Kyle laughed out loud, then heard a familiar voice ask, “What’s so funny?”
He looked up and saw Principal Craig walking through the classroom doorway.
“Hey, Boss!”
“Morning, Kyle. You’re in a good mood this morning.”
“Oh, yeah. That’s because I just came up with the perfect surprise word for this week’s spelling test.”
“Surprise word?”
“Yeah. Semiquincentennial!”
Principal Craig scowled. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No. I’m making a patriotic spelling list for our last week in honor of America’s 250th anniversary.”
“You expect your kids to learn how to spell ‘Semiquincentennial’ by Thursday?”
“No, of course not.”
“Oh, good,” said Principal Craig. “But then what—”
“It’s the surprise word. I’ll spring it on them when I give the test on Thursday. They’ll never see it coming!”
“You’re testing them on a word that’s not on their spelling list?”
“Of course. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a surprise,” Kyle said as he added another spelling word to his patriotic list. He typed:
5. CITIZEN
“Kyle, I’m all for unconventional teaching practices, but—”
“Don’t worry, Boss. I’m encouraging the kids to learn words they hear in everyday life, not just the ones off the spelling list,” said Kyle. Then he typed:
6. FLAG
“That’s great, and I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I have to put my foot down on ‘Semiquincentennial.’ Choose a different surprise word.”
“Fine,” said Kyle as he deleted ‘Semiquincentennial’ from his list.
Principal Craig turned and walked toward the door, then Kyle blurted out, “What about ‘Bicenquinquagenary?’”
“Kyle!” said Principal Craig as he turned around.
“What?” Kyle shrugged. “I looked up all the words that mean two hundred and fiftieth.”
“It’s second grade!”
“Fine. You win. I’ll use the shortest one I found.”
“Thank you, Kyle,” said Principal Craig. Then he turned and walked out of the room.
Disappointed, but running out of time to prepare this week’s list before the kids arrived, Kyle continued choosing patriotic words from the spelling book. He typed:
7. AMERICA
8. FREEDOM
9. COUNTRY
10. BRAVEST
Then he typed the surprise word: Sestercentennial.
__________
Want more stories starring Kyle? Check out The Thugs Next Door and A Slice of Advice in April’s Bookstore.
Liked this story? Leave a comment at the bottom of the page!
April Wenzel writes family-friendly fiction. She is a multi-story FaithWriters Challenge winner. Her readers often describe her work as sweet, intriguing, funny, and surprising. April firmly believes that her most valuable and joy-filled roles are wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. Read her full bio at aprilwenzel.com/about.
Copyright © 2026 by April Wenzel. All rights reserved.
No part of this story may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review.
This is a work of fiction. The characters, places, events, and incidents in this book are the product of the author’s imagination.
Dear April
This is a great short story, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Was not expecting the surprise word at the end, well done.
God bless you, yours and your writing.
Denise
Hi Denise!
Thank you so much! I’m glad you enjoyed it. It was fun to write. Your blessings are greatly appreciated. May God bless you and yours also!
April