She felt the crumpled piece of paper in her pocket. She took it out, unfolded it, looked it over, and then, not really reading it, hastily refolded it and smashed it back into her pocket. This was the fourth year Julia had attended the Language Science Symposium and Awards. Now, on day three of a three day event and hour four of a three hour ceremony, she sipped her fifth watery gin and tonic. Despite her best efforts she couldn’t drink enough to stop her nerves from ringing. Only a handful of categories remained and Julia crossed her ankles under her chair and attempted to re-read her speech again.
Julia had been nominated twice before, but in the minor categories, for her investigation of interjections in Application culture and again for the Americanization of the gerund. For the latter, she actually won and stumbled up on the stage at the beginning of the ceremony. In the lights she couldn’t make out faces. Her words came out like giggles. She exited quickly as she arrived. The rest of that year’s ceremony Julia felt nauseous with combination of residual adrenaline and mortification.
This year her rumination on the use of pronouns in the face of gender politics had created quite a stir, earning her a nod for the top prize. Her first though on taking the table with her colleges at Word magazine, was that she hoped she lost.
