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+---
+title: Joke
+genre: prose
+
+id: joke
+toc: "Joke"
+
+project:
+    title: "Buildings out of air: Paul in the Woods"
+    class: paul
+    order: 33
+    next:
+    - title: Stump
+      link: stump
+    - title: Leaf
+      link: leaf
+    prev:
+    - title: Punch
+      link: punch
+    - title: Hymnal
+      link: hymnal
+...
+
+He wrote _**JOKES**_ on the top of a page in his notebook.
+He had run out of notecards and hadn't been able to convince his mother to go to the Office Supply Store for him.
+He left a space underneath it and wrote.
+
+_"[Tell us a joke][]" the listeners say to the clown.
+They have gather together in the clearing because they have heard he would be there, and they have heard he knew very funny jokes that were also true.
+"Tell us a joke that is true" they say._
+
+_The clown does not move from the stump.
+He doesn't move at all.
+The listeners watch, gap-mouthed, as a butterfly lands on his hat.
+A breeze ruffles his coat and the butterfly flies away.
+Hours pass.
+The listeners grow impatient.
+Some begin yelling insults at the clown.
+Eventually, they begin to walk away into the woods._
+
+_The moon [rises][] on the clearing.
+The only people left are the clown and a listener, the [last listener][].
+She has been waiting for the joke a long time.
+The clown opens his mouth and she leans in closer to hear.
+He closes it as a tear falls onto his coat, then another.
+He opens his mouth again in a sob.
+The listener walks over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder._
+
+_"I'm sorry" says the clown.
+"Sorry for what" she asks.
+"I don't know.
+I don't know any jokes."
+He disappears.
+The last listener sits on the log and looks at the sky.
+There are no [stars][]._
+
+[Tell us a joke]: window.html
+[rises]: the-sea_the-beach.html
+[last listener]: listen.html
+[stars]: big-dipper.html