It was a hot day.
Sandy was pulling at the collar of her blouse. The rough hem of her garment had been scratching annoyingly against her neck. She could feel herself wet with sweat.
(She smelled a little too, though she was not aware of it. Riding a bike to and from school had her accustomed to her scent so she would not notice her own odor.)
Out in front, the teacher was explaining how to solve a maths problem as she wrote the steps out on the whiteboard. She explained each step clearly and thoroughly. Her students should be able to grasp the lesson easily. Well, those of her students who were still functional in the noon heat.
"Mrs Kingston," Randy the boy who sat beside Sandy called, "Can we have the air-con on? It's hot."
The teacher stopped and fanned herself once with the notes in her hand. She glanced at the sunny day outside. "I suppose so. Close the windows," she ordered the students sitting near the windows. She stepped to the corner of the room and opened the box with the ventilation controls. After a brief manipulation of the controls, the welcome sound of a light breeze could be heard coming from the ventilation vents above.
Suddenly, there were scratching noises from within the ceiling. Then there were some pounding. The teacher and the students stared upwards as the sound seemed to travel within the ceiling. It sounded like the ventilation duct was rattling. Something was in there.
Then there was a crash in the middle of the class. Sandy turned just in time to see Ariel jump out of her seat with a high-pitch shriek. The blond girl fell into the desk behind her.
On Ariel's desk, on a blanket of dust, was the vent grating that had fallen from the ceiling. On that grating was a large black and white furry creature with a striped tail, sniffing in the frightened girl's direction. It shot a sharp threatening chitter at classmate Roger when he tried to approach.
Selina hurried to the front of the class, past the startled teacher. She grabbed the metal trash bucket and emptied it. Then she went back to Ariel's desk, approaching from behind the creature. She clapped the bucket over the animal's head and body as it was still facing Roger. In a breath, she tucked the striped tail under the bucket, then turned both the bucket and the air-con grating around. With a hand holding the air-con grating secure, she marched towards the front of the class. "Open the door," she ordered Randy.
The door was open by the time Selina reached the door. Then she was out with the bucket of little terror.
"Well, that was exciting," Mrs Kingston commented. She look at the boy standing by the door. "Mr Dorson, could you go get maintenance down here to fix the vent."
"Yes, Mrs Kingston." Randy left the room.
The teacher glanced at the clock mounted above the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. She dumped her notes on the teacher's table and walked towards the scene of the crash. "I guess that's it for today's lesson. It's nearly lunch anyway. Girls, clean up the dirt," she ordered a few of the other girls as she stepped in front of Ariel. "You're not hurt are you, Ms Peterson?" she asked as she examined the blond girl's head. "The grating didn't hit you?"
"No, Mrs Kingston," Ariel replied. She had dust on her blond hair and blouse.
"Very well. Go get yourself cleaned up." As Ariel left the classroom, the teacher stepped back to check the nearby students, assess the damage and supervise the cleanup.
That incident was much more interesting for Sandy than the teacher's lesson. And she experienced it in the cool ambiance of air-con. Briefly, she wondered if her other school days were going to be as exciting. Maybe a pot of gold would drop from the ceiling next time.
Ariel returned to class just before the bell rang for lunch break. The maintenance people had already arrived to fix the damage to the ceiling. Selina was also back with the bucket and grating but without the critter.
Oh, and just because the teacher canceled the lesson early did not mean that there would be no homework. She remembered to hand out everyone's assignments just before she left the class.
There always had to be a cloud for every silver lining.
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