The Phantom Of The Semi-Weekly Meeting Of The Newmentia Lunch Time Think Tank

We have a mystery, my friends. A mystery that has stumped the brainiacs of the Newmentia Lunch Time Think Tank.

It all started when I sat down at the teacher lunch table. I hope that is not particularly telling. Tomato-Squirter, on my left, turned up her snoot and started sniffing.

"I smell something. And it's not good."

I held my just-microwaved pizza toward her. The cheese slice from Pizza Hut, not the sausage slice from Casey's. "Is it this? Is it my pizza?"

"No. It's not that. At first I thought it was The Woodsman's chicken sandwich. But that's not it."

"Is it my salad?" Biz fancies herself an exotic eater.

"No. That's not it."

"Maybe it's your broccoli. I can smell that."

"No. My broccoli has nacho cheese on it. I don't know why. But even that's not it."

The man in charge and I looked at each other. "I don't smell anything." Said in unison. Neither did The Woodsman smell anything."

"You guys of course don't smell it. Girls smell better than guys." A round of smirks. "No. Really. It's a proven fact. There's research."

"I guess we're like dogs. We have extra smell sensors. We read about how dogs smell in class."

"I'm not sure I like being compared to a dog. But we do smell better."

Still. Nobody could figure it out. Until I re-entered my classroom after some kids from the Misbehavior Table next to us at lunch had exited.

I can't wait to tell the other Think-Tankers that I solved the mystery of the phantom smell!