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Mickey Joins the Bowling Club
by John Peterson

Every year John would be caught hook line and sinker on April fool’s day and his main protagonist was his sister’s boyfriend Mickey.

Mickey Ryder was a man who led a colourful life, he lived life on the edge of normal society and made his living from wheeling and dealing. He was a man with a sharp brain and knew how to make money. He always brokered deals to make money but not all of his businesses were totally legal.

Some were, like his indoor market stall called “Scallywags” selling children’s clothes at a market in Liverpool. Mickey was a likeable sort of rogue putting who possessed a sharp brain and a good sense of humour which helped in his deal making. He liked to play tricks on his girlfriend’s brother John.

Mickey always got John on or near April fool’s day and sometime taking days to set up the prank. Like the time he advertised John’s car, which was a pristine Ford Capri and John’s pride and joy. Mickey had phoned the local newspaper pretending to be John and advertised his Capri at a ridiculously low price in the free adverts section. John’s mobile phone rang constantly by potential buyers for days on end, driving John insane.

John decided to get his own back and for this particular April fool’s Day he carefully planned his revenge on Mickey down to the very last detail.

Mickey lived with John’s sister in a second floor flat and they backed on to a small park. The park contained a couple of football pitches and a small building for the player to get changed in, as well as a bowling club situated in one corner which was surrounded by small trees and bushes and it had a five foot metal fence around the perimeter.

John went on the offensive, he knew Mickey liked to sleep in late, so he rang the phone at his sister’s flat at 8am and his sister answered. In a disguised telephone voice and with an air of authority he introduced himself as Detective Inspector Simon Moore of Merseyside Police and said he’d been asked to contact Mr Michael Ryder by Merseyside trading standards in connection with a local trading crime. His sister, answered the phone, said she would fetch Mickey to the phone. John could hear his sister explaining to Mickey that the police were on the phone asking for him, after a short while, the phone line went dead!

John tried unsuccessfully to ring back to explain it was an April fool’s Prank. Eventually he managed to get through and his sister answered. He asked to speak to Mickey but she told him that Mickey had fled the flat using the fire escape dressed only in his underpants. He’d scaling the railings and was now hiding in the bowling green cowering behind some bushes, still in his underpants.