TIME TEACHES TO LAUGH

CASE OF THE UNHAPPY INCIDENTS

One day our teacher told us that a student reported that her purse got stolen. She asked to hand it over to her if someone had stolen it. Who would admit that? She asked every one of us to close our eyes and that was a chance for the little thief to throw it away, in case that person realizes the mistake. We laughed at each other, like what a stupid plan was that. I slightly opened my eyes to see if someone was throwing it away. My curiosity level was quite high, and I wanted to see the thief.

The teacher asked us to open our eyes. I felt something near my leg and to my surprise, it was the stolen purse. I cursed my bad luck. Why me, out of all the other students? The person who stole it threw it away and unfortunately it reached my place. The teacher asked me to bring it over. I do not know why few people were looking at me like I was the thief. That made me sad. I cannot argue that I am not the thief, because nobody said so. But those looks were clearly pointing out that I purposely dropped the purse down and gave it back. I felt bad, for being looked at for something I did not do.

This incident made me become curious to find the hidden truths. Why would that person give back the purse, if his/her intention was money? Nobody noticed anything fishy, and nothing would have happened if the person stayed quiet for a longer time. If that person were so sincere to change their mind as long as the teacher advised, they would not have done it in the first place. No thief is that soft-hearted. Someone did it to frame me. I concluded. Why? That was still a question.

I assumed everyone to be the thief and started noticing each and every secret movement of my classmates. I was a huge fan of Nancy Drew and I always wanted to do something like this. When I got the chance to do the investigation, I was in full spirits. Everyone seemed a thief to me. That is how it works. When you stare at someone doubtfully, your mind will always conclude him/her to be the culprit. I always made mistakes like that.

On asking investigative questions, many people started to dislike me. I still continued and even my teacher asked me to stop. I could not find any answer and my heart was not at ease. Every evening, I discussed my doubts regarding the case and my friends became bored with it. Somehow, I was forced to let go of it. And by that time, almost everyone in the class started hating me because of my investigation which turned stupid in the end. I made a fool out of myself. What I actually aimed for was to be Nancy Drew. That was sad.

I used to reach our classroom earlier. I do not know why; I liked that routine of reaching the class first. Sweeping the classroom, cleaning the blackboard, arranging the books...that was all kind of fun. After writing a piece of inspiring quotes on the blackboard, I went back to my seat. Then I thought, why not a book from our class library?

We had a little library in the corner of our classroom. All the books in there were contributed by students and teachers themselves. One book per person on their birthday- that was the arrangement. I went near and picked up a storybook. That was a folk tale. Usually, all the books in there were not much popular. It was just given for the sake of contribution. And yes, this one was that type too. I just thought of giving it a read. As soon as I opened it, I saw something popping out. That was a piece of paper and I opened it. That shocked me. It was a love letter written to a boy in our classroom. I had no idea why I ended up opening a love letter to someone. The sender's address was not mentioned in it. It actually made me curious, but I thought of keeping it back in there itself. I was already in trouble, and I was not ready to invite more problems. But unfortunately, that was another unlucky day. I saw someone coming in and I was stuck at the moment. I had no idea how to solve or convey the issue to that person.

Few seconds of silence and he asked me what happened. I tried to explain. But he already had an assumption that I was trying to put a love letter inside the book. He thought I became embarrassed that he caught me. I had no idea, how to explain. I knew that these things were going on inside his head, but I could not tell him because that would have obviously increased his doubts about me. So, I just explained, and he pretended to believe me.