Mozzarella Cheese Sticks

Jiggy chipmunk was the new kid on the bus. Their bus service was terrible, especially in the mornings when the kids had to wait a long time for the bus to pick them up. Often, they were late in arriving at school.

- Ashima Kaushik

"You will get used to it!" laughed Rajul fox, "It is more fun this way! We get to miss the first period most of the time!"

"And we get to play extra time on the swings when we wait for our bus when it is late in the afternoons," added Miffy, the cat.

Jiggy was hungry. He took a mozzarella cheese stick from his lunch box and munched on it while waiting for the bus. He looked around and noticed that the older kids were doing their homework; some were suddenly mugging up for their test, which reminded Jiggy of the Science test!

He took out his science book and started to read. Suddenly, his tummy made a rumbling noise. Jiggy ignored it and looked at the chapter titled 'Digestive System.'

"The digestive system is not that hard at all," chuckled Rajul, "just remember― the digestive system starts with the food we put in our mouths. To chew it, we use our teeth and tongue. The tongue has taste buds to tell BUS us whether the food is tasty!"

"Or, if it is salty, sweet, sour or bitter!" added Miffy.

"I love mozzarella cheese. I can have a tower of mozzarella cheese," said Jiggy, and his tummy made another gurgling sound, which he again ignored.

The school bus appeared, and they all quickly formed a line and climbed onto it.

Jiggy took the last seat at the back.

He studied while munching on some mozzarella cheese sticks.

Soon, he dozed off. A sudden jerk woke him up as the bus stopped at the school.

His tummy made that weird sound again. His stomach felt tight, but he moved towards the classroom. He heard cheerful

chatter and laughter coming from the class. Ms Bassi, the Science teacher, was absent. So, no test today. Yay!