Is It Just Me?

My abdominal muscles are sore today from reading a Shirley Jackson story late last night. Most of her stories aren't hilarious. But this one made me double over in laughter, which meant I had to stop reading until I could get my compulsion to laugh under control because it's impossible to read while one's eyes are streaming and one's body is folded up like a jackknife. This happened several times as I tried to keep reading. And then, when once I had managed to finish it, I just had to read parts of it again, I was so taken with its concise, witty pleasures. And the need to laugh actually got worse. So there I was, laughing and coughing and addicted to reading my favorite bits over and over like a drug, wondering how I'd ever settle down to sleep if I started laughing every time I recalled the funniest lines in the story.

And now I have the urge to read the parts that crack me up to others, though I know very well that without reading the whole story may favorite lines probably won't seem funny. I even have to wonder if anyone else will find it as hilarious as I do. The story's very short-- only six pages. Anyone else read this story lately?

Oh, the title. I almost forgot: "Of course." (Which, by the end, are very funny words indeed.)