Was it All Just a Joke?

The lights were flickering. The wind was raging through the house. The papers were shuffling, and it did not look like she was at her own house. Leyla woke up screaming, but she did not remember ever falling asleep. An afternoon nap maybe? That did not seem like something Leyla would typically do though. 

It all started on a blustery, dreary spring day when Leyla’s parents had to go out of town. They gave her specific rules not to use the stove or do anything with heat and outlets. Leyla pondered what she could do without these necessities.  She believed her parent’s rules were odd, but she did whatever they said. She had an unquenchable hunger, so after deep contemplation, Leyla thought she would go out for a little drive and get a sandwich from her favorite restaurant. She loved this quaint, local deli, so she never would have guessed what was impending. 

Just like she would any other day, she hopped in her car and drove to the deli. When she pulled up to the deli, she was bewildered because everything around her looked different. The restaurant sign was flashing different colors, the waiter came out to take her order, which never happens, and the rain made everything more eerie. 

“What is going on here?” Leyla whispered to herself.  Right as she was about to drive away and get something else for lunch, the waiter came to take her order. 

“Okay, this is not right! They never come outside because usually I do it through the speaker.” Leyla said under her breath because she did not want the waiter to know what she was thinking. 

Leyla ordered as quickly as possible without stopping for a breath because she felt so awkward and that someone was watching her. She could not quite grasp what was going on, so she left, ate her sandwich, and tried to think nothing of the peculiar incident. Although she wanted to drive around just to be out of her house, she felt ubiquitous doom. Unwillingly, Leyla drove in silence back to her house. 

“Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt.” Leyla noticed her phone vibrating on the kitchen table. She knew she had to pick it up.

“Hey, mom. How are you?” Leyla questioned with fear in her voice.

“Oh, I was just calling to ask what is going on at home?” Leyla’s mom inquired.

“What do you mean? I have not been home for the past hour. I just went to grab a sandwich, but I knew something was wrong at the sandwich joint. Wait, how do you know something is wrong.” Leyla responded to her mom even more fearful than before. 

“I just got a notification from Ring saying another car pulled into the garage. Do you know about this?” Her mom responded.

“No! Help, mom! What is happening?” Leyla exclaimed, panicking.

“I do not know, but all I know is you need to get out of the house as soon as possible. Be quiet and go to Mrs. Dunn’s house. I will stay on the phone with you in case you get scared.” Leyla’s mom said in an effort to quell her worries.

As quickly as possible, Leyla grabbed a bag and filled in with escape paraphernalia, such as snacks, extra clothes, and a flashlight. She went through the window in their secret room guessing that the suspicious person would not find her there. She tip-toed out of the house, and once she was free, she sprinted through her backyard to get to her neighbor’s house. All of her years of track and field finally paid off. 

Mrs. Dunn knew she was coming because Leyla texted her friend Grace to inform her of what was happening. They formulated a plan that Grace would be waiting in her backyard with a ladder, and they were going to climb into Grace’s room for safety. After seven long minutes, Leyla was in the comfort of her best friend’s bedroom. 

Leyla was so flustered that she almost started crying. She was so paranoid, but on top of that, she felt like she let her parents down and would not be able to stay home alone again. To give Leyla a reprieve of the events happening, Grace suggested that they go down to her movie room and watch some Netflix. Leyla was elated because she knew she would be able to get her mind off of the day quickly. They grabbed some soft, cuddly blankets, lots of popcorn and candy, some lemonade, and headed on down to the basement. 

“Thank you for helping me today.” Leyla said as she sighed.

“It is no big deal!” Grace responded like a true best friend. After scrolling endlessly for several minutes, the girls made a unanimous decision to watch “Life as We Know It.”, their favorite movie. 

The girls laughed, ate lots of snacks, talked, and watched a few too many hours of Netflix! It seemed to be the best night ever, it was hard to comprehend what happened just a few short hours later.

Leyla fell asleep, which gave Grace the perfect time to execute her scheme. Grace left the room once she knew Leyla was in an undisturbed sleep. She let all of the other friends in so they could finish the prank off the right way. All along, this was one big plan to prank Leyla. Yes, it is quite cruel, but it is April Fool’s Days!

Grace, being as good as a friend that she was, knew Leyla would only sleep for a little bit. With that said, she set an alarm for forty-five minutes later when they would complete the prank. They had five minutes left to top it off. They got in all of their positions to their designated jobs. Cody would flicker the lights, Ashley was going to shuffle the papers, Grace would simulate wind noises, and Jack was just there to make sure everything went smoothly. 

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1.”, they whispered as they were counting down the seconds until she would wake up.

“Ahhhhh!” Leyla screamed as she was abruptly woken up. 

The lights were flickering. The wind was raging through the house. The papers were shuffling, and everything seemed to be turned upside down. 

“What is going on?” She asked, horrified. The last thing she remembered is watching a movie with Grace. This is the weirdest day ever!

“Happy April Fool’s Day!” they screamed!

“This whole day was a big prank! First of all, your parents did not really leave. They just went to the beach for a day to help us execute the prank. The person taking your order was Cody disguised as an old man. Cody also took the backroads to pull up to your house after you got home. We knew you would come here, so that is why we laid everything out the way we did.” Grace, the analyst, explained.

“You all are so mean, but I still love you!” Leyla said as she was laughing. “I am getting you next year for sure!”