A Housemaster’s tale from Michaelhouse, KwaZulu-Natal – The Curious Case.
There are certain moments in a Housemaster’s day when experience tells you that things are about to become interesting. One of those moments, like the Curious Case, is when a boy appears at your office door at exactly 7:25 a.m. You can usually tell from his facial expression that this is not going to be a routine “Good morning, Sir.”
Before I’ve even managed to say hello, the words come rushing out… “Please help, Sir… I’ve lost my bag!”
Now, as every experienced Housemaster knows, this is rarely just a missing bag. It is usually accompanied by a rapidly rising level of panic because the first lesson starts in five minutes, the Maths textbook is inside, the calculator has “definitely” gone with it, and, somehow, this has become my emergency.
The explanation is almost always the same: “I promise I left it next to my bed.” “I’ve looked everywhere!”
Over the years, experience teaches that a teenager’s definition of “everywhere” bears very little resemblance to the one found in the Oxford Dictionary.
- “Have you looked under your bed?”
- “Yes, Sir.”
- “Inside your cupboard?”
- “Yes, Sir.”
- “Have you checked the common room?”
- “Yes, Sir.”
- “Have you looked… properly?”
A brief pause. “Not properly, Sir…”
When the first lesson happens to be Mathematics!
Curiously, it is astonishing how many bags choose to disappear on mornings when the first lesson happens to be Mathematics!
The investigation then begins. Like any good detective, the first question is always, “Let’s retrace your steps.” Nine times out of ten, the bag is exactly where it was left. Sometimes it is under the bed. Sometimes it is inside the prep classroom.
Every now and then, the mystery takes an unexpected twist. The bag hasn’t been lost at all—it has simply been “borrowed” by another unsuspecting boy who has confidently walked off with the wrong bag after inspection, blissfully unaware that he is now carrying two Maths files, three pencil cases, and someone else’s PE clothing.
One thing is certain: 7:25 a.m. in a boarding house is never dull. By 7:35, the mystery has almost always been solved, the bag recovered, the crisis passed, and the same boy is happily walking off to class as though nothing extraordinary has happened.
Except it is extraordinary. Because that’s real House life!
