"You all know what rodents are," Mrs. Wallace, Kathy's teacher, exclaimed loudly, jarring Kathy from her daze. "You just might not realize it. Mice and rats are rodents."
It was the "living life" section of class, in which the teacher talked about different types of living things. Plants, insects, humans, animals--they were all discussed. Kathy usually liked this part of the day, especially when they talked about animals, because she loved animals, but not insects. Last week when they talked about spiders, Kathy spent most of the time trying not to listen.
"Squirrels are rodents, too, as are beavers and gophers."
Kathy's interest was sparked. She thought rats were gross, but mice she thought cute, and she loved seeing the squirrels that inhabited the park by her house. She would sometimes even try unsuccessfully to pet them.
"Some people have rodents as pets. Mice and rats are sometimes kept as pets, but can anyone name an even more popular type of rodent that's kept as a pet? Maybe even one of you have one."
"A hamster?" little Greg Wilkie answered a little unsure of himself.
"Yes, a hamster," Mrs. Wallace chimed, happy that someone knew the answer to her question. "Very good, Greg. Do you know someone who has a hamster?
"Yes," Greg answered.
"Really? Who?" Mrs. Wallace inquired.
"My brother."
"Oh, thatıs nice. I bet it's cute. Anyhow," Mrs. Wallace continued, "most of the rodents we've mentioned so far are small in size, but there are larger ones. The porcupine, for instance, is a bit larger than the other rodents weıve mentioned. But there is one type of rodent thatıs even bigger than that. The largest rodent in the world is about the size of a small dog and can weigh up to a hundred pounds. It's called a capybara."
Kathy Barra froze in her seat. Did she just say my name? she wondered to herself.
"Did you just say Kathy Barra?" Jen Grissom inquired half laughing, but not sure whether she actually had reason to yet.
"No, I didnıt," Mrs. Wallace chuckled, "but capybara does sound like Kathy Barra, doesnıt it? I didn't think of that until you mentioned it."
More embarrassed than she could ever have been in her life, Kathy felt the blood rush to her face turning it a bright red. She felt faint and wanted to stop Mrs. Wallace from writing the word "capybara" on the chalk board for all to see, as she was doing. She wanted the discussion of rodents to end and wished they would talk about something else. She hoped no one would make anything out of it. But it was too late. It started with a few concealed laughs, but then, to Kathyıs horror, the whole class began to laugh hysterically. Kathy didn't know what to do. Jon Jorgensen yelled out, pointing at Kathy, "You're the biggest rodent in the world"
That's when they pushed her away.