“Kia ora, Hoani. It’s been a long time, eh?”

“There’s a familiar voice”, thought John, “My old army mate Tama.” John felt elated, and a little confused. “What are you doing here? Where are you?”

“Over here, mate, come on, you’re going the right way.”

John followed the path, climbing gently in the setting sun. There was Tama, his brother Rangi – with a small child, Arthur, Ron, and Bill. Smiling, so happy to see him. Handshakes and love all around.

“What are you boys doing here, and who is this child?” asked John.

“We have been waiting for you”, Rangi said, “Remember? We made a pact before the shooting started that because we were brothers-in-arms we would never be separated, and so we waited. For you. You are the last. And this, this is my mokopuna.”

“Your grandchild? But you were never married.”

Rangi smiled his crooked smile. “You don’t have to be married to make a baby. Queenie and I had a big farewell on the beach, the last night in Gisborne. I never knew, but it turns out we made a daughter, Marama, in memory of the moon that night, and she had this boy here. One day things went a bit wrong – I went to meet him and brought him back with me so he wasn’t alone. It’s good now.” The boy smiled shyly.

“Are we – are we really – I can’t say it!” asked John, frowning at the thought.

“Yes, mate, it’s ok”, said Ron, “We stayed here waiting for you. When peace was declared you went home and carried on with life. Now you’re done with it, we can carry on like we started out – together, brothers in our real family.”

“You waited all this time – for me?”

“Well, time here is different, and besides, we didn’t have anything else to do. We watched you and watched over you the whole way, the good times and the bad. You were never really alone. And now we’re back together. We can get on the road now, if you want to.” Ron looked around to John and the others. They nodded, and followed into the sea breeze.

Manifesto
01. Every day is a fresh new day.
24. Every day is a journey. Not a destination.
50. Every day has an ending.