My friends and I are in an on-again/off-again writing club where the rules are simple. Every two weeks you have to submit three short stories that it took you 20 minutes or less to write. These are the results.

 

Jokey’s Last Laugh

By Poet Smurf

 

Gather around all Smurfs and Smurfettes,

And I shall tell you a tale that’s as sad as it gets.

Jokey was a Smurf filled with unbound mirth.

This is the story of how he became unsmurfed.

 

It all began when Jokey was being chased by mean old Gargamel,

A dark-hearted wizard that never meant us well.

He was smart and devious, but not at all wise,

He fell for the oldest trick in the book – opening Jokey’s surprise.

 

The moment he opened that red ribbon wrapped box,

It exploded in his face, throwing him back into the rocks.

Jokey got away clean, all the ways back to Smurf Village.

But little did we know that Jokey’s fun would soon be pillaged.

 

Gargamel was fuming at being defeated with so simple a trick,

And it helped little that his cat Azrael laughed at him for being so thick.

The wizard vowed revenge, and set about crafting a most unkind spell,

One that would put our good friend Jokey through his ultimate hell.

 

In the morning, Jokey awoke in his house full of boxes yellow,

As always, he grabbed one and looked for an unsuspecting fellow.

He happened across Painter, who was working on his latest masterpiece,

As always it was opened for Jokey was a master of over eyes pulling fleece.

 

But there was no explosion when the case was unwrapped.

Instead there stood Painter, his eyes wide, his mouth agape.

For inside this surprise were a new brush and pigments.

Jokey couldn’t believe it, surely this was an imagination figment.

 

On that strange and fateful day, as I’m sure you all recall,

Jokey gave out gift after gift, each one a joy to us all.

Papa received a telescope, Hefty some new weights,

Smurfette fresh flowers, for Grouchy something to hate.

 

Everyone loved the new Jokey, and we all begged him for a gift,

Yet Jokey hated this turn of events and if fact was quite miffed.

That night, Jokey decided that if joy is all he would be giving,

Then life as he would know it simply wasn’t worth living.

 

Without leaving word to anyone of what he was to do,

Jokey walked through the forest to a place loved by few.

He wandered straight to that hovel we knew all to well,

And listlessly knocked on the door of Gargamel.

 

Mean old Gargy could hardly believe his eyes.

Right into his clutches walked a Smurf he despised.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked. “Is it some kind of trickery or taunt?”

“I want to end it all,” replied Jokey. “For my gifts give people what they want.”

 

The wizard demanded that Jokey give him an example,

So Jokey made him a surprise that he could sample.

Gargamel opened it, and it was just as he’d been told.

Inside the box laid a small nugget of gold.

 

“Smurf,” he yelled. “I’ll kill you and eat you, serve you up on a dish,”

“But before I’ll consent to that, you must grant me one wish.”

“Craft me the biggest box ever, make me your grandest surprise.”

“Then and only then, will I complete your demise.”

 

Jokey was depressed and desperate, and saw no other option,

So he did as asked, and started his greatest construction.

He worked without rest for seven days and seven nights,

And at the end of that time was the most amazing of sights.

 

A surprise so large, it practically filled the wizard’s den,

It reached up to the rafters, and was as tall as two men.

It used a mile of red ribbon, and acres of yellow paper,

But unknown to Gargamel; Papa Smurf had just learned of his caper.

 

The Smurfs had noticed that Jokey had been long absent,

And Papa figured he’d run away since his pride had a dent.

Studying his books, he deduced what spell had been used.

And at that moment reversed it, reactivating Jokey’s fuse.

 

Gargamel cackled as he ripped the gift open, expecting riches untold,

“I’ll never kill you, Smurf! You’re like my pot of gold!”

They say that never has there been an explosion any greater,

It turned Gargamel’s hovel into nothing but a crater.

 

The blast was heard in Smurf Village and over the treetops,

Throughout the forest, and in Creepy Deepy Swamp.

It shook the Prince’s castle, and Homniubus’ Tower,

Never had anyone witnessed a blast with such raw power.

 

But for those that listened close, above the sound of panic,

There was an even greater sound, something even more manic.

A chortle so bombastic, it cut the explosion’s sound in half.

And that sound, my Smurfs, was Jokey’s last laugh.