Spelling Bee Scare

One day, my class announced that we would have a spelling bee contest. It was going to take place the next day. We needed to pick five students to represent the class in a school-wide competition. The contest was announced very suddenly; there was no hint of this event before. I just had one day to practice. When I got home, I quickly finished my homework and started to practice with my mom. We practiced many words. Some words were very long and difficult, and I had to memorize them for a long time. I didn’t realize that I had spent over five hours practicing that evening.

The next morning, everyone in my class of thirty-one students was ready—ready to be the top spellers to represent the class. First, the teacher explained the rules, and it started. In the beginning, the words were very easy, and no one got anything wrong. But before long, the words became harder and harder. By the end of this round of challenges, there were only ten people left. At the end, the words were very long and tricky. Some people got them right, and some got them wrong. After two intense hours, most contestants were eliminated. Luckily, I was not! I was very happy because I didn’t make any mistakes, so together with two other classmates, we got to compete with other classes.

The real spelling bee arrived the very same afternoon. We finally got to compete against the best students from other classes. We were all very nervous because we had to spell many difficult words. After another two hours of sweating, nail-biting, head-scratching—I felt like I lost all my hair and became a bald boy—now, there were only three left out of twenty contestants. I was shocked when the teacher said the word “consanguineous.” I stared at the teacher sitting in front of me. It felt like the clock had stopped ticking; time was frozen. Then, the class bell rang. I cleared my throat and said, “I don’t know.”

In the end, I got third place. Despite that one error, I was still very happy. I was also very happy that my class got first place, second place, and third place, taking with us all the winning trophies.

Bruce is a 5th-grade student at Xinmin Elementary School in Taipei and one of the most prolific young writers at the Yangming School of Liberal Arts. With an unmatched passion for turning thought into words, Bruce brings energy and imagination to every piece he writes, making him a standout voice among his peers.