I ask my Dad: “What is the best practical joke you’ve played on someone?”
He snorts. “Oh. There are so many!” Then he starts chuckling. “I think the best one was when I was driving your sister down to Olds College. We stopped in Fort McMurray to see my relatives. I phoned up my niece and told her she’d just won a truck. A brand-spanking-new truck. She was to come down to the mall in front of the Orange Julius and claim her prize.”
So they sat and waited in front of the Orange Julius for his niece. Redd was concerned about not knowing who they were. Dad said to watch out for the flustered woman with a red face. And sure enough. Two women came charging into the food court. One of them looked frantically from side to side and spied the Orange Julius. She walked directly up to the counter and demanded her truck!
By this time, my Dad was in stitches. He was beside himself. My sister was laughing too. The second woman (who happened to be my Dad’s sister) saw them and nudged her daughter, quietly pointing them out. Penny (my cousin) wasn’t having any of it. She’d won a truck! God damn it! She was here to claim it. It took a few moments to settle in–the realization that my Dad had pranked her. When she realized what had happened, she just walked out.
My Dad, my sister, and my Dad’s sister all followed her–howling with laughter.
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