small moment Stories Collection

The spelling bee

"Okay Murray, if you get this word right, you will be the district spelling bee champion," The Bee Master announced.
"The winning word is, Oxymoron." I was shocked. That word was not in the shortened packet of words my spelling bee coach from my school gave me. So I bought some time for me to think.

"Could I please have the meaning?" I willed myself to speak, even though I was almost paralyzed by nervousness. A steady amount of sweat poured from my shaking hands. This was it. I was toast. The bee master slurred off the last words of the definition of that cursed winning word. Then, I spoke.

The continuous sound of the shower ceased. The fogged mirror showed the picture of a fourth grader, seeming to shake from nervousness. Unfortunately, that shaking fourth grader in the mirror was me.
I got dressed as quickly as a mouse could run when being chased by a hungry cat. I put on my black leather belt on what Filipinos call "maong" pants. My mom entered the small, steaming bathroom.
"You ready?" My mom asked in a different language, but conveniently translated for this story.
" Nervous, but yeah, ready." I then replied, perhaps with a little bit of hope in my voice. I skedaddled to the car, teeth recently brushed, but still chattering.

We exited the driveway, driving past half a dozen houses that look almost exactly alike. It would've been a nice drive, except of the fact that we were going to the district spelling bee. Mom was driving a normal rate, even though the traffic seemed to know the significance of the day and retreated. I remembered the time when I won both classroom and school spelling bee. For the classroom spelling bee, the winning word was scissors.
"Seriously, what kind of student does not know how to spell scissors?" I told my friend right after the classroom spelling bee. He told me that I was going to lose anyway. I was the youngest of all the people in the spelling bee. I chuckled at the thought of my friend predicting that I was going to lose. After all, I was currently going to the district spelling bee, the last round. Me, the newcomer, won the school spelling bee! How unpredictable, I thought. The sounds of the car calmed me, and the beating of my heart slowed. Too late, I thought. We were here.

For what seemed like five years later, the drive was over. We parked in front of a small, grayish building. I opened the red door of our car and stepped on the wet mud. I slowly trudged my way to the front of the building, heart beating as fast as a cheetah's. Mom was behind me, and she touched my shoulders lightly, as if comforting me. The sky seemed to comfort me, even though just the night before it seemed angry. I then stepped in the building, trying to cover my shaking hands.

The building was beautiful from the inside, pieces of decoration adorned the inside of the small building. A man introduced himself, and I shook my shaking hand with his. In the middle of the room, stood a long table with seven chairs. There was a slim black television showing another place that looked very alike to one of the rooms inside of our school. My teacher and spelling bee coach arrived, too! And soon, after all the other contestants arrived, the dodea cuba district spelling bee begun!

The raging battle of spelling lasted for hours. Well, at least that is what it seemed like. I never really knew how long it lasted. The other contestants were disqualified, one by one, like flies caught by the raging raindrops of the rain. The first few words were easy, and I swatted them out of my way like they were mere flies. Even though I was winning the battle, I was still nervous. My mind whirled with all of the words I studied with my mom. Then, silence. The third remaining contestant got disqualified. It was the 6th grader from diamond elementary school. The odds were not good. It was obvious this 6th grader was smarter than me.

The bee master then steadily announced the rules of when there were only 2 contestants left. The rules stated that if one contestant fails to spell a word, the other contestant must correct it. And then that contestant who corrected it must spell another word to win. Neither of us wanted to back down. It was like two storms trying to battle each other. Words whirled by and we spelled and spelled and spelled. The 6th grader had a dark skintone and dark hair. The bee master asked the other contestant to spell a word. She spelled it slowly, so it only made me nervous. The bee master told her she was wrong. My eyes widened. I corrected the word almost as slowly as the remaining 6th grader did. This time, I was right. Then, the winning word.

"Okay murray, spell Oxymoron." The bee master told me.
"Could I please have the meaning?" I asked.
I was very nervous this time. This was the winning word. I had gotten this far. Everything was silent. The silence was only penetrated by the bee master telling me the definition of the winning word. I could feel the eyes staring at me. I spoke.
"Oxymoron. O...X........." then, A long pause. I or Y? I did not know. But I started again.
"Oxymoron. O.X...Y.......M....O..R.......O.N." The longest 30 seconds of my life had just passed. If I lost this word, the other contestant will win.
"Murray," The bee master said with her face not showing any emotion at all,"You are the first cuba dodea district spelling bee champion!" I was amazed. Me, a newcomer, have just won the district spelling bee!

Winning the district spelling bee was the one of my most memorable moments of my life. It even shocks me now that in one day, I became the most unpopular in my school to most popular for the rest of the school year. The next year after the one I just told you, I joined the spelling bee again. But that time, I only won the classroom spelling bee. It would've been amazing if I won the spelling bee again for my school. But no, someone else won the spelling bee for their school. But I didn't worry. I already reigned in that throne of fame once.