The school spelling bee was on Thursday. Iris had been studying her word list every single evening for two weeks. She whispered the words while she ate breakfast, too.
Mom quizzed her at dinner every night. Iris got most of them right, but two words kept tripping her up — necessary and separate. She mixed up the letters every time.
She wrote those two words ten times each on a piece of paper and taped it to the bathroom mirror so she would see them every morning.
On Thursday morning, Iris's hands were shaking. She had been in the spelling bee last year and gotten out on the very first round. She did not want that to happen again.
The gym was full. Iris stood at the microphone and got the word responsible. She closed her eyes, pictured it on the mirror, and spelled it out loud, slowly and clearly.
She made it through round after round, feeling more confident with each correct word. Then came the word that won it all — necessary. She smiled.
N-E-C-E-S-S-A-R-Y, she said, loud and clear. The audience applauded. The judge smiled and nodded. Iris had spelled it perfectly.
She won the school spelling bee and got a silver trophy. But the best part was standing at the mirror the next morning and spelling necessary without even thinking twice.