ME? Was that my name I heard?  Couldn’t be.  I knew my piece couldn’t be third prize material. After all, there were 40 entries in this year’s Beachside Writers Workshop metaphor/simile contest.  Historically, only 8-12 entries competed.  And some were seasoned writers, unlike me, a newbie in the workshop world.  Besides, they had already announced four honorable mentions and a fourth place winner.

I heard my name again, so I slowly raised my hand.  And he said, “Come on, Sherrey!  Come up front and read your winning entry.”  Could it be true???

So, I made my way to the front and read my entry in the Annual Metaphor and Simile Contest.  Our assignment had been to write in 200 words or less a description of your favorite keyboard key.

Here is what I wrote:

To My Favorite Keyboard Key

 

 So sleek and black.  Slinky like a model in black lame, you strut your stuff across the pages of my manuscript.  You add flight to my words.  You lift them off the page in ways other keys cannot do.

I’m not certain you know how important you are to me and my writing.  You don’t seem to understand the necessity of your role in the process.  Without you, my words are incomprehensible.

Unassuming and simple, you sit there on the keyboard with your slender shape for my thumbs to caress.  Each and every time I call upon you the response is immediate and usually correct.  Occasionally, you, or I, get overexcited and there is a mistake but not frequently.

It is amazing that the inventor of the keyboard included you.  He or she had a sense of the written word and how important it is that there is white space between words.

You are the wind between my words.  You are the stretch between my sentences.  You are the space key on my keyboard, no matter where I sit down to write.  You are my favorite!

It was a thrill to win something at my first venture in the world of writers workshops and conferences.  And the thought is already running around in my head:  What will be the challenge in next year’s contest?

I think that means I’ll attend again!