Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14 DECEMBER 25, 1941 7:30 A.M. On Christmas morning, Danny was awakened by a strange noise. He sat up in bed, wide awake, wondering if he needed to wake up Ma, if they had to rush to the air-raid shelter down the road. There had been

drills all week. Everyone knew where they were supposed to go if the Japanese attacked. Danny peeked around the blackout curtains on his window. Every house had to have these curtains. It had to be pitch dark at night so that the Japanese wouldn't see any targets from the sky. Danny hated being inside the sealed-up house. It made him think of being in a coffin, buried alive. It scared Danny. Pretty much everything scared Danny. You'd have to crazy not to be scared, with what was happening in the world, with America at war with both Japan and Germany now. More troops were arriving every day at Pearl Harbor. Soon they'd all be sent to fight the Japanese in the Pacific, even Mack, who was almost well enough to starting running bombing missions in his B-17. Danny knew Mack was sad to be leaving; he and Ma were good friends now. Danny never did have to make Ma go out to dinner with him. She asked him herself. Danny was scared for Ma when she went to take care of the men at Hickam. He was scared for

Mr. Sudo, that he might get arrested again. He was scared that something bad could happen to Aki. But, Danny decided, being scared was better than being numb. If he were numb, he wouldn't be able to feel happy, and there were times when he caught himself smiling. Like when Mack came for dinner, or when Mr. Sudo was teaching him to draw, or when Aki rushed by with his crazy monkey smile, with no idea that so many bad things were happening. And of course there was Finn. Finn was better now. Danny found out because Ma had been allowed to use the phone at the hospital to call Mrs. Mills. Ma wanted her to spread the word in the neighborhood that she and Danny were safe. Mrs. Mills told her that Earl and all of his guys had enlisted in the army. And the most important news: Finn was out of the hospital, and he was staying with Mrs. Mills. Danny liked the sound of that. He was writing Finn a long letter about what had happened to him during the attack. Ma said that all letters from Hawaii would be censored; soldiers would read

his letter and cross out any information that could help the enemy. Danny didn't mind. He'd even asked Mr. Sudo to draw a picture of Aki for him to send. Mr. Sudo said that instead he would help Danny draw the picture. It was almost done. It wasn't good. But it didn't stink too bad. Danny put his head back down on the pillow. At least the morning birds had come back. He liked to listen to them sing. But then there was that strange sound again, the sound that had woken him up. It sounded like a baby whimpering. Was Aki out there? He hadn't wandered since his father came home. But Danny wanted to make sure. He threw on some clothes and went outside to the yard. He followed the sound to one of the prickly bushes. It wasn't Aki. There, shaking like a leaf, was that baby wild boar, with the one white ear. Danny looked around. Its mother monster was nowhere to be seen. The baby was alone.

Danny picked it up. The baby had changed in the past three weeks, like everything else. Danny held it up and looked the little guy in the eye. He looked scared. And tough. And like he'd be happy to have someone keep an eye on him. Danny wasn't sure if it was possible to keep a wild boar as a pet. In fact, he was pretty sure it was a very bad idea. But at that moment, Danny decided not to think about it — or anything else — as he headed up the hill to the Sudos' with the baby resting happily in his arms. All he was thinking about was how Aki would smile when he saw his Christmas present.