It was late October. Costumes, decorations and other Halloween-related items could be seen everywhere.
While heading home from work one day, I anticipated that my husband, Jack, who had gotten off work an hour earlier, would be waiting for me when I got home. I expected to find him sitting on our little makeshift porch at the top of the steps, where he usually sat for a little while after work to relax and get some fresh air.
Halloween prank
I pulled in the driveway, and sure enough, from a distance, I could see Jack waiting for me on the porch. I parked the car, grabbed my purse, got out, shut the car door, headed for the steps – and stopped. Something wasn’t right.
I looked closer and realized that the person on the porch was not Jack. Some old man had taken over Jack’s chair and made himself at home on our porch.
Then I realized that for the entire time I had been inspecting him – noting that he was wearing a raggedy flannel shirt, shabby and dirty bib overalls, and a pair of dirty boots – he hadn’t moved a muscle.
Perhaps the man wasn’t well and had started feeling sick, so he had decided to rest on our porch until he felt better. He really didn’t look well. In fact, he looked like he could be dead.
At this point, I was really scared. Where was my husband? Why had he not discovered this man and gotten help for him?
I took another step closer. Wait a minute! Something seemed odd. Looking closer, I determined that the man’s face wasn’t a face at all – it was a rubber mask.
Suddenly it dawned on me. Jack had dressed up in that get-up to scare me. Well, he had succeeded.
Not what it seemed: trick or treat
I knew if I got any closer, Jack would jump out of the chair and pounce on me. So, very slowly, I advanced another step. One more step, and he would be able to reach me, so I hesitated.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when the door flew open, and there stood Jack, holding his stomach from having laughed so hard. His Halloween prank was a definite success!
The “old man” was a dummy Jack had made. He left it on the porch until Halloween. Each time I left or came home, I carefully walked around the dummy, half expecting it to jump out at me.
Ursula
Coffeyville, Kansas
Read more reader-submitted stories about the best practical jokes in Best Practical Jokes and Fun Pranks.