I gripped the edges of my chair, refusing to acknowledge her last remark. “At least you didn’t wear those disgusting cowboy boots.” Please don’t wear that-” she gestured at my outfit, “terrible ensemble again.” She sighed. It completely washes you out, and I’m surprised my assistant picked it out. She twisted her lips as she scanned over my new dress and brown sandals. Cairn’s about to call you to the podium,” she said. Good posture improves your overall attractiveness. “Nora Grace, please stop slumping and sit up.
My mother snapped her fingers in my face. In those days, I was quick to remind people that Einstein was a proven horrible speller. Yet, I still had to work my ass off for the spelling bee, studying the two-hundred-page word list and thirty thousand flash cards for two hours a day, four days a week. My IQ tested at 162 and most considered that genius level. In my last year to compete and at the age of fourteen, I’d nailed Weissnichtwo, beating out the pimply, homeschooled kid from Rhode Island in round six. I’d been perfect, since screwing up was not allowed in my family. Even the best speller might be thrown off by it, maybe because the /w/ is pronounced as a Germanic /v/ or maybe they make the rookie mistake of forgetting to capitalize the beginning.īut four years ago, I’d made no mistake at that renowned spelling bee.
This obscure word was coined by Thomas Carlyle in his satirical work Sartor Resartus, so it’s not surprising the organizers selected it for the Belltone National Spelling Bee. weiss-nicht-wo, weiss-nicht-wo, weiss-nicht-wo. Yet these often mispronounced staccato syllables have been ticking in my brain like the click of my piano teacher’s metronome for the past fifteen minutes. “A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are they crazy?”
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