tickling mr. ego

once upon a time there was a little girl who had the gift of tickling. she could tickle so well that she could turn a boulder into a laughing potato. dogs and cats and mice and cows and worms and storks would crowd around her, turning their bellies up and waiting for the big treat.

wherever she would go, people laughed their ass out, no matter how heavy the pain, if. once, she turned a sad elephant into a giggling cub and ever since, animals and humans have gathered around her to adore her. just that. adore her.

and she was happy. she had so much love in the world that she could even spare some. she barely got older, looking 16 at 56. all the laughter around her kept her young and shiny and healthy.

one day, while strolling on the streets together with a dwarf, a giant and a stag, she noticed the largest whale in the world having a barrel of beer on the sidewalk. having finished the barrel, the whale started to gulp another one, leaving it aside, on top of hundreds of other empty barrels of beer. the girl went to the whale and asked:

'are you sad?'
'no' said the whale and gulped another barrel of beer.
'yes, you're sad and you need a laugh. i can help you. i think you need a friend'
'why dont you just move your shiny ass down the road as you're blocking the clouds around my head' barfed the whale. 'i dont want any friend, im self-sufficient'
'but...'
'no buts, missy. i dont like you and i dont like your dwarf and i dont like your giant and i dont like your stag. so i want you out of here so i can enjoy my being so big and mean.'

the girl sighed and, rolling up her sleeves, moved closer to the giant whale, starting to tickle its huge belly. at first, the whale didnt seem to laugh or at least smile. the dwarf couldnt care less, the giant was watching curiously and the stag was smiling knowingly. the girl was tickling and tickling and tickling until her fingers started to hurt. they hurt so much that her skin started to fall apart and her bones began to show. the stag caught her hands and pulled her away.

the whale was growing bigger and bigger, a reaction so weird that they went all dumb. the whale grew so much that they couldnt see the sky anymore and the sidewalk began to crumble underneath. people and animals left its side with buldging eyes. a flea jumped from the whale holding its ears. it started to scream:

'it's laughing! it's laughing inside! run! it's gonna explode!'

everybody ran away but the girl. the whale was watching her, waiting for more. but the girl couldnt tickle it for now. the whale frowned and exploded. animals and humans returned to see if the girl survived. she was fine. nothing around her could prove there had ever been a whale on that sidewalk. nothing remained out of it. it had been empty all along. it had only been a shape. the shape of a big whale that refused to laugh. the girl turned and started to walk the street again. everybody forgot about the whale in a second. they had some laughing to do.