One Meatball Too Many

The white or perhaps more like yellow sign above the meatball container said: "MAX 4 / PUPIL OR ELSE!!!" but I was not afraid and took five (5). But after I had taken the fifth one I noticed I was a bit afraid after all and covered the last meatball with the kind of vegetable salad that was thick and colourful enough to completely conceal it.

I knew I wouldn't be safe until I'd secretly consumed one (1) of the meatballs, thus making the total amount seem like it had been four (4) all along. Due to the fact that I had neither the will nor the ability to wipe out any possible witnesses it was extremely important not to give anyone a chance to keep track of my meatball count. I sought out an empty table in the corner of the hall and took out the tent.

Setting up the tent turned out to be a challenging task. The table was either a bit too wide or a bit too long to properly fit under the fabric and the linoleum floor was way too hard to stick any metallic pegs into. I proceeded to cover my face with my two (2) palms for a relatively short while and shiver a bit.

It soon began to seem rather obvious that there would be no other choice but to abandon the table and set the tent out on the lawn. The greatest dilemma was how to do this without attracting too much attention. The plate would be laughably easy to transport through the open window, but the tent, being of a relatively large variety, posed a problem. Since the tent was very expensive and did not really belong to me, cutting it into pieces was not an option.

Soon a group of people began to gather around me. I was shocked as I remembered my plate was still on the table completely uncovered and with all five (5) meatballs on it, but to my great surprise most of the people around me seemed to be more interested in the tent than in the contents of my plate. While they were staring at the tent in a dull and condemning manner I covertly picked up a meatball off the plate and inserted it into my mouth, trying to act as if I was biting my fingernails or picking my nose. I don't think anyone noticed or even cared.