The Funtastic World of Hanna Barbera

14. The Joke's On Who?

April 1, 1991

One morning, Huckleberry Hound woke up nice and early. He was looking forward to spending a nice warm day. He went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, took a nice warm shower, put on a clean bow tie, and his favorite hat, and went to make some breakfast. He then remembered what day of the week it was. "Well bust my britches!" he shouted. "It's Sunday! And you know what that means!" His kitten, Mimi meowed in confusion. "It means only one thing: A sundae for breakfast!" Huck replied to his kitty.

He then dashed to the freezer to get the ice cream. His puppy dog, Pudgy ran up to Huck and wanted to have some ice cream too. "Pudgy, you silly puppy!" he giggled. "Here, you can have a little bit, but no chocolate for you!"

Huck gave Pudgy his own tiny little scoop of vanilla ice cream, then went to work putting his sundae together. Chocolate syrup, whipped cream, bananas, strawberries and lots of rainbow sprinkles with a cherry on top. He licked his lips hungrily. "That looks like one of my best sundaes I've ever made!" he beamed.

He then made his way to the table to start eating. But just as he sat down, he heard a loud noise. "Oh!" he gasped. "What was that?" He then looked around and heard nothing. He then began to laugh. "Oh well, better out than in, that's what I always say!" he chuckled. He then lifted up his spoon and was about to put some ice cream into his mouth when he heard the sound of laughter from out the window. "Huh?" He then got up, and looked at his chair only to see a whoopee cushion. "Well, now, who could have put a whoopee cushion on my chair?" he wondered. "And who's making that noise outside?"

From outside the window, Mr. Jinks the cat was crouched down beneath the window, covering his mouth and shaking with laughter. Huck turned to the window, lifted it open and poked his head outside. "Now I could've sworn I heard...hey!" He looked down and spotted the orange cat. "What are you doing here, Jinks?"

"I gotcha, Huck!" Jinks guffawed. Huck couldn't believe his ears. "You were the one who put this on my chair?" Huck asked, showing Jinks the whoopee cushion. "Yes!" Jinks laughed. "Like, don't you know what day it is?"

"No," Huck replied. "What day is it?"

"It's April Fool's Day! Like, uh go and take a look at the calendar!"

Huck gasped in shock and raced to look at the calendar. "This can't be!" he shouted.

He then looked at the calendar and saw what day was circled: April 1st. Jinks was right. It was April Fool's Day.

"Well shucks, I clean forgot what today was!" Huck said to himself. "This means I'd better watch out. Y'never know when someone is gonna pull a fast one!"

Huck ran outside, but just as he opened the door, a bucket of water from above the door tipped over, and the water spilled all over Huck.

"Not that corny bucket over the door gag!" he groaned, shivering from the cold water. "That one gets old quickly."

"Not to me it doesn't!" Hokey Wolf laughed as he peeked out from behind the door. "Don't be such a wash-up, Huck! Hahaha...wash-up! Get it?"

"Hokey!" Huck cried. "Awww, I should've known! You always pull this one on me!"

"Well, what's the matter, Huck?" Hokey asked. "Don't you like a good joke?"

"I do," Huck said. "But one after another is a mite too much!"

"Well, that's what April Fool's Day is all about!" Hokey said. Then he held up a flower. "Smell my flower!"

Huck looked at the flower and smelled it, but just then, the flower sprayed water in his face.

"Get a shower!" Hokey laughed. Jinks joined in the laughter. But Huck didn't laugh. He was spitting and sputtering the water out of his mouth.

"That's the last straw!" he sneered. "My decision is complete! I'll show you two a good joke! Just you wait and see!" Then he wandered away with a small snarl.