the biggest aprli fool

名称：the biggest aprli fool
内容简介：
Dear Arizona,
　 Every year, my dad outsmarts me with a trick on April Fools’ Day. I want this to be the year that I out-fool the fooler. Do you have any supersneaky ideas?
　 —Just Fooling in Florida

Dear Just Fooling,
　 That is exactly what I wanted to do last year! My friend Ollie and I are always trying to one-up each other on April Fools’ Day. When we were younger, we tied knots in each other’s shoelaces and things like that. But our pranks got bigger and bigger until finally, last year . . . well, let’s just say that you might want to read this before you get too sneaky.

I had a whole notebook that was for nothing else but creating the perfect prank! I had pages and pages of ideas.

I knew that my prank was going to have to be at least kind of gross to impress Ollie, so I finally decided to make the disgusting goop that we always use for a “touching without looking” game on Halloween.

I gathered my supplies:
- a bucket (to mix stuff in)
- fake spiders (for frightening and creepy fun)
- grapes (for icky eyeballs) - gummy worms (for a slimy surprise)
- water (to make a big splash)

“What are you doing with that bucket?” my little brother, Tex, asked the day before April Fools’ Day.

“Preparing,” I said.

“Preparing for what?” he asked.

“Just preparing,” I said.

“Why won’t you tell me?” asked Tex.

“Because,” I said, looking him right in the eye, “the last time I told you a secret, you blabbed it all over the place.”

“Come on, ’Zona,” he whined. “Please tell me, please tell me, please tell me, pleeeeeeease!”

“No, sorry, no, sorry, no, sorry, nooooooooo!” I answered. “But if you want, you can help me peel the skin off these grapes.” Once all the grapes were peeled, I let Tex scoop them into the bucket. Then we dumped in the spiders. Then we both ate some gummy worms and mixed the rest of them in along with the water.

“Perfect,” I said sneakily.

“It’s just like the goop we make for Halloween!” said Tex. “How come you’re making goop?”

“I told you,” I said. “I’m not telling you!”

Well, it turned out that I totally made the wrong choice. Either I shouldn’t have let Tex see my April Fools’ surprise, or I should have told him the whole secret. At least then he would have known not to say anything to Ollie.

Don’t ask me how Tex found the time to go blabbing about the goop, and don’t ask me how Ollie figured out exactly what I was planning on doing. The point is— things turned out a lot differently than I had planned.

Early the next morning, I rigged up the bucket above the open garage door. Here was the plan: When Ollie showed up at my door, I’d tell him I was running late and ask him to grab my helmet and skateboard from the garage. When he walked under the doorway, I’d pull a string to dump the goop on him. Foolproof! Or so I thought.

Ollie showed up, and things were going really smoothly. He went down to the garage to get my stuff, and I was all ready with the string, which snaked down the side of the garage door and up the outside stairs. But before he walked under the door, he yelled, “Whoa! Five kittens! ’Zona, check it out!”

“Kittens?!” I said. “Let me see!” I let go of the string, ran down the stairs, and burst through the garage door—just as Ollie pulled the string, which I hadn’t hidden very well.

Yes, that’s right—I was instantly covered in goop. And yes, that’s also right—there were no kittens.

“April Fool,” Ollie said with a grin.

“Very funny,” I grumbled.

“I know you are, but what am I?” said Ollie.

I started laughing. “I’m gonna get you next year!”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” said Ollie.

He was nice enough to clean up the mess while I ran inside to change my clothes.

“Hey,” I asked on our way to school, “what joke were you going to play on me before you figured out my plan?”

“To tell you the truth,” said Ollie, “I forgot it was even April Fools’ Day. If Tex hadn’t told me about the goop, I would’ve been completely surprised.”

So, as you can see, dear Just Fooling, I’m not exactly the best person to be asking for advice on how to out-fool the fooler. Personally, in the future, I’ll be playing it safe and staying as far away from Ollie as possible!