At the supper feast, before dessert was brought out, she was called up to deliver the award. After the pictures were taken of the judges and award winners, the man who had won her award carried her around the room sitting on his shoulder to another great round of applause.
Worn out from the day, Mirka leaned her head on her fist and picked at the last of her dessert. When her parents got up to leave one of the men sitting nearby insisted on carrying her home. She paid little attention to the conversation as she drowsed against his shoulder until she her her dad say, “We’re hoping she can stay with us, but she’s still wetting the bed, so…”