June Bug Contest: Day One

Introduction

It didn't take long for me to learn my daughter's face and its infinite array of emotional displays. In my mind, I may be able to pull up Lincoln's face on the 5 dollar bill or Washington's profile on the quarter just as quickly, but only Ayla's face in my mind expresses emotions I can identify and know intimately.

As a child, I loved picture books because they painted images for us. But as I grew older, I found myself preferring books without pictures so I could imagine the face of a character, the shadows of a forest, the burst of sun behind storm clouds on my own. It took me a long time to watch the Harry Potter movies, because after reading the entire series I had my own images of what the characters and scenes looked like.

I love reading and writing descriptions about people, places, and things. But describing people in words is perhaps the biggest challenge for me as a writer. So why not challenge myself and put myself out there on a limb for you to judge? I decided to make it a contest to see if I can successfully describe my daughter's facial expressions! And it also gives me an excuse to post photos of my cutie-patootie daughter!

June Bug Contest: Facial Expression Identification

Words have the power to convince the mind of an image. Describing the many facial expressions of my daughter in words is not easy, but the challenge to do so is fun. So as a fun, yet challenging, writing exercise, I am going to share with you ten descriptions of my daughter's facial expressions along with a set of photos.

• Your task: to match each photo with its correct description.
• Once you have completed this task, please email me your answers at zookbooknook (at) yahoo (dot) com by Sunday June 7th at noon EST. In your email please include your URL to your blog, so I can announce your blog on Tuesday if you are the winner.
• On the day you email me, please mention this contest in your blog with a link to my blog.

The entry who correctly matches the most photos with their descriptions will win a drink on me (a $15 Starbucks gift card). If more than one person submits all correct answers, then I will choose a random winner out of the pool of those who got them all correct.

The Photos

A
(sorry for the shot of the tummy, but I couldn't resist because Ayla is so cute)

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

The Descriptions

1. The exquisite palette of a child's tongue excels in revealing its diversity through puckering lips and twinkling eyes.


2. Merriment sparkled in her eyes after two spins around, but on the third go around the edge of Ayla's smile began to tighten with anxiety as she began to realize she was sitting alone upon a lion.


3. The shocking cold rush of desire pelted Ayla's mind as liquid sweetness dripped upon her heart.


4. The arch of Ayla's eyebrows echoed the yelp tunneling from the back of her throat as her tiny exploring finger got stuck like a cork in a bottle.


5. The timeless wonder of who we are reflected back into her eyes for the first time.


6. The pure and simple love she felt grew as she listened to the muffled heartbeat.


7. Eating naked has never been so much fun. Let's hear it for sticky spaghetti noodles.


8. As Ayla's uncertainty grew in a sudden surge of strangers, her head began to tingle with nervousness that capped all other feelings.
   


9. A new experience of the senses. A fresh encounter with old friends. A contained environment offering comfort. A ride up high on the softest mountain.


10. The tip of her fingers began to creep away as an inkling of a new idea sprouted root in her mind: Perhaps the dog would prefer to eat this.

GOOD-LUCK!