Dumplin- «100% Plus»

Dumplin’ raised the kazoo to her lips.

She wasn’t a winner. She wasn’t a loser. She was Dumplin’. And for the first time, she realized that wasn’t an insult. It was a promise: to take up space, to be loud, to be off-key, and to be absolutely, unapologetically, gloriously herself. Dumplin-

She reached center stage. The spotlight was a hot, white sun. For a second, she forgot how to breathe. The mirror’s lie echoed in her head: You don’t belong here. Dumplin’ raised the kazoo to her lips

And that, she decided, was a crown no one could take off. She was Dumplin’

The judge shook her head, a real smile cracking her lipstick. “No. She bought everyone hot dogs from the concession stand and taught them a line dance.”

Dumplin’ held up a beat-up kazoo. “It’s a tribute. Lucy used to play ‘Yellow Rose of Texas’ on this thing at every family barbecue. She was terrible. Amazingly terrible. But she never cared who was listening.”