Narrative of a Mischievous Coyote by Peyton Chen 

April Fools’ is Always a Fun Time of the Year, but Sometimes, Things Get Out of Hand . . .

Five years ago, when I was a young, innocent, and honest-to-goodness really gullible little third grader, my older brother decided to play the worst prank in the history of pranks. And when I say it was bad, mark my words, you should believe me. My family loves to pull pranks on April Fools’ Day and they can get as hectic as  a spider in your breakfast, but this was a whole different level. No need to go into too much detail about what happened, but just know that the end result was me covered in gooey bug guts and a trip to the doctors.

But, now, I’m a smart thirteen year old and I’m NOT falling for those pranks again. This year is the year that I get back at my brother, and get revenge for my tiny, insecure little eight year old self.

So the grand day of the prank, of course April 1st, I woke up feeling as prepared as I could be. Getting ready, I wore my lucky red jacket and a devious smile, waltzing out of my room to prepare the prank, which I like to call THE GREAT AWAKENING. 

Trying to be stealthy, I crept out of my small, end-of-the-hallway room, and passed all my relative’s bedrooms, which means there was a looooooong hallway. Passing my grandfather’s room first, I heard a thundering snore that I was surprised didn’t wake the entire house up. Then, past my parents, a quiet oasis in the middle of the tornado next door. Past my little twin sisters’ room, but of course they weren’t sleeping. You could hear them playing tag from a mile away, their little shrieks echoing. And finally, I reached my destination, my brother’s room, which- not to my surprise- was filled with the early day noises of him trying to beat another level of.. what-ever game he was obsessed with. 

“Okay,” I whispered to myself, “The second the timer starts, you bolt back to your room and pretend that you were sleeping this entire time.” 

Quickly and quietly, I pulled a little plastic mechanism from my pocket. It was filled with green looking smoke, and whatever other stinky stuff I could shove in there. Kids, don’t try this at home. EVEN IF I DID!

“One, Two, THREE!” I quietly shouted, tossing the little smoke bomb through the small crack in the door and  sealing the BEST prank in April Fools history.

Or so I thought . . .

You see, I did get back to my tiny little bedroom, switch off the light of my bedside lamp, and bury myself under mounds of gray blankets. But that’s when the chaos started. 

“AHHHHHHH! WHO PUT A STINK BOMB IN MY ROOM!?” The bomb had done its job. Sweet revenge compl-

Just as I was celebrating my well deserved victory, a head-ringing BOOM came from down the hall. Something was beeping off the charts and the air reeked of burning metal. My grandpa was hollering something about the world ending and my sisters were having, honestly, way too much fun dancing around in the smoke.

Shocked, I emerged from my room to find absolute havoc. My mom was leading my grandpa and sisters out of the hall and into the dining room where the air was clear, while my dad was trying to shut off the smoke detector, which honestly was him aggressively banging some buttons. They seemed to have everything under control, so I just went along, pretending that I had NO idea what was happening. 

But of course, my angry, panicking, sharp-eyed brother caught the guilty look in my eyes. He called me out and I unwillingly confessed my crime. Apparently, the stink bomb had startled my brother so much that he knocked his glass of water onto his computer. The computer started smoking and now was a melted hunk of metal, glued to his desk. 

So of course I was scolded and grounded for a month. The laptop had to be pried off my brother’s desk and I had to refund him all the money for the computer. This prank didn’t go too well, but maybe next year. . . ?