Prologue
If there was one thing everyone in Royal Woods knew, it was that if a sign read FUNNY BUSINESS INC., something ridiculous was about to happen.
Sometimes it was a harmless bucket of confetti.
Sometimes it was a fake spider dangling from a doorway.
Sometimes it was an elaborate chain reaction involving rubber chickens, whipped cream, and a suspiciously overworked leaf blower.
And every single time, there was one familiar laugh waiting at the end.
“Gotcha!”
Luan Loud stood proudly in the middle of the garage, adjusting the crooked cardboard sign she’d painted years ago.
FUNNY BUSINESS INC.
CEO: Luan Loud
Business Hours: Whenever Everyone Lets Their Guard Down.
She smiled.
It wasn’t her biggest smile.
It wasn’t even close.
Still, a smile was a smile.
She reached into a battered wooden crate and picked up an old hand buzzer. The tiny device buzzed weakly against her palm before falling silent.
“Guess you’re... shocked to see me.”
Silence.
Luan chuckled anyway.
“You’ve still got it.”
From inside the house came a familiar shout.
“Luan!”
Lincoln’s voice echoed down the hallway.
“We’re eating breakfast!”
“Coming!” she answered.
She set the hand buzzer back into the crate and looked around the garage.
Shelves stretched from wall to wall, overflowing with years of jokes.
Rubber chickens.
Fake flowers.
Whoopee cushions.
Plastic bugs.
A dozen wigs.
Boxes labeled Emergency April Fools Supplies.
Mr. Coconuts sat on an old folding chair in the corner, his painted smile as permanent as ever.
“Morning, partner,” Luan said, giving the dummy a little wave.
He offered no opinion.
“Strong argument.”
She turned off the garage light and headed inside.
The Loud family breakfast was exactly as chaotic as always.
Lola complained that someone had touched her hairbrush.
Lana insisted it had only been “a little muddy.”
Lynn challenged anyone to race to finish their pancakes.
Lily happily smeared syrup across her face.
Luna quietly strummed a melody against the table with her fingers.
Lucy stared into her cereal as if expecting ghosts to emerge from it.
Leni smiled at everyone for no particular reason.
Lincoln squeezed between Lori and Lisa just as Rita carried another plate of toast to the table.
“Morning, Lu!” Luna greeted.
“What’s crackin’?”
“Oh, you know.” Luan grabbed a piece of toast. “Eggs. Mostly.”
A few groans circled the table.
Lincoln grinned.
“Nice.”
“Thank you. I aim to poach expectations.”
Another round of groans.
Luan bowed dramatically.
“I’m here all week.”
She waited.
The laughs came.
But they felt... smaller.
Maybe she imagined it.
Maybe everyone was just sleepy.
Rita smiled warmly.
“So, Luan, are you getting excited?”
“For what?”
“April Fool’s Day is only a few weeks away.”
Instantly everyone reacted.
“Oh no,” Lori muttered.
“My wardrobe is not emotionally prepared,” Lola sighed.
Lana laughed.
“This year’s gonna be awesome!”
Lincoln smiled.
“You’ve been planning something big, haven’t you?”
Every eye turned toward Luan.
She opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
“I... don’t know.”
That answer earned far more surprise than any prank ever had.
“You don’t know?” Lynn blinked.
“You’ve never said that before,” Lincoln added.
Luan shrugged.
“I’ve just been busy.”
“Busy?” Lori said. “With what?”
“Drama club.”
“School.”
“Homework.”
“Stuff.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie.
Just not the whole truth.
Breakfast continued, but something felt different.
The conversation moved on without another joke.
No one seemed to notice.
After school that afternoon, Luan walked home alone.
Normally she’d stop by the joke shop downtown or scribble ideas into the little notebook she always carried.
Today the notebook stayed tucked away in her backpack.
She passed a toy store window displaying novelty glasses with giant noses.
Usually she’d laugh.
Today she simply kept walking.
When she reached home, she headed straight for the garage.
The familiar scent of cardboard, paint, and old rubber greeted her like an old friend.
She switched on the light.
Rows upon rows of memories stared back at her.
Every prank she’d ever dreamed up.
Every fake gadget she’d built.
Every costume she’d sewn together.
Years of laughter.
She wandered slowly between the shelves.
Her fingers brushed against a cream pie tin.
She remembered the look on Dad’s face after he’d walked into that one.
She smiled.
Then picked up a fake bouquet that sprayed water.
Mom had laughed so hard she’d nearly dropped the groceries.
Another smile.
She reached the corner where Mr. Coconuts waited patiently.
“You’ve seen a lot, haven’t you?”
The dummy remained silent.
“I know. Strong, silent type.”
Luan laughed.
It echoed through the garage.
The sound faded quickly.
For the first time, she noticed how empty the room felt after the laughter disappeared.
She sat down beside one of the storage boxes.
On the side, written in black marker years ago, were the words:
APRIL FOOL’S DAY MEGA PRANK KIT.
She stared at the box for a long time.
Then she quietly peeled the old label away.
It came off easier than she expected.
She reached for a blank label from a nearby drawer.
After hesitating for several seconds, she wrote three careful words.
FUNNY BUSINESS INC.
She pressed the label onto the box.
Then opened it.
One by one, she began placing items inside.
The hand buzzer.
The fake flower.
The rubber snake.
The tiny bottle of disappearing ink.
None of it felt dramatic.
There were no tears.
No speeches.
Just the soft sounds of plastic and cardboard.
When the box was half full, she stopped.
She looked around the garage again.
“So...”
Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
“I guess every business retires someday.”
She laughed at her own joke.
It lasted barely a second.
This time, the silence afterward stayed much longer.
Outside, the sun slowly dipped below the rooftops of Royal Woods.
Inside the garage, surrounded by years of laughter, Luan placed one more prank item into the box.
Then another.
And another.
She never noticed that the smile on her face had quietly disappeared.
