April Elephants

Today is April Fool's Day.

I recall the first April Fool's joke played on me when I was about 8. It was by my sister, Wei.

We were in the garden, at my grandfather's house. There was some sort of party going on. The sky was dark, but the garden was brightly lit with fairy lights.

"Look behind you! An elephant!", exclaimed Wei, pointing behind me.

"Where? Where?" I asked, frantically searching around.

"Hahaha... April Fool!"

"Huh? April what?" I asked, confused and still wondering where the elephant was.

"April Fool's Day! It's the first of April. People play tricks on each other on this day."

"Huh? What tricks? Why? Who?"

"The westerners. Just for fun, like a joke," she sighed.

"Look! An elephant behind you!" I shouted.

It was always like that between my sister and I back then. She is a year older than me, and was the knowledgeable and clever one who knew about these things before I did.

She was the one with all the friends, while I sat in a corner absorbed in my own games. She was the one who knew about the 'western' ways, while I was the country bumpkin who could barely understand English.

It's quite odd that now I have ended up being the one who is living a foreigner's life in England.

So now, whenever I think of April Fool's Day, what comes to mind is the image of an elephant draped in colourful embroidered cloths, and of course, fairy lights.