Spell That!

Orrin nervously tapped his pencil on the desk waiting for his turn in the spelling bee. He was very nervous and knew that with three of them left, only two would make it to the county spelling bee.

Orrin had always been a good speller, but his nerves had never settled. He had made it to the school bee every year. This was his fourth year to go.

“Capillary,” said the judge. “The word is capillary.”

Orrin breathed a silent sigh of relief. He thought for a minute before he said, “c-a-p-i-l-l-a-r-y.”

“That’s correct,” responded the judge as he took a sip of water.

Orrin let out another breath. He went into his zone of ignoring the words of his competitors. When he listened, he would begin comparing the difficulty of the words. He decided that ignoring their words helped him concentrate better on his own.

It didn’t seem to take long before the judge was looking at Orrin again. Orrin smiled and turned his full attention to the judge.

“Accreditation,” said the judge. “The word is accreditation.”

Orrin remembered seeing this word on his brother’s college applications.

“A-c,” said Orin. He paused again. “Is there another c?” His mind was racing and he started sweating again. He decided to add another c. It would make or break his streak, but he didn’t have much more time to stall. “c-r-e-d-i-t-a-t-i-o-n,” stated Orrin confidently. It seemed to take forever for the judge to respond.