Ever read a headline and then gone back to read it again? Sometimes one tiny change turns a completely normal sentence into something very strange. Your brain gets halfway through before it realises what has happened.
So here are four made up headlines, just for fun. No actual newspaper is responsible for these. We are quite happy to take the blame ourselves.
Alarm clock files noise complaint against its owner
Fair enough. Every morning it gets shouted at, hit on the head and told to be quiet. Maybe the alarm clock was only doing its job. After years of hearing “five more minutes”, it finally wants someone else to listen.
The real question is who will wake it up for the hearing. Another alarm clock? That could get complicated.
Weather forecast promises sunshine. One umbrella disagrees.
There is always that one cloud with a personal agenda. Everything else can be bright and cheerful, but it has picked its spot and it is sticking to it. Unfortunately the umbrella lives there.
At least somebody checked the forecast before leaving the house. Even if that somebody was the umbrella itself.
Empty checkout attracts record queue of shopping baskets
You know the feeling. Every other queue seems to move faster than yours. Now imagine the baskets deciding to line up before the shoppers arrive. Very organised. Still somehow the wrong queue.
One basket will definitely change lanes at the last minute. There is no proof, but we all know it will happen.
Missing cake slice last seen running from birthday party
People always ask who ate the last slice. Nobody asks whether the last slice had plans of its own. Maybe it wanted to see the world before someone brought out the plates.
A bold escape. Not sure how far it will get with all that icing though.
And that is how a few ordinary words can take a story somewhere completely unexpected. Which headline made you read it twice?
