A Dignified Prank

Today was the designated day for mischief and pranks. Everyone around the forest was on high alert. Hoodwinks, hi-jinx, bamboozles, film-flams, you name it, everything was on the table. It was a tense day for all, but it was meant to be fun.

The Rooster usually didn’t participate in pulling any pranks. He was much too dignified. But that doesn’t mean the Rooster hated pranks, quite the opposite, in fact, every year he looked forward to dipping and dodging and ducking and diving away from as many potential pranks and practical jokes as he could. It was fun to be on your toes all day. Broke up the monotony, really. The Rooster loved pranks, he just wanted to think of a prank befitting his stature.

The Rooster had been thinking for months and months and years and years trying to figure out what kind of dignified prank to pull. But it was difficult. There were so many criteria the that needed to be met before the Rooster could consider a prank dignified:

1. The prank cannot be performed for personal glory

2. The prank may not target a single individual

3. The prank must be subtle enough to evade detection but loud enough to have an impact.

And wouldn’t you know it? This year, after all this time, this was the year when the Rooster came up with the perfect dignified prank. In the weeks leading up to today, the Rooster could hardly sleep. He was simply too excited. So excited! Oh, it was going to be so good!

When the day finally came the Rooster got up at 6:00 AM sharp, just as he does every morning. The Rooster made his way to the top of his roof, just as he does every morning. The Rooster looked down at his watch and watched the final seconds tick off and 5:59 became 6:00 AM, just as he would do every day as well.

Then, he hit ‘em with the prank…

The Rooster did not crow at exactly 6:00 AM sharp just as he would every morning. Instead, he waited and looked out at the peaceful dawn, with the sun a quarter way up the sky, fellow animals with their eyes closed, off in dreamland, enjoying the enchantments of a parallel world.

Little did they know that as they slept they were all currently getting pranked. The Rooster had decided to give them one extra minute of sleep before he crows. No one would suspect anything. Then they would wake up and assume it was 6:00 AM when really it was 6:01 AM.

He would be one minute ahead of everyone else and they wouldn’t even know it. They would have not a clue! And for the rest of his life, he will be one minute ahead of everyone. In the future. Forever.

Then the clock struck 6:01 AM.

The Rooster crowed, one minute late. Everyone woke up, ready to pull their own pranks for the day, not knowing they were already behind

The dignified Rooster gazed out at everyone one last time, “And they’ll never, ever, find out…”