portrait. It was an intricate line drawing of an old womanâs face, with heavily wrinkled eyes and a small, sad-looking smile. âFace of Youthâ Art Contest Winner â Grandma Violet, by Jessie Sayers, age fourteen, Portland, ME , it said. The artist had gotten the light and shading on the old womanâs face just right. It was an excellent portrait.
Then I tried to analyze how it had all happened. Anna would have known that the contest deadline was coming up. She must have figured out where and how to send it. Wow. This was too much to take in.
I leaped up and ran to the phone. I dialed the Friesensâ number. Anna answered.
I didnât even say hello. âIâm First Runner-up!â I blurted.
âYou didnât win?â Anna said. âThatâs ridiculous!â
âBut, Anna, how did youâ? Where did youâ? I canât believe you entered my portrait in the contest!â I said.
âThe Internet is a wonderful thing,â Anna said in her matter-of-fact tone. âI looked up the Canvas Magazine website, found the contest details, went to town and mailed it. My parents had your address from your momâs volunteer application.â
Anna made the amazing thing that she had done sound so straightforward.
âBut you sent the portrait in to the contest?â I implored. âThe whole idea was for you to keep it!â
âEver hear of digital copies?â Anna said. âI mailed a copy to the contest. I kept the original.â
Oh right. Duh. I hadnât thought of that.
âHow did you keep it from me all this time?â I said.
Anna laughed. âIâm pretty good at keeping a secret. So, whatâs your prize?â
âFive hundred dollars in cash, a pass to New York Cityâs art galleries, and the portrait is in the magazine,â I said.
âYou can get tickets to fly to New York for only six hundred, on a good deal! Youâll just have to save a little more,â Anna said, sounding excited. âWe can go together next summer. We can stay with my brother, Thomas. We might have to sleep in his bathtub, but thatâs okay!â
Anna was right. We could still go to New York City, even if I hadnât won first prize.
âYes,â I said. âYes, yes, yes!â
I started jumping up and down as I said it. After Anna and I talked about our Manhattan plans for a while, I hung up.
I couldnât wait to go on my dream trip to New York. No tarot cards. No Reiki. No feng shui. This was going to be my adventure.
Acknowledgments
A very big thank-you to my wonderful editor, Melanie Jeffs, for your thoughtful, perceptive comments and changes.
To Heather Bell, Janis McKenzie, Pat Maher, Zoë Howard, Laura Dodwell-Groves and the InkslingersâRachelle Delaney, Lori Sherritt, Tanya Kyi, Maryn Quarless and Kallie Georgeâmany thanks for your friendship, feedback and support.
Much love and gratitude, as always, to my amazing Joshua and my family.
Christy Goerzen has never performed Reiki on a pig. Farmed Out is her second entry in the Orca Currents series. Christy lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
orca currents
For more information on all the books
in the Orca Currents series, please visit
www.orcabook.com
Then I tried to analyze how it had all happened. Anna would have known that the contest deadline was coming up. She must have figured out where and how to send it. Wow. This was too much to take in.
I leaped up and ran to the phone. I dialed the Friesensâ number. Anna answered.
I didnât even say hello. âIâm First Runner-up!â I blurted.
âYou didnât win?â Anna said. âThatâs ridiculous!â
âBut, Anna, how did youâ? Where did youâ? I canât believe you entered my portrait in the contest!â I said.
âThe Internet is a wonderful thing,â Anna said in her matter-of-fact tone. âI looked up the Canvas Magazine website, found the contest details, went to town and mailed it. My parents had your address from your momâs volunteer application.â
Anna made the amazing thing that she had done sound so straightforward.
âBut you sent the portrait in to the contest?â I implored. âThe whole idea was for you to keep it!â
âEver hear of digital copies?â Anna said. âI mailed a copy to the contest. I kept the original.â
Oh right. Duh. I hadnât thought of that.
âHow did you keep it from me all this time?â I said.
Anna laughed. âIâm pretty good at keeping a secret. So, whatâs your prize?â
âFive hundred dollars in cash, a pass to New York Cityâs art galleries, and the portrait is in the magazine,â I said.
âYou can get tickets to fly to New York for only six hundred, on a good deal! Youâll just have to save a little more,â Anna said, sounding excited. âWe can go together next summer. We can stay with my brother, Thomas. We might have to sleep in his bathtub, but thatâs okay!â
Anna was right. We could still go to New York City, even if I hadnât won first prize.
âYes,â I said. âYes, yes, yes!â
I started jumping up and down as I said it. After Anna and I talked about our Manhattan plans for a while, I hung up.
I couldnât wait to go on my dream trip to New York. No tarot cards. No Reiki. No feng shui. This was going to be my adventure.
Acknowledgments
A very big thank-you to my wonderful editor, Melanie Jeffs, for your thoughtful, perceptive comments and changes.
To Heather Bell, Janis McKenzie, Pat Maher, Zoë Howard, Laura Dodwell-Groves and the InkslingersâRachelle Delaney, Lori Sherritt, Tanya Kyi, Maryn Quarless and Kallie Georgeâmany thanks for your friendship, feedback and support.
Much love and gratitude, as always, to my amazing Joshua and my family.
Christy Goerzen has never performed Reiki on a pig. Farmed Out is her second entry in the Orca Currents series. Christy lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
orca currents
For more information on all the books
in the Orca Currents series, please visit
www.orcabook.com
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