Fiction | December 01, 2008
Final Round
Dave Kim
The full text of this story is available via the PDF link below.
It’s the last round of the fourteenth annual Presbyterian United Bible Quiz, and Freddy Hansook Chung of Glendale, California, is in the lead with 7,300 points — 2,100 ahead of second place. Staring into the dark auditorium where his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Young Min Chung, are sitting with their well-worn Bibles and sending telepathic cheers to their Young American Hope, Freddy takes a deep breath and locks his fingers over the rubber buzzer pod, which by now is as hot and pliant as a woman’s breast, or what he imagines a woman’s breast must feel like. The buzzer even has a nipple, a Phillips-head screw working a dent into his palm with each push, and twice Freddy has given it a gentle squeeze for good luck.
Featured as an Editor’s Pick, May 4, 2010:
The Bible quiz bowl circuit is the subject of Dave Kim’s first published fiction, “Final Round” (from TMR31.4). Young Freddy Hansook Chung, Korean-American Presbyterian United Bible Quiz champion, finds himself in one of the most demanding competitions of his life. What will happen when his seemingly unbreakable winning streak is threatened? Affection, sacrifice, family bonds and a little Bible trivia make for a good, fresh read.
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