The Office Prank Gone Too Far

So I started my new job at this accounting firm last month. It's mostly older folks and they take everything super seriously here, it’s not exactly the most fun place to work, but hey, gotta pay those bills. Anyway, on my second day, my desk neighbor Joe (a long-time employee who seems like a cool guy) invited me to play this prank with him. He suggested we get some harmless stuff from an office supply closet and leave it scattered around the break room as a little surprise for everyone coming in first thing Monday morning. I didn't think much of it, figuring if someone asks what's up, we'd just say 'Happy April Fool’s!' but since that was still like two weeks away, we said nothing. Anyway, we got a box of rubber chickens and some silly props to leave out there as a gag. The plan was all fun and games until... I overdid it. On my way back from lunch on Friday, I thought to myself 'Oh wouldn’t it be funny if everyone saw one of those chickens walking around the break room?' So I put a chicken on this little platform toy that makes it look like it's actually moving when you press its button. The thing is, I was so distracted by my phone (reading up on new accounting software) that I forgot about it. The next morning, everyone started coming in and, well, the moving rubber chicken caused a massive panic! Everyone thought there was an actual pet or something loose in there, and one of the partners had to actually come down to check everything out. I felt terrible for pulling such an elaborate joke with no real setup. I tried to explain it was just a prank gone wrong but it didn't really help much because we ended up having an all-staff meeting about office safety! So here's my confession: While meant as a fun, harmless little April Fool’s prank on the first Monday of work for both Joe and me, I ended up nearly causing a full-blown office emergency. Sorry everyone...