There’s an alien in my kitchen. He’s perched on an upper shelf, looking down on me through a little glass door. He’s green and has the same expression all the time. Last night he watched me eat a cookie, right before I went to bed. He didn’t tell my wife, so I think I’m going to let him stay.
Before you say, “he’s crazy” I know this isn’t a real alien. But he’s there all the same. This little guy is the work of a family member who will house sit and watch our dog from time to time. She took it on herself to prank us by putting a stuffed alien in one of our kitchen cabinets. And upon discovering him, we’ve left him there to see if visitors will notice.
I love pranks like these. Not the annoying ones you see on Tik Tok or Instagram where strangers go into other people’s homes or disrupt their dinners for clicks or “likes.” I mean the harmless ones people do to their friends and family.
Years ago, I had a circle of friends that used to prank each other with a 5’ tall stuffed gorilla. On one occasion a neighbor called the police while we were putting the gorilla in the shower of some friends that were on vacation. I had to explain to a Sherrif’s deputy that we were putting something in, not taking anything out!
Right after college I had a roommate who was doing laundry and came back with a purple satin women’s thong in his basket. That became a prank war that lasted two years. I had a turtle that came crawling out from under my bed one day with the “Purple Demon” as we named the underwear, on his head. The last I heard of its whereabouts was falling out on a golf course as my former roommate pulled the cover off his driver while playing golf with his boss.
A few other greatest hits:
- I once worked with a person who had a ridiculous number of pictures of family in a tiny office. She went on vacation, and we replaced the heads on every picture with the face of our CEO. Baby pics, multi-generational family pics. All had his face.
- I worked at a sports store in the mall in college. We would call the jewelry kiosk and ask the price of the left-handed bracelets and watch the staff walk around looking for them.
So, let me know some harmless pranks you’ve come up with over the years. And if you like pranks (and the Roundabout Series), the Lakewood boys are back and pulling their biggest prank ever at the Carmel 4th of July parade. Click the link below to be notified when the book is available.
