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Show tour, it would flood again. The rains would come so quickly that the floor boards in our car soaked through and my brothers were able to swim in the gutters of the streets in downtown Honolulu. This Halloween, however, the only threat was that trick-or-treating would be postponed. In spite of the rain, my parents let me attend the Subase Chapel Halloween Party with Stacy and her younger sister Jenny. We were left, a cowgirl, a ghost, and a tube of Crest toothpaste, at the Quonset hut that doubled as Sunday School, the car lights blinking in the rain as my parents drove away. For the first hour we played games-games like musical chairs, which Jenny had trouble playing since the sheet forming her Crest costume came down to her ankles and made it impossible for her to move around the chairs. Later we had snacks. I ate the orange-frosted brownies carefully, not wanting to spill anything on my cowgirl outfit before the costume contest started. The tin Quonset hut was warm and wet with our bodies by the time the adults called for the contestants. Soon my parents would be returning. I remember little of the preparation for the contest. I imagine some shifting around of chairs and clearing of space. In groups of five we were taken into the judging room-a room that served on Sundays as the classroom for the preschool-aged children where they colored pictures of Jesus walking on water or feeding the five thousand. The small plastic chairs had been moved to one side of the room creating a large empty space where each contestant had to stand before the judges. I didn't know the other kids in my group but felt quite confident in my costume. My mother had made it for my birthday a year ago. Even though I had only lived in Texas six weeks, I felt like a cowgirl was something I was-or could be-that one should 152 |