cold spell

Back when I was in the seventh grade, I was in a spelling bee. It was for Mrs. Keane’s English class at Wahiawa Intermediate School. The competition was stiff, but I was holding my own. It came down to me and a girl. I was up first, and I prayed for an easy word. My prayer was answered, as the teacher asked me to spell the word “icy.”

The rest of the class moaned because I drew such an easy word. Confident, I threw my chest out and loudly spelled it out, “I-C-E-E!” Everyone laughed at me because I just spelled the name of everyone’s favorite frozen drink

-- Ron Nagasawa, Midweek, April 3, 2013