Mykaela surveyed her work, nodding to herself. “I may not be a pro at this,” she remarked, “but you have to admit, I did a pretty good job for such short notice.”

Jane nodded in agreement. She and her sisters looked better with their new hairstyles, and Leah even tolerated having a little makeup applied to her face. At least now, they blended in somewhat well.

“You did great!” Eva declared examining her reflection from every angle. “Seriously, even Jane can’t do hair or makeup this well. No offense meant, sis.”

“None taken,” Jane responded. “Myki, you need to teach me how to do this stuff!”

Mykaela smiled at the nickname and replied modestly, “It was no big deal, really.”

A scrawny-looking woman with a pinched face poked her head into the room. “Five minutes before start, girls. Get a move on!” she announced.

Leah looked at her sisters and cousin, sighed, and said, “Well, here goes nothing.”


Round after round, it went. Swimsuits, formal wear, questions and answers. One inane thing after another, and still Eva and Jane had no idea what their sister would be doing for the talent portion. Eva began to worry, fearing the worst. Even though she and her sisters seemed to be doing well enough, given it was their first time doing this sort of thing, she knew these other girls would eat them alive if they did or said the wrong thing. Please don’t mess up, Eva thought. Don’t do anything stupid.

Then, the talent portion was announced. Eva swallowed hard, anxious, but Leah grinned broadly.

“You sure you don’t want out?” Eva asked, watching her sister change for the talent competition.

“Positive. I’m going to do something I know I’m totally awesome at!” Leah replied cheerily.

“Uh… are you really going to wear that?” Jane asked.

Leah looked down at her outfit, which she often wore to play in. “What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s… well, it’s not the kind of thing you wear to something like this…”

“Look,” Mykaela interrupted. “If Leah wants to wear that, let her. If we try to make her wear something different, wouldn’t we be just like… like…” She nodded toward Katana and her friends. She patted Leah on the shoulder. “I don’t know what you plan on doing, but if that’s what you want to wear, go for it. It’s a lot more comfortable-looking than most of the stuff my mom makes me wear for these stupid things.”


The talent portion began. Eva recited a poem, Jane sang, and Mykaela danced. Finally, it was Leah’s turn. The moment of truth.

Eva watched as Leah strode toward the stage, head held high. She noticed something dangling from her hand. It was…

“How did we not think of that?” Eva whispered to Jane, pointing.

“Better question is, where did she have that stashed?” Jane replied.

“And now,” boomed the announcer, “Little Miss Leah is going to… to jump rope?!” To one of the judges, he hissed, “Seriously? Is that allowed?”

“I told her she was allowed to do it,” responded Calyx Summers, one of the judges. She smiled at Leah. “Go for it, sweetie.”

Leah gave the young woman a thumbs up, then nodded to the music operator. Upbeat music began to play, and Leah began to jump rope, whipping the rope around so swiftly, it was a blur. She did several simple tricks, such as crossing and uncrossing her arms as she continued to jump. This went for five minutes, and when she finally stopped and bowed to the audience, there was a rush of surprised applause.

“Holy moly,” Mykaela gasped. “I wish I could do that!”

“We learned how to do that in gym class,” Jane replied. “Leah picked up on it super-fast. I’m lucky if I can do some of that stuff while going slow!”

“That was kind of cool,” Eva admitted.


The girls all stood on the stage, waiting for the results to be announced. Jane’s hand were shaky. Please let me win, please let me win, she thought. I want that shopping spree!

The announce took the envelope from the judges and opened it. Into the microphone, he announced, “And now, the winners of this year’s Little Miss Oakdale. Honorable mention goes to Little Miss Leah.”

Leah laughed and scampered over to the announcer to collect her prize: a $25 check. To the announcer, she declared, “I’m buying ice cream for my sisters with this!” She then returned to her spot, grinning from ear to ear.

Struggling to maintain composure, the announcer continued, “Third place goes to Little Miss Mykaela.”

Mykaela squealed joyfully and accepted her prize of $50. Leah gave her a high-five.

“Second place goes to Little Miss Katana.”

“I only got second?” complained Katana, glaring at the announcer. “That’s like first loser!” She tore the $100 from his hand and stormed back to her spot.

“And first place goes to Little Miss Natalie.”

“Yay, I won!” squealed Natalie, dancing around.

“That’s our baby!” Sawyer and Heather called out proudly.

“Well,” Eva whispered to Jane, “at least we’re getting ice cream.”