Extra time and extra cover!

The blades of the fan had stopped whirring because of a sudden power cut.  The four windows of the classroom were open to allow the light summer breeze in. April was one of the hottest months of the year. Sweating students scribbled furiously; they had to complete their lengthy Geography paper in less than two hours. A few students scowled at the teacher, Mrs Apte.

 It was all her fault, really! It was because of her that they had lost 15 precious minutes of writing time. She had brought the Class 8 Geography questions papers, instead of  the  Class 7 ones this morning! Was she apologetic? Not a chance! Instead, she seemed to take her own sweet time to return from the staffroom  with the correct  papers.

 “Write fast. I’ll not be giving you extra time,” Mrs Apte warned.

The students glared at her, but no one dared to voice their thoughts. Last year, she had failed two students who had dared to stand up to her. Everyone in school was wary of her vile temper.

The lizard, who was well aware of the goings-on in the classroom, stared at Mrs Apte from behind the tube light. She had seen Mrs Apte  rave and rant at the hapless kids every day! Although she felt  bad for the students, she was unable to do anything to help them. Just then, a brilliant plan began forming in her head!

The lizard watched as the children constantly looked up from their papers, brows creased, to glance at the clock placed strategically on the wall above the teacher’s chair. The clock, which was in the shape of a house, was really old. It’s glass face even had a huge crack!

Staring at the crack in the clock, the lizard’s head began buzzing. Should she try it? Would her plan succeed?

Slowly, she slithered over to the clock. She crawled over its glass face, face scrunched up. Could her fat body slip in through the crack? The lizard stared at the crack in dismay. She wished she had not feasted on so many flies last night! Else, she could have easily squished her way in.

Inch by inch, she made her way through the crack. At last, her tail swished in after her!
The small hand of the clock was at 12 and the big hand at 3. Being a Classroom Lizard came with certain perks: learning  to tell the time was one of them!

All that the lizard had to do was push the big hand to 12. This was where her plump frame  would prove useful. But she slowly pushed the big hand to 6, instead! A student’s loud gasp alerted her.

“Oh no, I made a mistake,” she said to herself, staring at the big hand of the clock in horror. She had speeded up time!

Pushing herself behind the big hand, she moved it to 5, then 4, and then to 3. It was a long struggle, requiring tremendous effort. The big hand refused to budge from 3.

Exerting all her mite, she pushed it to 2, then, 1 and, finally, both hands of the clock were at the same place: at 12.

 “Students, time is up,” Mrs Apte called out.  “The clock is showing 12 noon, Ma’m. We have half an hour more,”  said a smart student, drawing Mrs Apte attention to the clock.
Mrs Apte blinked furiously. Staring at her watch, she realised that it had stopped. The battery had to be replaced and she had been putting it off.

The lizard darted back behind the tube light. Extra time was not a bad thing during exams, was it?