Covered in sweat, absolutely miserable. The classroom was so humid I could cut it with a knife. There was two hours left on a Friday so my teacher wanted to get in some more work before I completely lost touch of what was going on because my focus was so on the clock. The last assignment was to read. Just read. Two hours sitting in a boiling hot sauna of a classroom is torture enough. Adding reading into the mix was just cruel. I grabbed a book off the shelf without looking at what it was. I sat sweating for another thirty minutes before the cover caught my eye. It was a picture of a Bengal tiger with piercing amber eyes. For some reason the photograph amazed me. The symmetry of its coat was magnificent. The simple background of the tall grass seemed surprisingly elegant. I quickly opened up the book and began reading. I never read non-fiction but this book felt like it was talking to me and only me. Like it was written solely for my enjoyment.
All of the sudden my teachers torture techniques did not seem so vicious. I did not think it was torture at all anymore. She was brilliant. How did she know I was going to get so immersed into this book? After reading for a few minutes, I paused, looked up at her and smiled. As if to say thank you. She knew what that look meant. She actually chuckled. I was the last person she or I expected to actually be reading instead of trying to get out of it. All other times we sat to read for a while I would horse around with my buddies. Avoid the task at hand at all costs. It was fun when I was doing it but now I just felt like I was missing out this whole time. She must have known that at some point I would understand her tactics and I would get it. Well from this moment on I think they were going to stick. I gave her one last look of sheer excitement and I was back at it. Reading and learning about everything all the facts of Bengal tigers this book could offer me.