April Fool's Joke

It surprises people to learn that I'm a prankster.  In person, I'm quiet and gentle, which lures some people into believing I'm harmless.  That's an inaccurate perception -- the inner me is full of mischief.

If you've been here a while, you know I play April Fool's jokes on the blog.  Like this one.  Or this one.  I'm proud of the cleverness of these jokes.

Every year, I pull an April Fool's joke in person on my wife Robin.  I always get her -- which pisses her off big-time.  She gets annoyed that she fell for my prank and vows, each year, "You won't get me next year!"  Which, naturally, I take as a challenge.

Because Robin expects a joke, she looks for it and is hard to fool.  It takes planning, effort and skill on my part to evade her anticipation and alerted attention.  This year, my plan was to prank her in a way that bypassed her conscious mind.  To startle her on a visceral level.

It worked!

There is a corner in our house where Robin stores her handbag and cellphone.  It's her most sacred part of the house.  She reads her e-mail there, re-charges her phone and keeps her valuables on the ledge.  Just above the ledge is a window to the outside.  What would be worse if an intruder invaded the house at that place?  Nothing.  That would be Robin's worst nightmare.

Also, you should know that Robin's eyesight is starting to decline.  She needs glasses but rarely wears them.  So I counted that factor in...

This afternoon, Robin entered the house and proceeded to her corner.  When she was about six feet away, she spotted a rabid squirrel climbing through the window and invading her space.  She shrieked!  And involuntarily jumped backward.  Her heart raced like a NASCAR engine.

Then, seconds later, she yelled, "Damn it!!"  She realized she'd been pranked and was angry at herself for allowing it to happen.  Then, of course, she turned to me and said, "You bastard!"  Followed by some salty language I'm choosing not to quote.

Here are photos of the squirrelly invader.  Have you ever played an April Fool's joke?  Or been the target of one?