A beautiful queen lost a beauty pageant

It had always been the practice of my school to organize an inter-house competition every year. We all looked forward to it because it offered a lot of fun besides, there was extra joy if your house won or, at least, did well.

We had four Houses, Red, Blue, Green and Yellow. I was the House master of Red House, assisted by Mrs Blessing Ukoha.

This particular year's inter-house competition had something special, a new dimension which was an innovation. There was going to be an amateur beauty pageant.

Once I heard of the beauty pageant, I was elated. I smiled and nodded my head because I was sure that Red House will win the crown because we had a number of beautiful girls.

I started teasing other House masters, telling them to come to me to borrow beautiful girls.

I didn't want to miss the beauty pageant crown so, I began to put a lot of energy in preparation for the competition. The selection process for the one to represent us wasn't very easy as the girls competed keenly for the slot.

My assistant was on maternity leave so, I had to work alone. We practiced catwalk, IQ test, brain teaser, mannerisms, greetings, patience and endurance. I managed to trim the number down to two. Out of the two, one was Nneka who I usually call "my daughter". She was close to me, and I thought that if I should select her straightaway, it might seem as if I was partial but truly, my mind went for her.

In a bid not to make it look as if I was presiding over my own case, I left the final choice to my assistant. I then went to her house, to brief her on our journey so far concerning our preparation for the inter-house competition. She thanked me for working very hard all alone.

"Out of the two girls", I said, "who do you think should represent us", I asked, thinking she would pick Nneka, "my daughter".

To my surprise, she chose Adobi. I was uncomfortable with her choice.

"Why do you think Adobi should go for us?" I asked, hoping that she would change her mind.

She gave some reasons which really were not very convincing to me but, I was reluctant in dragging the issue, after all, both girls were good though, I felt Nneka had an edge.

Well, I took it that way and came back to school. I sent for Adobi who came without wasting time.

"Good afternoon sir", she greeted.

"Good afternoon. How're you?" I responded and continued, "You're going to carry our beauty pageant banner to represent us".

"Ok sir". You could sense how happy she was by the way she was beaming the smile on her face.

"Are you ready?" I asked, just for the sake of asking.

"Yes sir".

"Go and prepare your mind because you just have to win".

"Ok sir".

"While coming to school tomorrow, bring three of your dresses, the best among your clothes for me to select the one you'll wear on that day."

"Thank you sir", she said and left, smiling broadly.

The next day, she came with three of her clothes and I chose one for her.

"This is the one you'll put on as you climb the stage", I instructed.

"I called my elder sister last night to tell her of the competition, and she said she'll sew another dress for me".

"She shouldn't worry herself. This one is very good. Besides, the competition is just two days away".

On the D-Day, the sun came out early, bright and beautiful. As soon as my eyes opened from sleep, my mind went straight to the upcoming beauty pageant.

"There was no way Red House will not win this competition", I said in my mind. I had boasted enough to my fellow teachers. I was very confident because we had the prettiest among the contestants.

Getting to the venue, from far off, the DJ's music was blasting in the air. The students were all over the place, some were dancing to the music while others were just discussing.

I went into the hall and took my seat among fellow teachers as time was ticking fast. Not quite long, the show started as the MC started making some preliminary announcements. Eventually, he started calling out the contestants. My girl was number two.

I was shocked beyond words when I saw Adobi climb the stage. I felt like disappearing from the hall. That's not my girl!

She was not wearing the dress I chose for her instead, she was wearing one light gown (though appeared very expensive) that was too short, far above her knees.

That must be the dress she said her elder sister promised her. The dress was simply not good for a school environment where decency was a watchwords like our school. If she had shown me the dress, there was no way I would have allowed her to wear it.

The murmuring from the audience that greeted her was a clear sign of disapproval.

I made to stand up from my seat to recall her but, it was too late. There was nothing I could do at that moment because she had already gone public.

My heart started beating faster because we were already on the path to losing the competition. We were irredeemable with that dress in a school community.

"How could we lose this competition that we gave so much?" I said in soliloquy.

When it was her turn to dance, it was another disaster for us. She didn't dance with the grace suitable for a beauty queen. The dance steps we all practiced, she left that for a strenuous and energy sapping dance steps which was out of place.

To worsen matters, at a time when the music stopped abruptly, instead of smiling and taking things in her strides as if nothing serious happened, she looked at the DJ, frowning openly. That was a big minus for us.

I think that initial murmuring from the audience when she first entered the stage affected her mood whereby she was unhappy.

During the catwalk time, well, she was great at that. Her carriage, steps and long legs did the magic but, her dress was still her Achilles' heel.

And in being photogenic, you could give her that but, the image of that her dress overshadowed all her good attributes. With all her fantastic attributes, there we were, losing a beauty pageant that was supposed to be ours just for asking. Misfortune simply poured on us.

I was not expecting any cheering news when the chief judge announced the result. Out of the four Houses, we were fourth. It was clear, we lost, and lost woefully.

That night, I couldn't sleep well. In fact, for some days, good sleep eluded me. I kept thinking of how we lost, and how to face my colleagues at school after all my confidence and boasting.

Well, life had to go on but, I cannot forget how a beautiful queen lost a beauty pageant so badly.

https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-holding-a-katana-19435824/