Chapter - 19 - The mystery of plastic in the dog shit
"2500 . For the newbie outing…"
"Ugh…"
The whole class was groaning. Their faces were uglier when they heard they were needed to pack their own food and drinks.
"Collecting money starts today. Girls go to Su Phyu and boys come to me."
"I'm genderless.."
A shout came from naughty boys on the back bench.
"Genderless are fined, to give double.."
"Can I not go? Bros, I am broke."
The girls laughed. Wine guessed money wouldn't be collected today. Having 500 in the shirt pocket was considered rich for the boys while coming to the classes from the dorms. Wine only had 200 for the unexpected situation like finding the snack stall on the road that he was craving.
The last class was moving to the other side of the road. The boys were taught to make a handmade craft, plastic prawn. Wine's hands were nimble and Anawar's hands were meticulous. It went easier than other clumsy boys.
On the way back, Wine saw something unbelievable..
"Wtf !!! Plastic bags in the dog shit.."
The whole class was boiling as they hadn't seen this kind of thing before. Dog shits could be seen on the grass, piling here and there. The strange thing was the plastic bags didn't wrap the shit but the plastics were wrapped in the shit.
"How come?"
It was bizarre for the boys. As they thought hard, Wine remembered the scenes of dogs snatching packs of dishes from the trainees from time to time. The thing is, even vegetable dishes weren't safe from the dog bandits.
"How many of you were snatched dishes by the dogs?"
"Me.."
"Me too.."
"And me. I lost two dishes because of carelessness."
Five of them raised their hands. It was nearly half of the class. One of them even said he lost four times already. Maybe the dogs remembered him as a prey, well..
"Have any of you seen them tearing the plastic bags before eating?"
"No. It seems they haven't even put it down. Mine was gone just after being snatched by the big yellow dog."
"No way…"
"No way…"
The different dogs swallowing the dishes together with the plastic bags appeared in their minds. It seemed they were just too hungry.
"Didn't they get the leftover food from the dining hall?"
"They are fed but … what if they felt the dishes are more attractive than the stinky rice? We also despised the dining hall, right?"
"Shhh…come here.."
It was Lwin Moe from the same dorm with Wine, hushing and pulling the classmates towards him.
"I am living beside the Kumi group's room. I heard the juniors of Kumi group's dishes are also snatched by the dogs. And.. They are thinking of revenge."
"What can they do to the dogs? Bite them back ?"
The boys feel funny and laugh out loud. Even if they used their brains hard, they could do nothing to the dogs except beating and kicking them when they met.
"Tsk…tsk. You haven't heard about the Kumi group's famous acts, right? Brothers, they are famous for eating dog meat. When they are angry, they are penniless or they are robbed by the dogs… they killed and cooked the dogs. The teachers gave them warnings but still can't do anything."
It was popular science every senior gave to the juniors in the Dhanya dorm. Though other dorms were aware of this, it was not that important to impart into the junior's knowledge sea.
All of them smacked their mouths in annoyance. In their eyes, dogs were not equal to the edible livestocks.
Wine couldn't rest after dinner.
"Wine, get up."
"What for? I am so tired today. Let me rest."
"Rest later. Let's go buy some snacks."
"Buddy, we still have two days."
"After two days, all we get will be leftovers. The girls are more active than you. Come on…"
He was taken to the convenience store by Anawar to buy some snacks and drinks for the outing. Counting the cash in his hand… No. He didn't want to count anymore. If he got scolded when he called his mom, so be it..
Two cans of energy drinks cost 600 each. Except for a cake, biscuits and some dried cakes, there was nothing convenient to eat on the outing.
"What about buying some bread slices ? We can buy some meat dishes from the stalls and eat it like sandwiches."
"Pork curry and chicken will do. What about raw vegetables?"
"Just buy fried cabbage."
"That's good."
*********
Two days passed in a flash. Today was the day of outing. Wine wore a dark blue t-shirt and black cargo pants, the kind with big pockets.
Don't want to be outdone, Anawar also chose navy blue shirt and black jeans. Anawar wanted to wear the black style pants but they were easy to see if they got dusty and hard to sit on the truck. Wine said the fit style pants only look great while walking or sitting on a chair when he bought him six pairs of clothes.
He saw Wine slipped thin rings on his long and white fingers. The one on his thumb was shaped like a dragon coiling around the thumb.
"You like …rings?"
It was a bit strange for a man to like delicate things in Anawar's eyes, though Wine looked good in whatever he did or wore.
"Yep, I like small rings and earrings. If it isn't excessive or exaggerated, I like to wear anklets and bracelets too. But menswear is too rare in jewellery designs. Sigh… I have to design some for myself later.."
Wine shook his slander hand in front of Anawar's face. The thin rings shone in the light. The styles are simple and plain without gems inlaid.
"Let's go to the food stalls first."
They both took their lunchboxes to the food stalls. The drinks and snacks were put in the big plastic bag, held in Anawar's hand.
Wine bought pork curry, chicken curry and fried cabbage as they decided before. Anawar thought fried meatballs were also good and bought a potion.
Of the 7 trucks, the boys occupied 2 and a half while the girls got the rest. There were also seven trucks on the seniors' side. The number of boys was small, only one third of the trainees.
In a mighty manner, the group set off on the trip singing the song 'Noble Teacher' under the tutor's command.
The road out of the town was very beautiful in the morning sunlight. Wine could feel the refreshing sea breeze on his face carrying the unique salty scent. The road was built along the coast.
They saw the magnificent sea and the beach full of white sand from the trucks. Trainees from the coastal towns were better but trainees from inland towns were eager to run on the clean white beach.
Wine heard it wasn't far but it took nearly an hour to get to the destination. However, no one complained. The beautiful beach seen along the road attracted all the attention of the trainees.
"Cobra saffron forest pagoda, here we are.."
This pagoda got this name because it was built behind the rows of Cobra Saffron trees. Compared to other pagodas, it was small. But it was a quiet and cool place, surrounded by shady big trees.