April Fools’ Day used to be a lighthearted tradition for me—until it wasn’t. Moments after a friend pranked me, I decided to keep the chain going. My target? My youngest sister, Joy. Bounding upstairs, I told her that her friend Halima had fallen into the gutter outside our house and broken her leg. Joy panicked, but I quickly laughed it off, revealing the jest. We moved on—or so I thought.
Two months later, reality struck. My older sister Pat visited Joy at school. As Joy and Halima walked to meet her, Halima slipped into a gutter and fractured her legs. She spent months in the hospital, missing exams and an entire school session. Then came the call from Joy: “Your April Fools’ prank came to life—Halima fell into a gutter and broke her legs.” Her words hit me like a freight train. Guilt washed over me, and my stomach sank.
That moment shifted my perspective. What I’d dismissed as harmless fun suddenly felt reckless. I began to wonder about the weight of words—could a silly prank have planted a seed for misfortune? Whether coincidence or something more, the experience rattled me. Since then, I’ve stepped away from April Fools’ pranks. For me, the risk of unintended consequences outweighs the fleeting thrill. Stakeholders, let this be a reminder: even in jest, our words carry power. Choose them wisely.
