From 8-year old Hilda’s diary:
Today we learned the first commandment. It is…
I Am The Lord Thy God, and
I Have Brought Thee Out of the Land of Egypt,
Out of the House of Bondage, and
Thou Shalt Have No Other God Before Me.That scared me a little because I loved that fat, jolly little God that I saw in Ito’s garden the day of Tsumi’s birthday. He was in the corner of the garden sitting on a piece of black wood. We ate our ice cream in front of him. Ito said that it is his family’s God and he watches over them. He watches over Ito’s house and everyone in it. Grandfather says that he is probably a lot better than Mr. Flannagan. Mr. Flannagan is a policeman and he is supposed to watch over all the houses on our block at night when we are asleep.