THE CONFESSION

Standing in the class for something wrong you have done, being disgraced by your beloved teacher, feeling embarrassed in front of all your friends, is the worst feeling, a nine-year-old child can have. Little David was facing the same exact situation, except this time, he had not done anything wrong.

“Do you have no shame at all, David? I have told you not to disturb me in the class. That too, with this disgusting creature; a frog! What is wrong with you? How did you even bring it here?”

“But teacher..” Little David stuttered. His voice was shaky. It was the most embarrassing moment of his life.

“No! I don’t want to hear any of your nonsense excuses. I have had enough with your mischievousness. Just get out of the class with this creature of yours and stay out. You will have to face serious consequences of your action young man.”

Usually, David is considered to be a naughty boy by his teacher Ms. Olivia. Being scolded by her is not a new thing for David as he always finds new and creative ways to provoke her. He always smiled even when he was being scolded. But, today was different. He did not bring the frog into the class. It was actually his best friend, James who had brought the frog. While the whole class was laughing and looking at the stern expressions of Ms. Olivia, James was merged in the guilt of his action and thinking about what happened a few minutes ago.

The teacher entered the classroom sharp at 8 o’clock. All the students stood up and welcomed her. After exchanging pleasantries, Ms. Olivia, the newly appointed, pleasant-looking, young, enthusiastic lady who seemed in her late 20s, started the lesson.

“Okay children, today’s lesson is..”

“Ribbit, ribbit” A frog’s sound came from the class.

“What was that? Who is making that sound?” asked Ms. Olivia angrily.

“Ribbit, ribbit” the sound continued. The whole class was laughing and looking for the place where the sound was originating from. It was from David’s and James’ desk. The frog jumped out onto the desk and croaked again. Everyone was laughing including David. Ms. Olivia’s face became red as she was both berserk and disgusted by this creature. She wanted to punish David so bad, but she controlled herself as they were just small kids. James was scared to see Ms. Olivia's face. Therefore, he remained silent, looking down the whole time. He was so afraid that he would get severely punished for what he has done. To his surprise, the one who was caught for this mischievous act was David. Usually, David would retort when something like that happened. But today he kept mum to save his friend as he knew it was actually James’.

“I am going to complain this to the principal as well as to your parents, David. I am afraid we will have to suspend you from the school as well.” the teacher shouted at David.

When little David heard that he might get suspended from the school, he felt really sad. A single drop of tear rolled down his right cheek and made its way down his face and fell upon James’ hand. James looked up and saw his best friend’s face being lugubrious. James could not stand it anymore. His best friend, who was always there for him whenever he needed, was going to get into trouble because of him.

James stood up and confessed. “It was me, Ms. Olivia. I was the one who brought the frog. I am sorry miss.”

James burst into loud sobs as he started relating what really happened.

Ms. Olivia was rendered speechless as she believed James to be one of the meritorious students in the class. Her eyes became large and her face showed signs of curiosity.

“Ms. Olivia, I am sorry, I did not want to disturb you. I brought the frog to give to Mary who is in 10th grade, because, she said that she wanted a frog for her Biology class. She said that she would come and collect it before 8 a.m. yet she never came.” James related with tears in his eyes. Mary was one of the friends of James’ sister. James had a cute little crush on her. James would gladly do anything if Mary asked.

When James finished his story, Ms. Olivia realized that neither of them had done anything wrong. She felt sorry for little David because even she noticed that he was crying and she had never seen him cry. She went near both of them and stroked their heads affectionately.

She said with a smile on her face, “James, take that disgusting creature out of my sight.”

“Ribbit, ribbit” the frog croaked. The whole class laughed including Ms. Olivia.