My board exams ended, the Informal Farewell got over and my time in school was passing well until I had an epiphany: none of us had received tuck since we had returned to the school. Even though I understood why the Tuck Shop was inoperative, my taste buds longed for the spice of Blue Lays, the refreshing softness of Guava Juice and the sweet crunch of Fuse. My gustatory cells were sobbing - without tuck, Sundays had stopped feeling like Sundays. I had readily accepted all the changes at school but this was getting a little too much for the hungry rats inside my stomach (they were also upset because of the death of their comrades – the butterflies of my stomach). To their relief and mine, Ma’am DOA informed that the chariot of the prince of my dreams was ready and he would be arriving soon. I was made to spread the word in the entire school and the smile on everybody’s faces after hearing ‘We will be getting tuck on Sunday’ was unmatchable – at least I was not the only one longing for the Prince.  

Everything was going smoothly: all the tuck was received and placed in the Chalets’ Common Rooms. Suddenly, a big question of paramount importance struck everybody - where will the students eat the tuck. With the aim of hiding tuck for the coming week, all students were in favour of eating in the hostels however, due to a slight possibility of the dorms being attacked by rodents, nobody was allowed to enter the hostels until they had eaten all their tuck. This was a task for all because, purely driven by excitement, everybody had ordered a lot more than they could consume. With nowhere to go, everybody spread all across the school, sat in groups, chatted, studied and enjoyed tuck.  

This happiness was very transient because the biggest enemy of the school had sneakily started its attack. Surprisingly enough, nobody had paid heed to them during the entire ‘Tuck Processing Process’ and this was their way of taking revenge. I realised that just like humans, monkeys don’t take ignorance well. They spotted shiny attractive wrappers of food and ran behind anybody who was seen with one. Petrified, the victims started calling out for Guard Didis – the Saviours of the Society. Just like Thor uses his Hammer, the Saviours swayed their Hockey Sticks to scare away the attackers but to no avail. They continued their ambush and forced Didis to play a game of Touch-and-Go with them.  
After their assault ended and everybody was back to their dorms, I expected the monkeys to return to their trees and let us live in peace but I was wrong. They continued being our guests for the next couple of days, endangering everybody. Our school had become a playground for the monkeys: they could be seen sleeping in the Hockey Field, peeping into classes and taking away stuff from students’ bags. To amuse themselves even more, they restarted their attack during school hours, threatening to pounce at anybody who tries to push them away. Even the cat is scared of them! She runs away from outside the Dining Hall whenever an infant monkey comes to drink the milk girls spread on the floor for her.  

The monkeys terrorized everybody so much that the Saviours had to escort panic-stricken girls from the hostels to the Academic Block for Prep. Being late for prep was so convenient for the people who chose to sleep during the Rest Time because monkeys gave them a perfect excuse which was undeniable and unquestionable. Even standing outside for the Prep Duty was a scary task for me as monkeys were on a tormenting spree. Their fear was so widespread that students who had their sports in the Sports Arena had started carrying a Hockey Stick, the all-powerful weapon, to scare away monkeys if they were to find any on their ways. Despite finding it ridiculous and absurd, I was one of the students who did that every day. Finding a semblance of order amidst the chaos caused by the monkeys seemed difficult but it was not impossible.  

One evening I was sitting in my class and heard loud pounds on the roof. I expected a fat and scary monkey but instead I saw a black and gray, long-tailed langur staring right at me. My instincts compelled me to instantly shut the door because I was oblivious of his motives of visiting our school. I expected him to be as deadly as the monkeys because they belong to the same order. I had always heard that monkeys are scared of langurs but never seen it however, the next day, the population of monkeys had reduced from about a hundred to just ten. The langur proved to be our Knight in Shining Armour, saving us from the wrath of the villainous monkeys. To my surprise, the langur had come to the school on its own, almost as if it heard everybody’s plea for help. My trust in the Universe was reinstated. 

The school’s relationship with monkeys is very unpredictable. One moment they are gone and in the other, they reappear. They have become as much a part of the school as us but it is imperative that we keep them at bay for our own security. Although monkeys seem adorable while frolicking, they are capable of causing harm to us which is why we should keep ourselves in check and not do anything which might provoke them. After all, to be able to live in harmony in the long run, we have to make good friends with our more-than-occasional guests.