Belly Laugh

In a future war where weapons can kill without noise, wounds, or warning, even seasoned soldiers struggle to understand what is happening. A battle-weary infantryman, separated from his unit near the Holland Tunnel, finds temporary refuge with a few strangers and begins recounting the strangest incident he has witnessed.

Trapped in a pit for days, he and a young Kentucky soldier named Stillwell face hunger, isolation, and an unexpected Russian intruder. Stillwell’s homesickness and longing for the girl he left behind quickly collide with the bizarre realities of combat, leading to an encounter that is equal parts desperate, absurd, and unsettling.

With its rambling battlefield storyteller, dark humor, and unsettling vision of technological warfare, this short science-fiction tale turns laughter into something far more dangerous than comic relief. It explores how ordinary soldiers cope when war becomes too strange for courage, discipline, or common sense to offer much protection.