Today I randomly opened Detour on the Eternal Road to page 187. With eyes closed, I pointed to the page. The word closest to my finger is answer. That is our prompt today.
Answer by John W. Howell © 2026
“Who has the correct answer? Yes, Jimmy.”
“To see what she could see?”
“No, I’m sorry, that’s not it. Anyone else? Yes, Cindy.”
“To find her brother?”
“Not quite, Cindy, but a good guess. Who’s next? Yes, Tom.”
“She needed to head home.”
“Well, eventually, but not quite yet. Yes, Mary Lou.”
“Her mother calls her.”
“That could happen, but not in this case. Frank, do you think you know?”
“To get an ice cream.”
“That would be fun, wouldn’t it. But for this exercise, we’ll have to wait for another time. I see your hand, Roland. What do you think?”
“She lives over there.”
“That is close, but not the exact answer we are looking for here. Yes, Tim.”
“To see her friends.”
“Another good guess, but just not exactly it. Okay Karen. Your turn.”
“To get to the other side.”
“You are absolutely right, Karen. Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side, of course. Well done.”
“Mr. Jones?”
“Yes, David.”
“That is really dumb.”
“I think you could say that, but it is an anti-joke (sometimes also described as a meta-joke).”
“What’s the purpose?”
“Just to alter expectations. The person hearing the joke expects something witty, and all they get is dumb.”
“Do you have another example?”
“Sure. What’s orange and sounds like a parrot?”
“I don’t know.”
“A carrot.”
“Now that’s funny.”
Fiction Favorites 
Great, i love that kind of discussions about guessings. Thanks, John! Have a nice day! xx Michael
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Hahah you’re a poet and you don’t know it! 😂🤩
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Classics are still funny for a reason.
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And here I thought the question was about James in your book! Trying to get to the other side, of course.
But if you want a ‘joke’ that will make everyone dislike you, just make the answer …. 6-7.
:-0 Ackkkkkkkkkkkkkk!! 🙂
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