Sometimes, when times get dark, you need a little ray of light. This is the story of how our family got through a time of difficulty, when my brother decided to pull a prank to lighten the mood.

As a child I wasn't so much socially-inept as socially-incapable, so I took the approach of bribing friends to spend time with me. With a barbie in one hand and a Famous Five book in the other, I was determined to make people like me.

My dad (RIP) had an amazing sense of humour, and came up with some of the best pranks I've ever seen. One summer's day he went to a BBQ with my mum at a friend's house, and a rat ran across the BBQ. This is how he responded.