Called to the school

On Feb 15th ie Tuesday, Sona went to the school after 4 days as she was suffereing from cold & cough. At 10.30am I got a call from her school. Just seeing the school's name flashing on my mobile gave me that dreaded sinking feeling -worried that she was sick in school again & they were calling me to fetch her. When I answered the call, a lady said in the same familiar tones 'Your child is not feeling well, you must come and get her from school & pay Rs2 for this phone call at the school office please." I asked her "What has happened - is she not feeling well, when Sona herself started speaking. She wanted me to carry her craft project to her in the lunch break( which she had forgotten to take). Though irritated with her for forgetting, I was feeling concerned too, thankful that she was not ill after all. I agreed to bring it to her & she made me promise to do it over phone.
I started for home half hour earlier than lunch time to pick up her craft. It was an enormous box (2feet at least in length), which was going to be a box for wafers. It was very difficult to place it on my scooter, and I was just able to place it in the front with hardly any place to jam my feet in. In this way looking absurd no doubt with a huge box , almost falling off the scooter once or twice, I managed to reach her school. There at the gate the watchman refused to allow me inside or take the item inside himself. I again called up the school office & explained matters to them when the lady instructed the watchman to bring the box inside. It was quite an ordeal!!!
When Sona came home I gave her a talking to & forbade her to call me again to fetch & carry her things to school. 'What would have happened if I had not taken the box to school?', I asked her. "Nothing," she said shrugging her shoulders with an unconcerned expression on her face, " we would all be sitting idly & Miss would give us minus marks. But I want to win the competition for the best wafers box and win the prize for it." Win a prize indeed! What a joke! Once she had the idea that they might give a laptop as a prize for some competition or the other!!!!