Catherine had always been confident in her knowledge of books and libraries. As a librarian, she had spent her entire career surrounded by the words of great authors and the stories they had woven. But despite her intelligence and love for books, Catherine was never what one would call “cool.” In fact, Catherine was quite the opposite: a nerdy, bookish woman with thick glasses and a love for cardigans.

After years of feeling out of place and overlooked, Catherine stumbled upon a new path in life. It all began with an alien invasion.

The aliens had come in the dead of night, their ships hovering over major cities around the world. Panic spread quickly as people realized the visitors weren’t friendly. Governments tried to negotiate with them, but their demands were impossible to meet. The aliens seemed to be after something else entirely.

As it turned out, what they were after was laughter. The aliens were humorless beings who had never experienced the joy of laughter before. They had journeyed to Earth seeking out anyone who could make them laugh. And for some reason, they had their eyes set on Catherine.

At first, she was skeptical. A nerdy librarian like herself, a stand-up comedian? It seemed impossible. But as she considered the challenge more deeply, she realized that her love of books had given her the perfect training for the job. After all, comedy was all about timing and storytelling, two things Catherine knew quite a bit about.

So Catherine dove headfirst into her new career. She hit every open mic night, honing her craft and crafting the perfect jokes. She found she had a knack for it, that the words flowed easily from her tongue. To her amazement, she began to gain a following. People who had never paid attention to her before were now stopping her on the street to tell her they had seen her perform and she was funny.

But it wasn’t until she was face-to-face with the aliens themselves that Catherine knew she had truly made it.

They came to see her perform in person, filling an entire auditorium with their strange, tall bodies. Catherine was nervous, but as she began to speak, the words came rushing out of her. She told jokes she had spent weeks perfecting, stories she had written just for them. And then they laughed. They laughed long and hard, a sound that echoed through the auditorium like thunder.

From that day on, Catherine was no longer just a librarian. She was a stand-up comedian, and a damn good one at that. The aliens asked her to come with them when they left Earth, to be their official comedian and make them laugh whenever they were feeling down. Catherine had to admit, the offer was tempting. But in the end, she knew her true calling was on Earth, making people laugh one joke at a time.