The Regional Spelling Bee

Joseph Winters ! In the car. Im going to the dentist. Im going to the dentist to have my teeth cleaned. Its simple as that. Oh, why is my stomach churning? Why am I sweating bullets? I writhe a little in my seat for dramatic effect, as I frantically read over a list of words like pfeffernuss, Weissnichtwo, and Bolshevik. I know Im not going to the dentist. Im going to the Regional Spelling Bee, getting a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. But for now, I nd it less strenuous to think about the dentist, which is saying something, because I really dont like the dentist. Im wearing my favorite jacket. Its a blue and grey plaid raincoat. Everyone can tell its me if I wear it. ! We approach the school that the...uh...dentist will be at. It seems odd to me that they would have a dentist at a school, but I try not to think about it. My dad and my sister, Olivia, walk inside the building with me. Im clutching my packet of words as my heart thuds like the Tarantellas I play on the piano. I visualize the music as we walk in through the cool, swingy doors to the school. In front of me is a grandiose-looking staircase that leads down to an auditorium. I see some smiling people down there. Women dressed in white. They must be the dentists, I think, and the kids are patients. One of the smiling women hands me a number, and I drape it around my shoulders. We walk into the auditorium, and the charade is over. This is no dentist, I think. This is the North Central Washington Regional Spelling Bee. Im representing Chelan and Douglas County for eighth grade. I see my friend Owen. I grimace at him. ! Im so nervous, I say to Owen. ! I know... he replies, smiling grimly. ! We both sit down in our spots and let a lady talk about rules. I dont hear a word of it. All I am paying attention to is the r-a-c-o-n-t-e-u-r ringing in my head. I hear a shufing towards the stage at the front of the room. I gure its time to start, and move my way over to the ominous stage with around thirty chairs, zombie-like. We all sit down and each get a practice word. I can already tell who the worst spellers are. I get my word, unkempt, right. Owen misses his, uncouth, but it doesnt matter. ! Before I have the chance to feel relieved, Im submitted to the torturous round one. Several people go before me. I nd that, surprisingly, I know all the words theyre given. When it comes to my rst word, I hop up and slowly approach the pronouncer. She takes what seems like a lifetime to read my word, and then looks up. ! Academy, she says, and I sigh in relief. Academy? I think. It doesnt get much easier. ! A-c-a-d-e-m-y, I say easily. Ive passed the rst round. Several spellers are out. Twelve, to be exact. My competition has been nearly cut in half during the rst round. Twelve down, seventeen to go, I think, trying not to feel to ecstatic. ! I keep getting words right. In my second round, its sputnik. Four more spellers are out. I eliminate two more after getting conjecture. Soon, after caribou, patriarch, and kovsh, only seven people remain. I begin to think about my chances. I already have ensured seventh place for myself. Would it be that hard to get rst? Can I do it? I

think about Owen. Hes one of my best friends, but I realize that hell need to get out in order for me to win. I know hes a good speller, but can he win? I spell mukhtar, he spells conquistador. I spell mnemonic, he spells corpuscle. After a while, I get worried. Therere only four people left. A fourth-grader from Omak, Eva from Chelan, Owen, and me. No ones messing up. ! Its the twenty-rst round of the Regional Spelling Bee. The fourth-grader to the left of me spells taiga correctly, and shufes back to her seat, beaming. I spell lahar right. Eva spells dreidel correctly. Then, Owen steps up. ! Intaglio [in-TAL-ee-oh] the pronouncer says. Theres a long pause in which the room is hushed. Owen asks for all the information he can get. Language of origin, alternate pronunciations, denition, part of speech. He stalls for as long as he can before beginning. ! E... he says hesitantly, and I look up, amazed. He should know this word. It was on the list. We practiced it together. It starts with an i. But then, it hits me. Intaglio isnt pronounced with the G sound, like wed pronounced it. He doesnt remember this word! I feel awful that he has to go out on a word he knows, but I couldnt help thinking that I had just secured third place for myself. ! n-t-a-l-l-e-o? he nishes. The judge holds up a red sign, and Owen walks off the stage, obviously disappointed. Now its my time to step up and win, I think. But its going to take a while... ! Eva, the fourth grader and I go for six more rounds before something exciting happens. Eva misspells bulgur and I see a chance. When I walk up, I get a word that I dont know either. Who knew that fungible doesnt have an a in it? I realize that the fourth grader could win if she gets this and another word right. She doesnt even make it to the championship word, though. She misspells machinate and I am safe again, for everyone gets back in. ! I guess the fourth-grader will have many more chances for glory, but it makes me sad to see her face when she misspells ankh and is eliminated from the running. I have now secured second place. Eva misspells lucculent and I have a true opening. I step up and correctly spell tortuosity, and am given my championship word. ! Shaking, I await my possible word of victory. I am trembling up and down. Barely anyone is left in the crowd. Only three or four families are left sitting, smiling at me. I turn my head again to the pronouncer, and she smiles. ! Your word is....ricochet she says, and I instantly know that I know how to spell it. Still, I keep calm, knowing that excitement could be my worst enemy here. I slowly, methodically ask for all the information before spelling r-i-c-o-c-h-e-t. The pronouncer beams and says some sort of congratulations, and I metaphorically bounce off the walls, basking in the glory of knowing that I, Joseph Winters, will be going to Washington, D.C. I, Joseph Winters, am one of the two best spellers in Washington State. I feel like running into the audience and hugging my dad and my sister, but I have to await the decision of runner-up. I sit in my chair, very content, oating, not even listening or caring that Eva has won alternate to go in case I get sick. All I can think about is that the newspaper is here to interview me, and that my classmates will be so proud of me. I cant wait to tell my mom about it. It is a great feeling. What the Regional Spelling Bee has taught me is discipline, hard work, and practice. Also, I know that from this moment on, Ill always look forward to trips to the dentist.