Faces and fry pans

Yesterday I gave a class a speaking test. Before I started the test, one of the students approached me, looking funny.

"Can I have my test first?" she asked. "I have to go to the hospital."

I stared at her, trying to figure out why she looked funny, and decided that she probably had toothache and couldn't think of the word for 'dentist.'

"Oh, that's no good," I said. "Are you all right? We can do your test next week, if you like."

"No, I can do it today," she said. "It's my face. One side doesn't move."

"Is it a tooth problem?" I asked.

"No," she said. "My face. One side can't move."

I called her first, for testing.

When she came through to the other room, where I was doing the tests, I was still worrying about her.

"Are you SURE you're all right with this?" I asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Do you know what caused it?" I asked. "Are you sure it's not a tooth?"

"No, it's my face," she said. "It's stress. I had it before."

"Well, that's not very nice for you," I said. "Let's get this done so you can get to a hospital quickly."

"Thank you," she said.

"And don't get stressed about the test," I said. "You've passed, actually. You've already spoken quite a lot, and I've asked you some questions, and you've answered perfectly!"

She looked startled, then relieved, and then she grinned, and that was when I could see that it was definitely not a tooth, because only one side of her face grinned. The other side stayed perfectly still.

What a strange thing to happen.

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In other news, The Man has fixed the fry pan. It has a new handle, and new screws holding the handle on, and it is PERFECT. Not only that, he fixed it using materials he bought from the ¥100 shop.

My hero!