Everyone thought she was a try-hard.

That is, everyone but me, Allison. Madison Cong was perfect. She got straight A’s, was a great artist, and was the girls’ soccer team star player. Madison Cong is my younger sister.
The day had come for the annual class spelling bee. Madison was very nervous, but would of course try her best. The whole weekend before, she had spent many nail biting hours studying for the bee. She recorded herself saying the words then took a mini spelling test. She printed off a list of study words and memorized every single one of them and she also created an etymologies binder, so she could study root words from Latin all the way to French. She was completely ready.













*****

“A-v-i-a-t-i-o-n, Aviation,” Madison spelled uncertainly.

Her English teacher, Mrs. Trock, stood up. “That is correct!”

For eleven more rounds, Madison carefully spelled out each word she received with ease. Then, it was down the final round; between her and the 2010 spelling bee county champion.

“Madison, your word is baccalaureate,” said Mrs. Trock.

“Baccalaureate. B-a-c-c-a-l-a-u-r-e-a-t-e, baccalaureate.” The class erupted in cheers after Mrs. Trock gave Madison a big thumbs-up.

“Now, Taryn, it is your turn. Your word is disingenuous.” Madison sucked in her breath; that was one of the easiest words in the English Dictionary for her!

“Disingenuous,” said Taryn with a look of fright in her eyes. “D-i-s-i-n-g-e-n-i-u-s. Mrs. Trock’s bell rang.

“I’m sorry, that is incorrect. Now we will give Madison a chance to steal. Madison?”

“Disingenuous. D-i-s-i-n-g-e-n-u-o-u-s, disingenuous.”

“Congratulations Madison! You win! You will now go on to the school spelling bee!” I ran up to her and pulled her into a tight hug. Even though she looked embarrassed, I could tell how happy she was by the bright pink flush of her cheeks.













*****

“I say we should all go out for dinner in honor of Madison’s win,” I suggested.
“Sounds like a legitimate excuse for going out,” Mom replied with a coy smile. With that, Mom, Dad, Madison, and I all climbed into the mini-van and zoomed off to dinner.

Once we arrived at the diner, Madison said, “I’m so happy I won; I was so nervous I was going to mess up! Now I have to study the dictionary for the school bee!”

“Honey, don’t put that much stress on yourself. It’s just a spelling bee. You’ll do great even without studying the dictionary,” Mom reasoned. Madison shrugged; it was clear she was going to study no matter what Mom said.












*****

The bright stage lights made Madison’s hair shine as bright as the stars. All forty-five contestants were checking in on a rainy Monday morning and given a number for the school spelling bee. Madison had studied for the entire weekend for the spelling bee. When I say entire weekend I really do mean that; she woke up at six and studied until nine, with only a few breaks for food and drink.

The houselights blinked like they would in a performance, and we all took our seats. Madison was speller number seven.












*****

The first two spellers were knocked out quickly. As it should be though, they were sixth graders and Madison was a seventh grader, so it only makes sense for the younger kids to get out first. Number six finished spelling her word; she got it right. It was Madison’s turn.

“Your word is: compelling,” the pronouncer said.

“Compelling. C-o-m-p-e-l-l-i-n-g. Compelling.”

“That is correct. You will be moving onto the second round.”

In the second round there was only ten people; it was a tough first round. They had the remaining ten contenders move up to seats in the front row; I could see sweat glistening on Madison’s forehead. I also noticed she was rubbing her hands on her thighs; another sign of nervousness. The first couple of spellers went up and spelled their words correctly. Since they were given a new number order, Madison was second to last. Everyone spelled their word right. Then, it was Madison’s turn.

“Your word is: incredible.” Madison heaved a sigh of relief; she knew how to spell incredible; who wouldn’t?!

“Incredible. I-n-c-r-e-d-a-b-l-e. Incredible.”

With a smile, Madison was about to go back to her seat when the pronouncer said “I’m sorry, that is incorrect.” Immediately, Madison’s smile fell off her face. She gulped and walked off the steps of the stage.












*****

“Hey. Are you okay?” I asked her.

“Allison. Why wouldn’t I be? I’m fine.” After saying that, Madison ambled over to a seat in the front row and gingerly sat down. When it was down to the final two spellers, she jumped up and grabbed something from her backpack.

“Congratulations Ellen! You are our winner! We hope you represent us well at the county spelling bee!” The principal shook Ellen’s hand and then Madison walked up onto the stage, oblivious to the horrified look from the pronouncer.

Madison took the microphone. “I would like to give this spelling binder to Ellen.” Turning to Ellen, she said, “I created this myself. I hope you find it as an instrumental help as you prepare for the county bee. Thank you.” Concluding her impromptu speech, the audience clapped, and Madison humbly flounced off the stage, unaware of the shocked faces from her family and friends.











*****

When Saturday finally rolled around, Madison and I chilled and hung out. It was nice to hang out with my normal little sister again; not the sleep deprived studying mad woman she was last weekend. When we were tossing a ball around outside, the mail came. Madison went and got it. As she came back, she started jumping up and down. “What is it?” I asked.

“It’s a letter from that art contest I entered a while back!”

“Open it!” I exclaimed.

Dropping all of the other mail, Madison excitedly opened the envelope. Her eyes scanned the paper and she frowned. “What’s wrong?” I asked her. Madison shook her head, dropped the letter, and ran inside. Bewildered at what had just happened, I picked up the letter and read it myself.
Madison Cong,
We are sorry to inform you that you did not place in the art contest this year. We did, however, enjoy your beautiful entry and hope you enter the contest next year.
Sincerely, Art Company Splash Back

My heart dropped to my feet. Poor Madison! I scooped up all the mail, ran inside, dumped it on the kitchen counter, and bolted upstairs to Madison’s room.












*****

I tip-toed into her room; she was laying on her bed sobbing hysterically. Creeping towards her, I said, “Hey Madi-“

“GET OUT!” She screamed. “LEAVE MY ROOM NOW!”

Astonished, I stumbled backwards and fell into her bookshelf. With a large thump, my elbow hit the side of it and cracked open, immediately oozing blood.

“Ow!” I yelled. Sniffling Madison looked at me. When she saw me clutching my elbow with blood coming out of it, her eyes widened. She raced down the hall and came back with a wet towel. She gently pressed it against my elbow.

“I’m sorry Allison! It was completely my fault you got hurt,” she said miserably.

“It’s okay. You’re upset and I totally understand.”

“No you don’t. I lose everything, Allison. The spelling bee, the art contest, that photography thing I did…I am a failure.”

Shaking my head in amazement, I said, “Madison you are not a failure. You are amazing. The things you do, and the contests you enter; I could never do any of that. You stood up in front of the entire school to spell, even though you hate being onstage. You gave that girl your spelling binder, the one you took three painstaking hours to make, and you take chances; you do things that I-even as your older sister- could never do. You are courageous…you-you are my hero,” I said earnestly.

“You really mean that?” Madison said, wiping away a tear.

“Of course. You are brave, passionate, and strong. Whenever something bad happens you just bounce back up. Why are you crying now?”

“I’m crying out of joy. That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, Allison. You know I love you, right?”

“Yes, I do, and even though you’re my younger sister, you are my role model, my idol. I look up to you, Madison, and that’s why I want you to have this,” I told her, as I pressed a box into her hand. “I was going to give it to you for your birthday, but I think you need it now. Open it.”

Eyes shining, Madison opened the box and gasped. “It’s beautiful! Thank you!” I had given her a necklace that had “Inspire someone, dream a dream, and never give up” engraved onto the pendant. While the words were smaller than I had expected, I knew she would love it anyway.

With more tears in her eyes, Madison said, “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, I want you to know that I love you, this gift, and the wonderful message you have given to me today.”

Smiling, I replied, “You’re welcome, little sister. Always remember what I said to you today. And, like the pendant said, never, ever, give up on anything or anyone. Never.”