Two weeks later the pure physical and mental agony began. I was placed with Commander Aki, the toughest in all of Japan. Onerous and gruelling Arduous Aki, as I would call him, prepared me for Australia. He claimed that the Australian army consisted of ruffians, delinquents and gangsters, but when I came on the boats and met the troops I was surprised by what I felt towards them and by how they treated me.
The troops were the utter opposite of what Commander Aki had predicted. They were the most welcoming people I had ever met. Within a number of days they had accepted me as one of their brothers, as a part of their growing family. The craving of acceptance which I had longed for in Japan for so long, by my own people, was fulfilled by those
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How can I face them again, acting oblivious to the attack which I abetted? What excuse will I give them?
5:57pm.
I can feel the rain running down my back. It’s still not too late. I can fire the flare, warn the soldiers of the impending danger at least. If I do it, then I won’t look suspicious and I won’t be the one to blame for the attack either.
I turn towards the park behind me, the first place I’d ever played a game of cricket. It was the first time I held a cricket bat, the first time I bowled a ball. The memories of Max and Ollie cheering for me and of Will picking me up onto his shoulders when I caught the winning catch were forever imprinted in my mind, That was only one of many memories. Nostalgia overwhelmed me as the flare, an arm’s reach away, glared at me.
5:59pm.
The flare is ready, I just need to pull the trigger. I can save my comrades, but then what will Masao think of me? What will Sergeant Itoh think? I’ll be the nation’s largest disgrace, everything will go back to the way it was in the past and do I really want that? The fire of uncertainty is burning me on the inside, I have a duty to both my comrades and my country, but I just need to choose one. But who, the Japanese or the