Humor Challenge: Make Me Smile

My absolute favorite thing to find in a story I'm reading is humor. If you can make me laugh you can guarentee a fan for life from me. Some of my favorite authors have accomplished that, and you can bet that when they have a book released I'm the first in line to buy it.

Humor is insanely difficult in writing. When I tell my friends a story, I rely heavily on facial expressions, tone of voice, and timing. You get none of that in writing.  I recently took part in a Humor Challenge as a form of practice to challenge myself and make this part of my writing stronger. I love it, so obviously I want my own books to be your go to "make me giggle while I swoon" kind of story.

The Challenge consisted of writing a short scene about a person "dog sitting." The rules were a little more detailed but you get the idea. My job is to make you smile. This was my shot at it. Hope you enjoy this little extra!

The Visitor

Jake stood at the edge of the couch turning his head from to side as if calculating a very difficult equation. He’d been doing that for the past five minutes. It was like he waited for something to happen. A bomb or some kind of horrific explosion. Finally, after what felt like forever, he turned around. “What is it, exactly?”

Mary sighed dramatically. “What do you mean? It’s a dog. You know…woof woof. They like to chase cats and steal your hot dogs when you’re not looking.”

Jake turned back to stare at the couch again. He looked skeptical. “Are you sure? Who told you it’s a dog?”

“My great aunt Ginger.”

“Does great aunt Ginger have proof?”

Mary pushed Jake away from the couch. “We’re just doggy sitting for the weekend, so it doesn’t matter if it’s actually a dog. We just have to keep it alive until Monday.”

Jake wrinkled his nose. “Are there any special instructions? I mean…is it allowed to get wet?”

Mary rolled her eyes. “It’s not a Gremlin, Jake.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the couch, taking a cautious step away. “You don’t know that. It looks like it might be.”

The dog, who most definitely was not a Gremlin, whined from the couch. Mary rushed to it, petting the top of its head apologetically. Jake and his heartless insults. She pulled it up into her lap, snuggling it against her soft sweater. The poor thing was rather unfortunate in appearances, but it didn’t resemble some eighties horror movie villain. If nothing else, it looked like a Furby that had been on Jenny Craig too long or Dobby the House Elf if he had a baby with Cousin It. Big ears and scraggly fur weren’t a crime.

“Dogs have feelings too, Jake.” Mary shot her boyfriend an evil look, and then glanced at the still whining dog that tried to hide its face in her sweater. “You should apologize.”

“For what? Making a completely accurate observation? That thing is evil. He is totally playing you right now. What’s its name, anyway? Lucifer?”

Mary covered the dog’s Dumbo-like ears. “It’s a she, thank you very much, and her name is not Lucifer.”

Jake crossed his arms over his chest and waited.

Mary’s gaze darted toward the ground. “Her name is Lilith.”

Jake’s eyes rounded. “Like the female demon?” He slowly backed away into the kitchen. “No way. Get that thing out of my house.”

Mary set the dog back down on the couch and stood up to follow after a pacing Jake. “It’s only for the weekend. I mean…I’m sort of positive Ginger will be back by Monday.”

Jake paused, his hands gripping the edge of the counter in front of him. “What do you mean by sort of positive?”

Mary twirled around, swinging her arms casually by her side. “You know…Great Aunt Ginger is a free spirit. Sometimes when she says three days it’s more like three months. It’s a hippie thing. You get used to it.”

Jake pupils were about to eat the rest of his face, but then his entire body froze. He stood up, his white knuckles releasing the counter as the rest of his body seemed to suddenly relax. He threw on a too bright to be genuine smile. “Okay. Fine. Sweet, obviously misjudged Lilith can stay.”

Mary eyed Jake curiously. “Really?”

“Oh, yes. Really.”

“Why don’t you sound sincere?”

Jake smirked. “I’m very sincere. However, you might have to explain to Ryan why you had to finally throw him out.”

Ryan? Surely, Jake didn’t mean her life size Ryan Gosling billboard. She’d had that thing since she stole it from the Cineplex her senior year of college. Jake hated it. His grin only widened. Mary whipped around just in time to watch Lilith, who as it turns out was not a she, hike his leg and mark poor Ryan as his own.

Treachery.

“No!” Mary rushed to save her beloved stolen artifact, but it was too late. Ryan was ruined, and Lilith turned Lucifer merely pranced around as if it was no big deal.

Jake laughed behind her. “Three months, huh? I can’t wait to see how that high heel collection of yours fares.”

Mary sank onto the couch. What had she gotten herself into?