A Red Spoon

Brian came in my room at 7:40 to say hello. He looked over my desk and said, "hey, that's a really cool red spoon you have there, where'd you get it?" I had no idea what he was talking about. "Huh? Red spoon? That's not mine."
He said, "well, it was sitting right here next to your yogurt." I left my phone home that day, got a ticket on my way to work the day before that, misplaced a dress I was supposed to send to my mom and keep forgetting what day and time my chiropractor


Over the years I've found a lot of strange things in and around this school. One day a few weeks ago I was leaving school and found a wad of gum stuck to my windshield, the next week there were soccer ball imprints on my driver side window. One morning there was a puppy outside the main entrance of the building trying to get into the building, I brought him inside and called animal control. Another
year I rescued a kitten from being kicked by a group of obnoxious boys.
T ay I was checking my email while my AP students worked quietly and when I turned to look at them I noticed a cicada exoskeleton on my desk. Better than the mouse droppings that are usually sprinkled there, but still.
"Who put this on my desk?" There were smiles but no answers. I laughed, I mean, a cicada exoskeleton. "You guys know what I'm talking about. Who put this here?" They gave up John like he was Al Qeda.
Once while viewing a film in the auditorium I almost sat in a seat where an apple had been left to rot. It was so soft, to the touch it felt more like the fleshy cheek of a six month old.
l recall a conversation with another teacher who, last year, found a dried up slice of Bologna in a book from his classroom set. I don't think I can beat that.

During first hour I found a yellow post it in my gradebook with a note written on it by Brian, "I left the red spoon on your desk. :)"