilted his head.
“No. Endings to people.”
You went still.
Josef sighed dreamily.
“You know what I love about you? You laugh when you’re afraid. Most people scream. You? You make jokes. You turn your terror into comedy. It’s… beautiful.”
You tried to keep your voice steady.
“Josef, maybe I should—”
He cut you off with a raised finger.
“No. No running away yet. We’re having such a moment.”
He slowly stood up, chair scraping against the floor like a warning.
“Do you want to know something funny about me?” Josef asked.
You didn’t.
But he told you anyway.
“I used to put on puppet shows for my babysitters. They always laughed. They thought I was adorable. And the best part?”
He leaned close, breath warm on your cheek.
“I’d use their voices. Perfectly. They’d stare at me like I was possessed. And I loved it.”
He mimicked your laugh perfectly then—high, nervous, shaky.
Your stomach dropped.
“See?” Josef whispered. “We’re connected.”
❖
You ran.
Of course you ran.
But Josef didn’t chase immediately.
He walked.
Humming.
You darted into the woods behind the cabin, branches ripping at your sleeves. Every time you thought you’d gained distance, you heard him behind you—talking like you were on a leisurely hike together.
“(Y/N)! You’re so fast! This is great cardio for me!”
A laugh followed—unhinged yet delighted.
You tripped over a root, crashing to the ground. Pain shot up your leg, but you scrambled to your feet.
Josef’s voice drifted through the trees.
“I love the energy! Really! But you have to understand… all stories need an ending.
❖
You reached a clearing.
A dead end—steep rock wall, no way up.
Your breath hitched.
Josef stepped into the clearing, rain misting down around him, face lit with an innocent, almost childlike sadness.
“Oh, (Y/N),” he sighed. “I didn’t want it to be like this.”
Your legs trembled.
Josef walked closer, slow, deliberate, like approaching a frightened animal he wanted to pet.
“But you kept making me laugh,” he said gently. “You made the whole day feel like… friendship.”
He paused.
“And I can’t let anything end on a joke.”
You backed up until your spine pressed against cold rock.
Josef lifted something from his pocket—nothing sharp, nothing gory. Just a loop of rope, simple and soft, like a leash for a pet.
“Come here,” he whispered. “Let me make this peaceful.”
You shook your head, tears blurring your vision.
“(Y/N),” Josef said, voice dropping into something lower, colder, final,
“Don’t ruin the ending.”
He stepped forward.
His arms closed around you in what felt disturbingly like a hug. A long, final, affectionate squeeze. His cheek pressed against yours as the rope tightened around your throat—not brutal, not messy—just steady, certain, inevitable.
Your last thought was that he was humming again.
Softly.
Sweetly.
❖
Almost lovingly.
Josef laid you gently on the forest floor, arranging your hands as if you were sleeping.
He knelt beside you, brushing a strand of hair from your face.
I promise I will get to working on everyone’s prompts! My work schedule has been INSANE and I’m also being looked at for a new (and higher paid) position at work. Fingers crossed, I guess!
Josef searched the end tables for the remote before finding it in between the couch cushions. He flipped the switch, the tv broadcasting Jeopardy!.
"Oh, I love trivia. Do you like trivia?" you asked, moving your planted mic a bit closer to your host.
Josef smiled. "Of course. I always win at Trivial Pursuit."
The two of you got in some healthy competition, trying to answer first or one-up the other with the next hardest question. You began to relax a little, and judging by his demeanor, could tell Josef was loosening up, too. A good sign, considering you wanted to get some semblance of material to work with before the day was over - not to mention the truck loads of snow currently falling outside.
As the program came to an end, you sighed with a grin.
"Thank you so much for playing Jeopardy! with me. All my friends think it's boring."
"I could tell you were a smart one. Need refreshing?" Josef glanced at your coffee cup.
"No, thank you." You swallowed, trying to slyly segue into some questions you remembered from your notebook. "What's your favorite kind of coffee?"
"Oh, I don't know. If it's coffee, I'll drink it." He chuckled.
"Right? My mom's coffee always made me feel so cozy when I was younger. Do you have any memories like that with your family?"
"Y/N... stop." Josef held his hand up to you. You wrinkled your brow, confused.
"Stop? Stop what?"
"Stop trying to interrogate me."
You moved away from him a few inches, trying to push your laptop fruther behind his line of sight.
"Y/N, it's okay. I know it's what you do for work. In fact, I respect you for it."
You stood and continued to inch back further from Josef.
"What are you talking about? Is this a prank or something?"
"No. Not a prank. Not a joke." Josef took a sip from his mug.
"You're the one who invited me here. I didn't have to come here. I'm doing you a favor, dude!" you said with higher volume.
"I had to tell you SOMETHING to come meet me."
Puzzled as ever, you hastily patted your pockets in search for your keys.
"You didn't drive here, Y/N," Josef said with a knowing look.
You grabbed your bag and scoured for your wallet. Unzipping the coin pouch, you realized you had lost the last of your bus fare.
"Shit..." you whispered, your eyes darting across the carpet in panic.
"Y/N, don't worry," Josef assured, "I didn't bring you here to hurt you, ok?"
"Then what the FUCK am I doing here!?" you shrieked. Almost in the same breath, you asked, "Did you fucking poison me!?"
"I would never." Josef stood and consciously made an effort to keep space between the two of you as he walked into the kitchen.
"I know about the magazine you write for. The Fervor? Not a bad read. Not bad at all."
"Then what am I doing here?" you repeated in a thinly veiled calmer tone.
"Why are you so scared?" Josef genuinely inquired as he pulled a bottle of wine out of a cabinet. He pulled two glasses from the rack and began opening the bottle.
Speechless, you stared in shock at how casually he was handling the situation.
He continued, "I'm going to ask you again. Have you ever been terrified before?"
"Now! I'm terrified right now!" you replied breathlessly.
You looked up to find Josef had been staring at you intently.
"Like I said, I didn't bring you here to hurt you. I brought you here to know you. And you want a story, don't you?"
Your eyes narrowed as you slowly walked over to him as he was leaning on the counter; you leaned on the side opposite to him.
"You promise you'll give me a story?"
"On one condition," Josef said, handing you a glass of wine.
"And that is...?"
"You stay here with me until I'm finished telling it."
Josef motioned over to the caramel-colored leather couch seated in front of the cabin's fireplace. You sat and reached for your laptop from your backpack, but Josef stopped you.
"Please," he insisted, "let's just... get to know each other first."
"Sure," you agreed.
You both sat in an awkward silence for too long, shifting on the slick couch.
"So..." you started with a deep breath, "...where did you grow up?"
"Around here," he stated, turning to you and engaging eye contact.
"You must be used to snow, then," you remarked. "What's your favorite part of snowy weather?" Even though it sounded like a silly question, it was good to loosen up your subjects before diving into anything heavy.
Josef smiled. "Of course! My grandmother taught me to knit mittens when I was 10. Sadly, I've forgotten how to since then, but she always wanted to make sure we could keep ourselves warm and cozy."
"So sweet. What was your grandmother's name?"
"Shirley."
"Beautiful name. Where did she-"
Josef held his palms up to you. "Before we get started, can I get you anything? Hungry, thirsty?"
"Actually, do you have any coffee ready?" you asked. "That trek up here was something else."
Your host chuckled as he walked to the kitchen for a pair of mugs. Dying to get some candid snippets out of your conversation, you secretly hit "record" on your phone. A few cabinets were searched and Josef began pouring the coffee.
"You take sugar or cream?" he asked over the counter.
You shook your head and he quickly returned with your drinks.
"Where were we?" you continued as he sat notably closer than before.
"Ah, I believe we were discussing my lineage," Josef responded.
"Right, your grandma, Shirley. How did she-"
Josef cut you off once again: "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure," you automatically agreed.
"Have you ever been terrified?"
Your faced turned expressionless.
"I mean truly terrified," he continued while maintaining eye contact.
"I mean, I've seen all the Saw movies," you remarked with a chuckle.
"No, in real life," Josef said with the same calm tone. You tried to read his face, but only found a perfectly reasonable person.
"Sure," you repeated yourself, taking a pause to think of an answer. "When I was probably 6 or 7, someone tried to break into my house... I was the only one who heard it at first... afterward, it made me puke out of fear." You tried to veil your uneasiness with a shaky laugh; no way were you going to divulge all of your emotions to your subject.
"Wow. That sounds terrifying," Josef agreed. "Were you fearing for your life in that moment?"
"I... guess, yeah," you hesitated.
"Are you fearing for your life in this moment?"
Your head swiveled to meet his eyes. "What kind of a question is that?"
"I just wanted to see what you'd say." Josef smiled and studied your face for a moment. Your attempt to smile back was foiled by your worried brow.
"Was that too much? I'm sorry. My sense of humor is sort of out there," he continued.
"You could definitely say that," you said with some relief. Interviewing this guy was going to take some hard work, but something about Josef was magnetic. His eagerness was radiant... but you couldn't put your finger on what it was he was eager about.
"If you're nervous, we can just hang out for a little bit. Maybe watch some TV?" you suggested; sometimes nerves make people blurt whatever pops into their heads.
It was a particularly cold day in your area, complete with near below zero temperatures and a heavy blizzard blowing in. Striving forward for yourself and your magazine, you boarded the bus that would take you to your location.
On your journey, you wondered just exactly you were getting yourself into and for good measure you decided to arm yourself with some pepper spray and a stabby keychain. Based on texts, you could tell Josef's phone was of the Apple variety and you trusted he'd have a spare charger in case it was needed.
After a 45 minute bus ride in between two smelly strangers, you reached your stop. You were temporarily convinced you were completely in the wrong and that this was too far, but by the time your insecurity peaked the bus was driving away in the sleet.
You cinched your hood around your face and headed in the direction your map declared.
[]
After a good 20 minutes of walking increasingly uphill, you reached a tiny cabin tucked away amidst a small pine forest and accumulating snowfall. You exhaled as you eyed the front door from a short distance. As you approached the door and knocked a few loud times, you received silence. You tried the doorbell and continued knocking, but after 10 minutes, you weren't convinced anyone was even inside. Pulling out your phone, you about clicked Josef's number when you heard a voice behind you.
"Hey! Y/N!" they called.
"Josef?" you shouted back.
"Yeah, hi! Stay right there. I'll meet you and unlock the door."
A shorter man in a big, fluffy parka and soccer pants was happily trudging through the snow to climb the steps to the front porch. He pulled a gloved hand out of his pocket for you to shake with your with your own uncovered one. He took your hand in both of his and held it tightly.
"Y/N, if it's this cold, we have you get you some gloves," he laughed. "Come on, let's get inside."
Josef quickly opened the door and stepped inside to strip himself of his winter wear, so you followed suit. Making sure to step over the puddles of melted snow inside, you followed your new temporary employer to a marbled kitchen counter and took a seat.
"Thank you so much," Josef began, holding eye contact and grinning widely. "You have no idea how much this means to me."
"Absolutely! I'm happy to do it," you graciously replied. "So, tell me a little bit about your story."
Josef cleared his throat: "Ah, so, my grandfather just became really ill over the last year, and still none of the doctors he's seen can give him very clear answers. He and I were really close when I was growing up, and it's gotten pretty obvious that he doesn't have much time left..."
You frowned and interjected an "I'm so sorry."
"No, please, don't worry about it," he continued. "It's very, very sad, but I want us to remember each other in the best light possible, which is why I wanted to write this book in the first place... to give my grandfather my account up to this point." Despite the sad nature of the conversation, Josef appeared to be holding up quite well.
"That is a lovely idea, Josef. I'm glad I could make it over here."
"Yeah, this is the cabin our family used to come to every Christmas." He noticed you checking out the modern decor and added, "It's been redone recently. Hey... can I give you a hug?"
The question surprised you; you had just met this guy 5 minutes ago and you certainly had never been asked to embrace any previous employer. Still, there was something innocent and charming about Josef, so you stood and obliged.
"Mmm. That's nice," Josef hummed while he held you tightly. He stepped away and said, "I know you're the right person for the job. I just know it."
You sheepishly shrugged your shoulders and smiled. "I hope so."
Josef stepped back to take your full image in. A slow grin creeped onto his lips and he repeated, "I just know it."
