On the first day of the year in a quiet country town. Two lives began as the sun was looking down. Elliot and Bradley, inseparable from the start. Sharing every secret of young and hopeful hearts. They played the same games and they walked the same road. Sharing the weight of every childhood load. Beyond the back fence where valleys and hills roll. They hammered together their heart and soul. A secret headquarters, a ship to the stars. A sanctuary hidden from the world and its scars. Then one sunny day with a blade held in hand. Elliot and Bradley made a vow in that land. A nick on the thumb and a breath held tight Two drops of red in the afternoon light. Pressed together as the words were spoken low. A bond for the ages that the world would soon know. My blood is your blood, we are brothers today. Through the fire and the mud, I will not walk away Brothers forever till the sun sets at last. Sharing the future and the ghosts of the past. Then the ballot was drawn and the boys were called men. And nothing about them was innocent then. They sailed on a ship to a strange, distant shore. Where the rain turns to red in the middle of a war. Where the leeches and scorpions crawl all through the night. And the air is a fever in the morning sunlight. The orders were given as the moon rose up high. To patrol the dark river under a violent sky. Then the thunder of mortars tore the stillness apart. And the fear of the jungle gripped every man's heart. In the chaos of retreat and the smoke and the flame. Bradley called out "Elliot", but no answer came. Bradley turned back alone through the thick, heavy mud. To find a limp body and the scent of fresh blood. He bandaged the wounds and they hid from the day. Under leaves and the dirt as the hours slipped away. The longest of lives in those long dirty hours. Waiting for darkness and the strength of higher powers. Now the danger has passed and the letters are read. Elliot sits by the river, nothing left to be said. He just looks at his thumb where the small scar remains. A witness to loyalty that outlasts the pains. Just two little boys who swore to be true. In the red of the mud and the wide morning blue. My blood is your blood, we are brothers today. Through the fire and the mud, I will not walk away. Brothers forever till the sun sets at last. Sharing the future and the ghosts of the past.
