[17/26] Question
This story is part of the A-Z challenge that I’m doing.
“LARA, SIT DOWN,” the teacher was yelling at the top of his voice. “I NEED YOU TO SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND TAKE YOUR SEAT RIGHT NOW.”
Lara, an inquisitive girl, who had an expression of confusion all over her face, in her irritatingly calm manner tried to defend herself, “But sir, I just wanted to know…”
Before she could finish her sentence, a loud roar fell on her ear drums, “GET OUT OF MY CLASS. RIGHT NOW.” She looked up to find the teacher’s hand pointing towards the door. She turned her head around to see other students. Ones in the front benches were stunned looking at the scene. Ones in the back benches were giggling and happy to see someone annoying the person who disturbed them everytime they tried having their lunch amid an ongoing class. The ones in the middle of these two extremes casually ignored the drama and kept themselves immersed in their own worlds of gossip.
Lara, with her head hung down, walked out of the classroom and headed towards the garden. This wasn’t the first time she was thrown out of the classroom. If someone had to come searching for Lara, she would prefer searching for her in the garden first. That’s the reputation she had made for herself. She was notoriously famous in the whole school for her gifted talent of annoying teachers.
On one occasion, a teacher was telling the students how polar bears hibernate throughout the winters. Lara then asked, “Are there any other animal that pays unusual heed to winters?”
“There are many, Lara.” The teacher replied.
“Who all?”
“There are many, Lara. If I start listing them down, it’d take a long time. Ask me later, okay?”
Instead of accepting the answer, she said, “I’ve seen squirrels collecting nuts so that they can last through winters.”
The teacher looked stupefied. She said, “Yes, squirrels, for example. They don’t hibernate but they collect nuts. Right.”
“But I wonder something, miss,” Lara replied, and everyone realized what sort of question followed the phrase, “I wonder who taught squirrels to collect nuts. If a baby is born as winter approach, they could have seen their mothers collecting nuts. But I wonder about the baby squirrels who are born in summer. Before the winter arrives, their mother leaves them on their own. Who teaches them then?”
And within a few minutes, she found herself out of the class, strolling in the garden. Like always, she stood under the tree and pretended to talk to squirrels. Perhaps, she was asking them the same question.
