What happened to my dog, Hula Girl?
We knew that we had to get away from the harbor, so my Dad put us in our ’39 Ford and drove us up to hide in the sugarcane fields above our house.
In the rush to get away, my dog Hula Girl was nowhere to be seen, and we had to leave our house without her. I was afraid she’d be hurt or killed, but we couldn’t wait around–we had to leave immediately.
After the attack was over, we tried to go back home, but the Military Police wouldn’t let us. I wanted to find Hula Girl, but again we had to leave without her, and go back to the sugar cane fields where we had been hiding.
We were given a place to sleep in the sugar mill, and had to stay there about a week. All this time I was more worried about Hula Girl than the war.
Finally, the roads and yards were cleared of debris from the attack, and we were allowed to return home. I was so excited, and couldn’t wait to find
out if Hula Girl was OK.
When we got back home, I couldn’t find her. I looked everywhere, and even climbed a tree to look further, but she was gone! Some houses in Hawaii have no basement, but are built on short stilts above the ground. I looked under the house, but didn’t see her.
I went to bed, crying for my dog. As I lay there, I thought I heard her whimpering. At first, I wasn’t sure, but then, she cried again. I jumped out of bed, called my Dad, and he got a flashlight.
When we crawled under the house, the flashligh picked up the reflection in her eyes. She was just too weak to bark and let us know where she had been hiding.
Well, we had a joyous reunion, and I was so happy to have her back. We spent the war years together, and she lived quite a long time.
Many years later, when I decided to write my first book, I decided that she needed to become a “cover girl,” so we
put her picture on the front cover, and she’s been there ever since, through nine editions!
I won’t ever forget my Hula Girl.
