100 Laughs: A Collection of Humorous Short Stories

The Naked Man

He had just woken up and said to his wife, "Hey, honey, today's the day to pay for the TV set we purchased on credit. The store people will come to collect the bill. But I didn't bring back any money yesterday, and I don't have a penny on me."

"Then explain it to him," the wife said.

"I don't like doing this kind of thing, as if I were lying, but I like to keep my promises meticulously. Let's do it this way: when he comes, we'll stay quietly in the house without making a sound. He will think that no one is in the house. When he gets tired of knocking on the door, he will naturally leave. Tomorrow I will pay."

After a while, he took off his pajamas and prepared to take a shower, but his wife was already inside, and the shower room door was closed. He had no choice but to wait and use this time to make a cup of coffee.

The bread delivery man had already placed the paper pocket on the marble counter by the door. The water hadn't boiled yet, so he had to retrieve it first. Being naked was too indecent, but it was still early, and no one would come out. He opened the door, cautiously looked to the left and right, and took two steps with courage. Unexpectedly, his fingers just touched the paper bag of bread, and a gust of wind made the door behind him "bang" closed.

He was shocked, turned around, and rang the doorbell while waiting for his wife to open the door, all the while looking around anxiously. The door did not open, but he heard the sound of the showerhead in the house "clattering" as the water suddenly stopped. Oh no, his wife must have mistaken him for the TV collector.

He tapped his finger on the door and whispered, "Maria, open the door! Maria, it's me!"

The more he knocked, the quieter the house became.

At that moment, there was the sound of the elevator closing downstairs, and from the indicator light, he could see that the elevator was slowly rising, one floor, another floor... This time it was probably the person who had come to collect the money for the TV.

Fortunately, it was not the collector. He hid at the bottom of the stairs, waited for the elevator to pass, and then returned to the door, shivering and carrying the bread paper bag in his hand. "Maria, please open the door! It's me!" he pleaded.

Before he could continue begging, slow, rhythmic footsteps came from the bottom of the stairs, and someone started to ascend. He was so scared that he looked around, naked, carrying a paper bag in his hand, feeling like a lame ballerina. The sound of footsteps was getting closer and closer. He had nowhere to hide and, in a hurry, pressed the elevator button. The door opened, and he leaped into the elevator just as the maid climbed unhurriedly to this floor and then headed up again. He breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his bread pocket. But it didn't end there. After the doors closed, the elevator began to descend.

"Oops, this is not good!" The naked man panicked even more.

What should he do now? When he got to the bottom, if someone opened the elevator door and found him standing naked inside... perhaps a neighbor, an acquaintance... Although he was dizzy, he also knew that he was getting farther and farther from his room and felt

The naked man was mortified. He had never been so embarrassed in his life. He tried to explain the situation to the old lady and the neighbors, but they didn't believe him. They thought he was a pervert or a criminal. The police arrived soon after and took him away.

The naked man spent the night in jail. He was charged with indecent exposure and disturbing the peace. His wife was called to come and bail him out. When she arrived, she was furious.

"What were you thinking?" she scolded him. "You could have been arrested or worse! And now everyone in the neighborhood thinks you're a freak."

The naked man felt ashamed and regretful. He realized that he had made a terrible mistake. He had let his fear and anxiety get the better of him, and he had acted impulsively and foolishly. He vowed to never do something like that again.

The next day, he went to the store and paid for the TV set in full. He also went around to his neighbors and apologized for his behavior. Some forgave him, but others still held a grudge.

From that day forward, the naked man became the subject of ridicule and gossip in the neighborhood. He was never able to live down his embarrassing mistake. But he learned an important lesson about honesty, responsibility, and the consequences of his actions. And he never forgot it.