Spelling Bee

 Zion Press -- While school may be out for the summer, Eric Anderson is taking the time to brush up on his spelling words. He was the reigning spelling bee champion at his school for two years and a little thing like a worldwide pandemic won’t stop him from preparing to beat all next year.

His mother, Delia, spends countless hours a day quizzing him. She tosses words over her shoulder while she does dishes, while she cleans up the living room and while they go on walks. “Propaganda” Eric thinks about it for a moment, then comes back with the right spelling immediately. Delia has studied the list as extensively as her son, making this a family project. “Buffoonery.” She throws the next word at him. Eric rolls his eyes in her general direction. “Come on, mom,” he implores. “Give me something hard!”
Delia thinks for a moment, wanting to challenge him. “Incendiary.” This one flummoxes Eric for a moment, but he comes back with the right spelling, well within the time allotted, two minutes, plus thirty seconds to finish.
Eric has studied the list, and lists from years past. He knows that while the bee starts with words from the current year, it may end with words that have been used in the past. His mother looks up from her laptop to give Eric another word. So far, he hasn’t needed to ask for parts of speech, root, or definition, so Delia wanted to challenge him.
“Sanctimonious” “Sancti… what??” This is the first word that has truly challenged him. “Could you repeat the word?” This time, Eric’s dad jumps in. “Sanctimonious” he repeats, his tenor voice clear. Eric thinks for a minute, then “Part of speech?” His dad replies that it is an adjective, which doesn’t help. “Use it in sentence, please?” “The sanctimonious governor listed all of his charity work, line by line, to make sure everyone knew what good works he did with his excessive salary.”
“Ahh. Sanctimonious. Got it.” He was prepared for next year.

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