Ha Ha... Not Funny

We’re a family of jokesters; our belief is that any moment without laughter stands as a moment wasted. Our family functions and get-togethers cannot be complete without at least one ridiculous demonstration of someone’s superior wittiness or humor. In fact, my entire personal memory of life with my family can be traced through time via practical jokes, devious trickery, and unplanned humorous events.
The first major prank in my memory occurred when I was in kindergarten. At this time, my mom and I decided to engage in a “scaring” competition. This consisted of harmless games in which one of us would hide behind a door, and in turn, would attempt to scare the other when she was most unaware. However, because it is in her nature, my mother had the desperate need to take the game one step further. So, as to exert her comedic dominance over me, my mother decided to attack when I was singing innocently in the bathtub. The surprise took me over the edge, and I proceeded to sob uncontrollably (without accepting any apologies) for the remainder of the night.

At age ten, my cousin and I went through an Ouija Board phase. Every night we would call to the spirits, beckon for a sign of their presence to solidify our belief in their existence. One night, we received assurance: our ritualistic call for a sign resulted in the immediate crashing of a chair. Shaken and exhausted, we retired to our room, only to find a smear of blood across the wall above our bed. As we screamed, a dark figure emerged from the closet, resulting in our immediate collapse into tearful remorse. Five seconds later, the dark figure removed his mask to reveal himself as my uncle, her father, who guaranteed that we were forgiven for our intrusion upon the world of the beyond.

Practical jokes plague my family’s history. Though at the time of their occurrence these incidents seemed monumental, I now view them as small stepping stones toward creating my personal identity within my family as the best target for pranks. Nevertheless, I accept this position, and count on my family to continue to make my days brighter and healthier with their attempts at humor that I so dearly cherish.

Jen Prows, 012