Disclaimer: I own none of this; all rights go to the late great Douglas Adams.
"… he could just make out the shape of Ford Prefect sitting back and laughing wildly."
Ford laughed
It was all he could do; he saw the blinding light coming, the energy that would reduce Ford Prefect to his constituent atoms and all he could do was laugh. There was a sick humor in this that, unlike sarcasm, Ford understood. He had dedicated his life to The Guide, to excitement, and adventure, and to really wild things. Well, this ending was the wildest. Stuck on Earth for fifteen years researching a mind numbingly boring planet only to have two words published in The Guide then whisked across space and time on the actually exciting adventures and he had not written a word. Not one word, and now he never would, at least not as this particular Ford Prefect anyway. So he laughed, because it was all he could do.
Ford laughed
He laughed because it was stupid to cry. It wasn't hoopy or froody at all to cry because almost everyone you cared about and nearly everyone who may care about you was about to die. It was stupid to cry because all of those people only amounted to two, plus two people he really didn't know. It was stupid to cry because the only person left who may care was the ex-president of the galaxy. It was stupid to cry, so he laughed.
Ford laughed
Ford laughed because after all this time and after escaping this stupid little planet four times, this was where it was going to end.
Ford laughed
He laughed because it was his own goddamn fault he was here. It was his own fault he started to care about things other than excitement, adventure. It was his own fault he came to the Earth in the first place. It was his own fault that he rescued Arthur. It was his own goddamn fault he started to care… and so he laughed.
A/N: So it's May 11th and I felt like writing something for Hitchhiker's Guide. Unfortunately I'm not in the brightest mood considering I had a final exam this morning and I had to walk there in the rain. So this depressing little story is what came of it. Although, I always thought Ford laughing as he died was really interesting and maybe a little sad. I also thought it was sweet that the last thing Arthur does before the end is look at Ford. He doesn't think about Random, or Trillian, or even Fenchurch; no he looks at Ford.
Anyway think of DNA today and don't forget Towel Day on the 25th!