RATS!

There is no better recipe for disrupting a class than the unexpected discovery that perhaps you're sharing the room with more than just humans. No, not aliens... I'm talking about the furry friends we refer to as rodents.

Announcement of their arrival was worthy of a drama. The teacher goes silent for a moment, then asks us to stand up and walk out of class IN A LINE... without making a noise! One would think we were practicing for a fire drill. Once we get the news that there is a rat in the class, however, well... you can probably guess the reaction. Nope- no screaming or panicking. Everyone immediately tried to get back into class to try and catch a glimpse of the famous rat who brought some colour in what looked like another colourless day (I even wondered if this rat could perhaps cook like Remy from RATATOUILLE). 

Enter our saviours, a helper and a protocol officer. They've come to apprehend the stowaway when- surprise! It's not one rat... but TWO! Don't you love it when things come in pairs?

Anyway, we watched one rat finally getting bagged (literally- they put him into a bag) after hilariously scampering all over the class. The other scurried up the teacher's table, at which point I asked my teacher if her pencil box lying on top of the table was closed. Oops! Turns out it wasn't. Luckily, the rat had disappeared before trying anything with the box and couldn't be found anywhere, leading several members of the class to ponder the hiding places a rat might be in the given situation. Guesses included bags, open pencil boxes and under chairs. Best suggestion, however, was that the rat had taken refuge in a uniform hanging at the back of the class, resulting in several hilarious enactments of what would happen to the wearer if the rat was indeed hiding there. No need to worry, though, it wasn't there.

Just as everyone was settling (wasn't much help, though, the bell was about to go off in about 2 minutes), we discovered a possible explanation to the second rat's mysterious escape. One boy's pencil box, which he'd left on the table before leaving the class, was missing. This prompted much laughter from those around him as they pondered whether the rat escaped using the pencil box as cover, in true TOY STORY fashion. 

P.S. The writer is still unsure if the pencil box was recovered by the end of the day or not.