Many people know of April Fool’s Day as playing pranks on your friends on April 1, but practically nobody has heard the story behind how this worldwide tradition came to be.
It all started when a girl named April Simmons was in her tenth year of school in Burlington, Vermont, and woke up on her birthday, which was April 1, 1741. After finishing the blueberry pancakes her mother had prepared for her, she went to her sink to brush her teeth. As she raised the toothbrush to her mouth and began to brush, she immediately sensed the strong taste of garlic overpowering her mouth; she then spit out the garlic and spent thirty minutes cleaning the stench from her face. She returned downstairs to learn her sister had played a prank on her by hiding garlic in the bristles of April’s toothbrush.
Arriving at school was rainy and stressful, but April ignored the rough start to her day and looked forward to the brownies her teacher had promised to bring earlier in the week. Once she got to school, she was surprised by the absence of people, including teachers. She walked to her empty class and noticed that laid out on the tables were brown paper scraps. As she walked closer to the table, she realized that the paper “scraps” were actually cut out in the shape of Es, with a note saying “School’s canceled!” April had never been pranked so harshly in her life, and she was humiliated.
She raced home as fast as she could and went back to bed hoping to wake up to a better day. Once she woke up from her nap, the clock had already struck seven in the evening and it was time for dinner. She entered the kitchen to a new smell and not a particularly pleasant one. She ignored the stench and sat down next to her brother, who was giggling behind his plate. Her father set down a burger at each plate and allowed April and her brother to begin their meal. As soon as she bit into the burger, she tasted a minty-sour taste flooding her mouth along with the beef. Spitting her food back onto her plate, she figured out that instead of spreading her hamburger bun with mayonnaise, her father decided to use toothpaste.
April decided that this had been the worst day she had ever experienced in her life. She couldn’t believe that she had been pranked so many times in one day. Since then, every birthday she ever had after that, she would get pranked. She started waking up every birthday with armour on and making sure to investigate everything she consumed. It was simple. April had been fooled, and she now had to live with fear on every birthday for the rest of her life.
I hope you enjoyed this story, and by the way, happy late April Fool’s Day!