Author's Note: This is a true story. I had pranks on my mind from April Fools, and thought I'd write about the only one I ever pulled. Enjoy!
"That is not acceptable!" the head counselor yelled. I could swear her face turned as red as a tomato.
I glanced across the gym to see my brother rocking back and forth to keep from laughing his head off.
Hang on! Better stop right there. I'm sure you're all quite confused. What could possibly be so unacceptable that the head counselor could be yelling about? That would be of my doing. Let me explain . . .
It was the summer of 2004. I was going in to third grade. My mom and dad were working during the days, and that meant my brother and I had to go to a summer camp because we were too young to stay home alone. It was terrible, really. We were forced to go to a place that really was no fun, minus the rare occasion that our group would go on a field trip.
Even then, the field trips weren't always so great. The counselors were okay. The little kids were annoying. The head counselor on the other hand was downright dreadful. She was the kind of person, perhaps hag is a better word, who made awful jokes, yelled with an obnoxious voice, and was quite harsh. To tell you the truth, she was the kind of person I detest to the rotten core. For once in my life, I was going to be rebellious. I had had ENOUGH of her. I just wanted to get at her anonymously. I'd only let my friends at camp know. It was all so perfect.
There was a guessing jar at camp. Every week, it would be filled with random objects, like skittles or bouncy balls. The campers (or whatever you want to call the kids that went there) would fill out of scrap of paper with their guess and put it in a box. At the end of the week, the camp held what they called "Friday Fest", where a "report" on what your group did would be stated. After that, the guesses would be leafed through until scraps of paper littered the ground, and the winner would be announced. It was the perfect place to strike. There were so many people that put their guesses in. How would they guess it was me? They wouldn't, of course. I'm the kind of person who doesn't lie, act naughty, or pull pranks; I tend to be known as the quiet, creative, and brainy type. (Though I tend to be known as "the funny one" among my friends, but not at the time.)
I remember my two parts of the prank so well, even though it was almost 5 years ago and I have a terrible memory. I grabbed a blue marker (which I remember distinctly for some reason) and wrote down the first humorous thing that came to my head. In the sloppiest handwriting I could possible write in, I wrote "Gimme a beer." After so long, I could probably think of something better to write, but it sure was cool at the time.
Before I placed my "guess" in the Guessing Box, I went over to the table my brother was sitting at. He was sitting with some of his buddies playing Yu-Gi-Oh (which was also cool at the time). I decided that they were all deserving of the knowledge of my prank. I showed them the slip of paper, and they all giggled like schoolgirls. That alone was enough to satisfy me, but I didn't stop there.
"Are you really going to put it in?" my brother asked me.
"Of course!" I replied with a big smile.
He seemed doubtful, so he turned back to his card game. I pressed on to the infamous box. With a deep breath, I slipped the piece of paper through the slit in the top. The deed was done. I couldn't possibly reverse it now without telling the counselors. No sweat, though. I knew it would all pay off on Friday. That would be a glorious day.
It was probably one of the most amusing moments of my life. THIS was something special. This was my doing, and I sure was proud.
The Friday Fest progressed as usual. The groups told about what they did. It seemed to drone on and on. I just wanted to get to the funny bit!
"No . . . no . . . no . . . not even close . . . no . . . noooo," the head counselor said as she went through the guesses. "Nope . . . no . . . no way . . ."
She stopped for a moment, as if there was a novel written on the slip of paper. I could see her eyes going over and over it again and again. I knew my moment had come. The head counselor put on her angry face. (Oh yeah, never saw that before.) I bit my tongue to keep from laughing.
"That is not acceptable!" the head councilor yelled. I could swear her face turned as red as a tomato.
I glanced across the gym to see my brother rocking back and forth to keep from laughing his head off.
His buddies looked amazed. Cute li'l innocent me had really seriously pulled the prank. Now that I think about it again, the prank on its own wasn't really that funny. It was the reaction to the prank that was knock-your-socks-off hilarious. For once, I was proud to do something wrong. I just needed a taste of a different cycle. I was satisfied, and didn't pull another prank after that. I was perfectly happy with just going 1 for 1.
A while after the mini-fest was over, one of the counselors came up to me. She asked sweetly, "Do you know who did it?"
I kicked my acting skills into gear. I looked a little confused at first, but then simply answered, "No."
I felt incredibly guilty lying, especially because the counselor who asked me was my favorite out of all of them.
She sighed with, "Okay" and went back to interrogating the other trustworthy kids to see if they knew anything. I sat at one of the tables. My brother approached me.
"Wow," he said. I can't recall if he said more, but I could certainly understand if he was speechless.
I was a little shaky for the next week, but I still didn't get caught. Most of his friends had considered turning me in because they had handwriting equally terrible to what was written on the slip, and they knew they'd get in huge trouble if they were accused.
After talking to my brother about the event while ago, he said he didn't think I'd do it. He told me it was by far the funniest thing he had ever seen me do. He asked me if I had thought of the consequences of what would happen if I had been caught. To tell you the truth, I hadn't. I was simply too enraged with the whole system to think the whole thing through.
If I had been caught, I probably would have been suspended or expelled from camp. One of my parents would have to skip work to watch over me. I'd be in deep trouble, not to mention that my family would've lost plenty of money from not doing all the work they were required to do. I feel a little bad about it now, but still try to retell the story with a smile and a laugh.
Anyways, the moral to the story is think about what you do before you do it. I was lucky and got away with it, but that doesn't mean I always will. That's partially why I haven't pulled a prank again since then. Well, that and the fact that I don't think I could possibly do another thing to get such a good reaction.
-7stars
