#confuse dont abuse

The alien opened his drawer. Inside, a little plastic blue lizard stared up at him. He picked it up, regarded it, and tossed it on top of the dresser.

Inside the bathroom, he picked up his toothbrush and brought it to his only two teeth.

Something red was sticking out behind the toothbrush holder. With his claw, he pushed the ceramic piece to the side.

Behind the toothbrush holder was a little plastic red lizard.

Odd.

Throughout the morning routine, he continued to find lizards around his unit. The pillows, the hammock, the ceiling fan, his shoe… nowhere was safe.

With every new lizard he found, he thought surely it would be the last. With every “last one” there was one more to follow.

Pretty soon, he had thirty-one lizards stacked on top of his dresser.

“Where the hell did all these come from???”

It was later at breakfast that the alien would learn the origins of the little toys. It came in the form of another little creature - a human - who cheerfully sat down beside him.

“Find anything odd this morning?” they said.

“Are you the asshole who left a bunch of lizards in my unit?”

“Haha, April Fools’! You like them?”

“April what?”

Humans were known for their playfulness and pranks, so the explanation that came after was of no surprise to the alien. It would make sense that these little orcs made a holiday around it. 

Later, the alien led the smaller creature back to his unit and was greeted by a torn apart bedroom and a colorful pile of lizards.

The human - unprompted - went to work sorting the little toys so they lined up in their respective color.

The red line was shorter.

“Hmm…”

“What? What is it?”

“You’re missing one.”

“What!?”