Young Writers Society

“Oh,” said Lisa quietly. “Well, um, that’s fine. Just do what you need to do in the break room. We have customers.” Then, she walked away, to a different part of the store and customers started to chatter amongst themselves.

“Ms. Gardiner,” said the Reporter with a smile. “Will you show us?”

“Yes, of course,” she said, leading the camera crew into the break room in a daze.

Once there and once she was able to relax, she collapsed into Lisa’s chair. It felt odd sitting there, but she had bigger things to worry about right now.

“Excuse me,” Dorothy said. “Did I hear you say I’m one of the winners of James Keene’s contest?”

“Yes,” said the Reporter. “Mr. Keene wanted to surprise all of the winners. My name is Veronica. I work for Channel 5.” Veronica the reporter introduced her two crew mates but Dorothy forgot their names instantly.

It was odd that they’d chosen to do it at work rather than at home. Dorothy had remembered telling Mr. Keene that between work and school and commuting she was gone twelve hours a day. So maybe that was it. Then, Veronica handed Dorothy a clipboard. “We want to film a segment on you for the official announcement tonight. Is that okay?”

“Yes, of course,” Dorothy said quietly.

She barely scanned the form before she signed it. And then, they turned on their cameras and started to ask her questions, and all the while Dorothy felt like she was in some kind of dream, that she’d wake up any moment. But no. It was really happening.

“You know, you look like, what’s her name. Judy Garland,” said Veronica.

Dorothy laughed. She did resemble Judy Garland to a degree, and had gotten the comment a lot before. The same long dark hair. The wide brown eyes. But she didn’t think she was her twin, and wondered if people only said that because her name was Dorothy. “Been waiting for the cyclone to take me over the rainbow.”

Veronica smiled widely. “That’s really clever. You should say that in the interview.”

“What? About going over the rainbow?”

“Yes,” she said.

“When should I say it?” Dorothy had just been making a joke in the spur of the moment. But whatever they wanted.

“I’ll guide you.”

Then, the cameras started to roll.

“Tell us, who you are,” said Veronica.

“My name is Dorothy Gardiner. I’m nineteen years old.”

“And where are we, Dorothy?”

“We’re in the break room of my job at the Rosewood Grocery in Atlanta, Georgia,” she said.

“And what do you do at work?”

“I’m a cashier. Nothing exciting. I count the register at the beginning and end of every day. I ring customers up. I replace stock.”

Veronica smiled again. She came across as genuine, but maybe was trying a little too hard to be so bubbly. Either way, Dorothy wasn’t sure how she felt about her face being on TV all over the world. But she’d signed the release, and she wasn’t about to give up the trip, so she supposed this was a part of the deal.

“And you go to school, right?” Veronica asked.

“Yeah, I’m a part time student at Atlanta City College,” Dorothy said. “Nothing fancy. I live with my mom.” Then, Veronica raised her eyebrows, and Dorothy supposed this was when she was supposed to bring up to the comparison to the lead character of the Wizard of Oz. “I suppose you could say I’ve been looking for a cyclone to take me over the rainbow.”

“I think you’ve found it in winning this trip,” Veronica said with a smile. Then, the cameras shut off. “Great job, honey.” Honey? Dorothy thought. At most, Veronica was ten years older than her. But there was no way she was older than thirty. “They’re going to love you.”

“Who?” Dorothy asked innocently.

“Everyone. And obviously, Mr. Keene selected you.” Dorothy said nothing, and Veronica smiled again. “We’ve got to go now, but it was great talking to you. And have fun on your trip.”

“Thank you,” Dorothy said, still barely able to believe it.

“I was also told to mention that you’ll be getting more information in the mail in the next week,” Veronica said. “Well, have a good rest of your shift, if you’ll be able to focus.”

“I’ll try,” Dorothy said with a laugh.

The camera crew left, leaving Dorothy alone in the break room, in stunned silence. Just as she felt like she could regain her balance, Lisa entered the break room.

“So, wow,” Lisa said. “How’d you pull it off?”

“I really don’t know,” Dorothy said quietly. “I just answered the application questions honestly.”

“You didn’t even tell me you made it to the second round,” Lisa replied. Dorothy thought she heard contempt, even jealousy in her boss’s voice, but she chose not to push it.

“It never came up.”

“Well, we’ll have to celebrate before you leave,” she said. “I do need you back out on register though.”

Dorothy was about to comply when she remembered that it was her lunch break. She reminded Lisa of this.

“Of course. I’ll cover you until then,” Lisa said. “Enjoy your lunch.”

Once Lisa was gone, Dorothy allowed herself to let out a squeal. She was almost too excited, too anxious about it all, to eat.

She’d won. Somehow, she’d actually won. In a month she would be in a castle in Scotland with six other students from around the world who had somehow also managed the impossible. Her whole life, she’d wanted something interesting to happen to her. And it seemed it finally had.