The mall was packed—shiny floors reflecting the buzz of shoppers, food court smells drifting from every corner, and music playing faintly over the speakers. Jake, 14, and his younger sister Esli, 13, had a mischievous glint in their eyes. With their parents and older sisters busy somewhere else, the two had claimed full freedom… which obviously meant one thing: prank time.

“Okay,” Esli whispered, tugging on Jake’s sleeve as they ducked behind a planter near the escalator. “Operation ‘Sneeze Confetti’ is a go.”

Jake tried not to laugh as he watched Esli fake a sneeze next to a group of teenagers standing near the pretzel stand. But instead of a regular sneeze, she threw her head forward and flung a handful of tiny confetti pieces into the air from her hoodie sleeve.

“ACHOO—oh no! Sorry!” she gasped, pretending to be horrified.

The group froze, blinking as little colored paper floated around them.

One of the teens looked at her and smiled. “Yo, that was actually kind of awesome.”

Jake was behind a sunglasses kiosk, barely able to hold it together as he filmed the whole thing on his phone.

“Alright, my turn,” he whispered into his mic — a cheap walkie-talkie toy they brought for “secret ops.”

Next up was the “mannequin challenge.” Jake went into a clothing store, stood perfectly still in front of a display in some random hoodie, and waited. Shoppers passed, confused but curious. One lady walked up to him, tilted her head, and leaned in.

“Is… is this real?”

Jake suddenly moved and said, “BOO!”

The lady gasped and jumped back, then cracked up laughing.

“You kids need a Netflix show,” she said, shaking her head as she walked off.

Esli popped her head out from behind a rack, grinning. “Mission accomplished.”

They hit the food court next, pretending to argue loudly over who gets the last chicken nugget… with neither of them actually holding any food. Random strangers tried to mediate. One mom offered them her extra fries. An old man gave them a weird speech about “sharing is caring.”

“Jake,” Esli said as they finally sat down at a table with a couple sodas, “we’re either gonna become superstars or get kicked out of this mall.”