Joe

The mysteries of what may join our present world with the past world is one of conjecture open to passionate debate dependent on which side of the argument you subscribe. To believe in spectres or ghosts or beings ethereal will open one to ridicule from those who believe themselves grounded in sensible realities. Had Norton been asked to participate in the debate he would simply have told you he has felt little in his many years but that when he did feel it was of such intensity to have been like it was of another world.

Of course these were things far from Norton's mind as he trudged the mile or so up the craters edge at Diamond Head. Norton's troubles were in the here and now. Today his age was caught up to him rendering his feet and knees sore and complaining, providing for laboured breathing due to his ample girth, and the significant windless heat was making him perspire heavily causing him embarrassment as his body became visible through the thin cotton shirt.

Norton simply wanted to complete this climb and provide the photographic evidence of his presence here and then return to the conditioned comfort of his home to rest and nurse.

This was not to be.

Once he arrived Norton found himself transfixed by the vast ocean and mountain vista about him. He traced the edge of the crater and noted the five pill boxes strategically placed there in the early 1900's to provide protection to the city below and to each other should an as yet unknown enemy take it upon themselves to threaten these islands.

Norton stared from his perch 800 feet above the Pacific down toward Pearl Harbor and Ford Island. It was eleven o'clock and even now nearly seventy years later he could picture in his mind the planes coming through the mountain passes above the city and focussing downward to the ships and men and air fields dotted about Pearl City. He could sense the battle that would draw a formidable ally into the war against an enemy so intent on destroying this place. Norton could hear the planes as they circled ever closer to the army fortifications of Diamond Head. And then the battle was here, a cacophonous orchestration of explosions and hot metal and burning fuel and frightened and dying men, and powder and death and blood.

And then silence. From the mayhem a simple gesture. A hand upon his right shoulder squeezed and implored Norton to assist a solitary soul. The voice from the young soldier asking him to help. He did not want to die here in this place.

Joe was seventeen and he had just lost his leg to Japanese aircraft cannon. Joe was bleeding to death. He needed help off this crater to a place where he could find his peace. Would Norton help him there?

Norton moved with new purpose. Joe's hand upon his shoulder removed the pain and discomfort of Norton's age renewing him with vigour and strength. Together they navigated the narrow hallways and tunnels through the protective battlements. As they broke into the sunlight a disembodied shout from a fellow soul celebrated Joe's rescue with a "Joe, wooooooo!". Joe was pleased. Joe still had friends upon this mountain all waiting to find their peace.

At the Kukui Grove they stop. "This is the place", says Joe. He wishes his mother were there to provide him comfort for the last part of this journey. She left him shortly after his own passing, imploring him to follow to her to his peace.

Joe lay upon the ground in a place littered by Kukui nuts. Birds gathered about him. Brazilian Cardinals and Java Sparrows, Bulbuds, Myna Birds, and Doves gathered about him to sing and dance with Joe. Flashes of red and black and grey and white mixed with the most heavenly music of birds.

Then silence as the birds pulled back to Joes head. A mongoose, the harbinger of death upon these islands, came from the tall grass next to the grove. He stopped at Joe's feet and stood sniffing the air in each direction. As if to signify his approval the mongoose circled Joe, bowed to him, and scampered back to the grass. The birds returned to song and Joe rose, whole once again. Two butterflies arose from the tall grass and light formed between their flitting orange wings. He walked to the light and the comfort of his mother's arms.

The silence that surrounded Joe's ascension gave way to life present. Children laughed and cried. Lovers held each other close. People and vehicles added their peculiar mix of noise. Birds sang as usual. The noise of the city was barely audible beyond the crater.

Norton sat in silence taking in all he had seen and was seeing. And Norton felt once again.