Gwen Doh Lynn

14: It's Gwen-Doh-Lynn

When we arrived on Friday evening for the Fall Festival, the school's main entrance was decorated with tall bundles of dried up corn plants around the door. There were straw bales too, with pumpkins sitting on them. A Kindergarten teacher dressed up like a scarecrow greeted people, gave them the program, and directed them to the auditorium.

"Are you sure about this?" Hazel asked as we stood outside.

I looked down at my shiny black shoes. "Absolutely," I said.

I was wearing my old school uniform. My mom had gotten me a white bonnet and the thrift store and helped me make a simple apron out of an old kitchen towel.

Hazel's hair was pulled back in two braids, and she was basically wearing her usual clothes—a black dress with black and gray striped tights this time. But she was also decked out in all of Esmerelda May's jewelry we'd found on our "scavenger hunt" and she had a fortune-teller scarf draped over her shoulders.

We were the witch and the pilgrim.

"Oh wait," she said and rummaged around in her backpack. "I almost forgot!" She pulled out Esmerelda May's witch hat and put it on.

There were a lot of people standing around in the hallway. Our parents went off to find seats and said they'd meet up with us later. A lot of kids were wearing costumes. There was a really good fifth grade werewolf, several zombies, a few fairies of all different ages, and a bunch of witches.

The parent group had a long table set up in the hall where they were having a bake sale. The pumpkin bread and all the cookies smelled delicious, but we had just gone out for pizza (yes, in our costumes), so I was stuffed. All the games and other activities were set up in the gym and outside, but no one was allowed in there until after the awards ceremony.

We ran into Natalia right outside the auditorium doors. She was dressed as a black cat, with a mask over her eyes and whiskers drawn on her face. She was munching on a popcorn ball from the bake sale. "Nice costumes," she said with her mouth full.

"You too," said Hazel. "Hey, come sit with us. You can be my cat familiar!"

We started down the aisle. Some people were already sitting down in the comfy seats. It was like a movie theater. My old school didn't have an auditorium. We just had to sit on folding metal chairs in the cafeteria when we had big events. This was much nicer.

There was a section in the front reserved for the fourth and fifth grade classes. We could all sit down there with our friends, instead of sitting with our families, if we wanted. "C'mon. Let's go down front," Natalia said.

We passed Elspeth, sitting with her parents and an older blonde girl who I guessed must be her sister. None of them were wearing costumes. Elspeth was wearing a maroon dress-up dress. "Maybe we should ask Elspeth to come sit with us?" I said, trying to be nice.

Natalia shook her head and gave Elspeth a little wave. She looked unhappy sitting between her dad and sister. "Her dad already said no. He said there would be too much goofing around down front."

We sat down with the kids from our class and chatted until the lights went down.

First, the principal, Mr. Snyder, stood at the podium and made announcements about fire exits and the bake sale and some other stuff. Then the Kindergartners and first graders sang a couple songs about fall. They were cute in their red, yellow, brown and orange clothes and construction paper leaf headbands.

Then one of the second grade teachers helped Mr. Snyder pass out Citizenship Awards and Art Awards. They put on a slide show of kids' art projects. One of Megan's paintings got an award and our class cheered for her.

Finally, Mr. Snyder said, "Now, before you all go off to enjoy the festival games activities in the gym and outside on the playground, it's time to announce the winners of this year's history essay contest. The fourth and fifth grade winners will receive tickets for two to ThrillQuest Adventure Farm!"

The crowd of fourth and fifth graders erupted in applause and shouting. He held up his hands until the noise died down.

"The winner will be asked to come up on stage and we've selected a portion of their essays to read to the audience here tonight."

Uh. What? No one had said anything about reading in front of everyone. Now I actually felt relieved that Elspeth was probably going to win. I didn't want to get up on stage and read my personal thoughts!

Hazel was jittery, bouncing up and down in her seat. "I hope it's you," she whispered.

"This year," the principal was saying, "we had a special case when judging the fourth grade entries. We have decided to give an honorable mention—sort of a runner up, if you will. This person does not need to come up on stage, but will receive a second place prize, an all-season free pass to Full Moon Fields and Orchard.

That actually sounded pretty great. I'd like that.

 "And without further ado," he said, "the Honorable Mention goes to... Miss Elspeth Stevenson!" People clapped. I turned to look back at where she and her family were sitting, but I couldn't see her face.

The principal kept going. "And now the fourth grade essay contest winner! The prize goes to..." He tapped his hands on the podium like a drumroll. "Miss Gwendoline Keane. Come on up Gwendoline."

Oh yay! But oh no. I felt frozen in my seat. Hazel was bouncing up and down and pushing me.

I stood up and nervously approached the stage. I was being super careful not to trip and fall on my face or something.

I tried not to look out at the crowd of people, who were still applauding, as I stood at the podium and the principal handed me the copy of my essay with a paragraph highlighted. "Read this part," he whispered. Then he said, "Fourth grade winner Gwendoline Keane!" He handed me the mic and took a few steps back.

I looked out. The lights were bright. I found Hazel and took a deep breath. Then I said, as calmly and clearly as I could, "Hello everyone. Actually, it's Gwen-doh-lynn."

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry," I heard the principal say behind me.

"It's okay," I whispered.

Then I started reading. It was a part near the end of my essay.

My voice was shaky at first and my hands were sweating.

"Esmerelda May was, and still is, a local legend, with a magical personality. She was unusual. She threw wild Halloween parties and talked to birds and supposedly once put a curse on the mayor's car. She also donated money to the hospital, started the town's first recycling program and helped rebuild this very school after a fire in the cafeteria.

"Even though I never met her, she's taught me a lot.

"Maybe I was wrong. Maybe that rainy day I moved into Esmerelda May's weird old house was actually a great day. I just didn't know it yet.

"And I still don't know if Esmerelda May had real magic or not." I shrugged. "But I like to think so."

The crowd actually cheered and Hazel and a bunch of my classmates stood up and shouted and whistled. I saw my mom and Hazel's parents standing up and clapping, too, a few rows back. I felt woozy as I left the stage and was glad it was over. Some kids gave me high fives and patted me on the shoulder as I took my seat. It was a magical feeling.