April 1, 1965
Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. It's April Fools Day. That means I've got to be on the lookout all day for people ready to pull pranks. Especially Wes.
Wes says they invented April Fools Day up on Jupiter and the first Jupiterian who visited earth started it up here back in the 14th Century by issuing a warning about these creepy looking Jupiter bugs that were invading from outer space. Wes said nobody expected this fellow of being one of those outer space invaders himself but that they went around examining bugs all day, especially weird ones like that one in the picture. People started thinking they'd never seen that particular bug before and that it was going to poison the water and eat up all the plants. A lot of bugs that didn't scurry under a rock got stepped on as April Fool panic broke out. That Jupiter prankster had to make a fast exit out of there. But he forgot to take his Jupiter bug and so its antennae have grown really long as it tries to find the spaceship to go home.
Wes says not to worry. The bug lives on air so the earth is not really in danger or anything, but then he'll tell me I have one of them in my hair. I know I don't. I know he's pulling a joke, but I always feel little feet walking around on my head. Wes thinks it's extra funny when I start hitting at my head. I always have to laugh too. That's the fun of April Fools Day. As long as the joke isn't mean. I don't like mean jokes, do you?
Dad hunted one of the pranks from the past years up to report on in the Banner. I helped him look through old newspapers and magazines. We found this one about the Yenom Tree in the VIEW magazine from a couple of years ago, 1963. The story reveals the existence of the Yenom Tree, a "rare perennial" owned by Mrs. Loo Flirpa (better check that out backwards) of Appleton, Wisconsin, which sprouted "Bright, green one-dollar bills with uniformly high serial numbers." In an unusual mutation, this year the Yenom Tree had also sprouted a "flawless five-dollar bill." Mrs. Flirpa had entered into "an exclusive arrangement with the United States Mint to sell Yenom tree seedlings through a system of greenhouses to be operated through local offices of the Federal Reserve System." Dad said that sounded like a handy tree to have around and so he's running the story today in the Banner. He says nobody in Hollyhill will believe it, but Zella says we'll get a ton of telephone calls of people wanting to know how to get their own Yenom Tree. She says she's not answering the phone all day and that if Dad thinks that's an April Fools joke, he'd better think again.
Do you know any good April Fools gags? Have you ever had any pulled on you? Well, watch out for that Jupiter bug crawling around on your head.
Oh, and by the way, somebody says Scent of Lilacs is free if you have an e-reader. I have no idea what that means. I think it must be a message from the future. But they say it's no April Fools joke. Whatever they're talking about, free sound good!
Hi Jocie. Hope you found something good to fool Wes with. Thought this book being free might be an April's Day joke too, but was so glad to see it wasn't. Now I can read it on my computer. Since I haven't been able to win it. One that always got to me was when someone would say there was a spider on me. I knew they were probably joking but had to be sure no spider was on me. I hate spiders and snakes. Do you? Now when I was living out in the country, I liked to play with the baby frogs. There was so many after a rain. Guess that must be where the saying "its raining frogs" came from. well I have to go now. Will visit you again soon. Maxie
ReplyDeleteJocie here. Maxie, it's always fun to read what you have to say. When you read those books about Hollyhill, you'll find out I HATE spiders and I'm SCARED of snakes. But I have to go where they are sometimes. Dad says that helps me develop character. I think the only thing I'm developing is shivers!! But frogs are okay, and you know what? I bet you're right about that raining frogs thing, although I did see this story once where it actually did rain a few frogs. I guess the wind picked them up and dropped them back down. Hope you enjoy reading about Hollyhill.
DeleteI don't remember any April Fool's jokes from when I was younger Jocie but my youngest brother played a good one on his daughter when she was about five. He glued fifty cent pieces to the sidewalk so she would find them the next day. She thought it was pretty funny until she realized the fifty cent pieces were from her own piggy bank! And I remember that Yemon Tree joke making the rounds a few times when I was growing up. It seems to pop up every now and then even now. And thanks so much for making my head itch! I think I'll go wash my hair ~
ReplyDeleteshirley(dot)datoutlook(dot)com
Jocie here. Oh, Shirley, I'd hate it if Dad glued my money to the rocks out front. Not that I ever have much in my piggy bank. How did she get it off? She did get it off, didn't she? 50 cents can buy a bunch of candy bars. Maybe I need to go start checking some sidewalks to see if I can find any coins glued down. :)
DeleteI guess you figured out that Yemon is money backwards. Took me a minute. But that would be a fun tree to have. A person would be giving it plenty of fertilizer. And you know what, Zella didn't answer the phone all day. Dad said it turned out the joke was on him. I went by after school and talked to some of the people that called. I told them to try planting a quarter and who knows what might happen. I thought Dad would be mad when he heard me, but he just laughed.
My brother wasn't home from work long before my niece demanded he go straight out and take her money off the sidewalk! My brother did his best not to laugh at her. She stood in front of him, gave him a good talking to (in her tiny little five year old voice) then pointed outside. He had to dig them off the sidewalk with a knife but he got them off. Hey, I like the idea of planting a quarter! I'll have to remember that one for next year. Your Dad is a good soul Jocie. Have a great day today!
DeleteHey ,that's my birthday, April 1st 1965!
ReplyDeleteJocie here. Then you're just a baby, Lisa. Welcome to the world!
ReplyDelete