The JOKE That BROKE Him

By Talesmith

The lights dim.
Spotlight on.
A single mic.

Ravi walks up, that trademark grin plastered on his face — the kind that looks confident from far away and exhausted up close.
He taps the mic, clears his throat. The laughter hit him like applause therapy.
And for a moment, he forgot everything else.

“Do you know what’s stronger than friendship?
A WhatsApp group that refuses to die.”

(Laughter erupts.)

“I mean, our group chat’s been running since 2011.
We’ve had fights, breakups, even marriages — but that group icon never changed.”

He pauses dramatically.
“It’s still that stupid photo from college — all of us holding beer cans that were actually Frooti.”

(Audience laughs again.)

He paces slowly.
“You know you’re old when your friends stop sending memes and start sending blood test results.
Or worse… Good Morning quotes with birds in sunglasses.”

He sips water.
“Every group has that one friend who says, ‘Let’s catch up soon.’
And that ‘soon’ is now old enough to vote.”

(Crowd laughs harder. He smiles. He’s on a roll.)

But then…
He pauses.

His voice softens, his hand tightens on the mic.
He stares into the crowd — as if searching for someone.

“You know what’s funny?” he says quietly.
“Our group chat’s been alive for 12 years…
but when one of us actually died, the group stayed silent.”

The laughter stops.

He looks down.
“Two years ago, Arjun — the guy who used to spam the group with his gym selfies — had an accident.
None of us knew for three weeks.”

He lets that sink in.

“We were too busy being adults.
We didn’t even notice that his last message was…
‘Let’s catch up soon.’”

(The audience sits still. A few people lower their eyes.)

Ravi smiles weakly.
“I guess that’s what happens when friendship moves to the ground below.
We’re all online, just… offline from each other.”

He wipes his eye quickly, pretending it’s sweat.
“Anyway — next week’s topic is ‘Old friends who suddenly sell insurance.’”

(The audience chuckles softly — that kind of laugh that hurts a little.)

He looks up one last time.
The spotlight feels warmer now.
“Here’s to Arjun,” he says softly.
“Still active in our memories, if not in the chat.”

He puts the mic down.
Walks off stage.

Behind him, the crowd rises — clapping slowly, deeply.
Not for the jokes.
But for the silence that followed them.

---

Moral:

Friendship doesn’t really die — it just goes into battery saver mode.

We don’t lose touch because we stop caring.
We lose touch because life starts buffering.
Work, bills, kids, Netflix — the Wi-Fi of connection gets weak,
and before we know it, our “best friends forever” become “friends seen last online 2 years ago.”

But true friendship?
It doesn’t need daily chats, heart emojis, or likes on your anniversary post.
It’s that weird comfort when you call after months —
and instead of saying “Where were you?”
they say, “Hold on, I’ll make coffee.”

So check that old WhatsApp group today.
Scroll past the Good Morning quotes,
ignore the uncle who keeps forwarding political videos,
and just type: “Miss you idiots.”

Because someday, one of those “idiots” might not reply.
And you’ll wish you had sent that message when they still could.

Friendship doesn’t fade —
it just waits patiently, arms crossed,
wondering when you’ll finally text back.

---

Subscribe now for more such stories!