JUL 1 1915
Gallipoli: Day 67
"Oi, you awake." I shake Ned gently, he stirs and groans.
"What'dya want?"
"I wanna go down the beach, c'mon get up!" I grab his hat and throw it down onto his face.
"Bugger off Clancy, I want to sleep." Ned rolls over curling back up.
"Ned please, for me." I plead, kicking him in the ribs, gently.
"Right dickhead!" He grabs my legs and I fall down, hitting the ground with a thud, we muffle our laughter with our hands.
We smile at each other and I secure the parcel and the letters we received a couple of days ago under my arm. The two of us wonder down the track, silently breathing in the crisp morning air and kicking loose gravel with our boots.
We sit down in our little lost Cove, just around the corner from our landing spot. The grass is soft and the atmosphere warm.
"Happy Birthday Ned." I whisper, as he draws me into a tight embrace.
"Happy Birthday Clancy." He replies into my shoulder.
We pull away and I reveal the first letter. It's from our family, Mum's handwriting gives it away.
•
To our beautiful twin boys,
The day you were born it was windy and cold, a storm was brewing and the dawn hadn't even broken. It was only my first year out on the farm and your father and I were utterly terrified. 19 and parents, to twin boys, identical twin boys. With our family so far away, we didn't know what to do, we didn't even know if we would all survive the experience.
But we did, and every day we thank God for blessing us with two of the most courageous, hilarious, talented and handsome young men.
As you both grew we began to notice that you both turned into very different people, one quiet, one rowdy, but you never left each other behind. You've always been glued to the hip, attached by heart and soul. You love your family, your friends and your partners and most of all you love each other, you depend on each other and that's all we could've asked for.
Alice, Arthur, your father and I, have been so blessed to call you both our sons, our brothers and our best friends. Who would've thought that we'd get so very lucky?
Happy 21st Birthday my babies. It's such an honour and a pleasure to be your mother, you're both my beautiful little blessings that aren't so little anymore.
We wish you both the world of happiness.
All our love,
Mum, Dad, Art and Alice.
-
I cherish our mother.
Her happiness.
Her thoughtfulness.
Her love.
"I really miss her." Ned sighs, brushing away the tears brimming in his eyes.
"Me too," I feel my nose tingle.
Ned tears the brown paper from around the tin, a small note lands on the sand that reads;
Dear Clancy and Ned, this is my first attempt at what they're calling ANZAC biscuits, enjoy, love Art.
"He's a good lad our brother." I chuckle, reaching into the now open tin and pulling out a golden brown oat biscuit. I study it for a moment, the tiny sugar crystals glinting in the sun. It smells of Mallee Root and golden syrup and home.
"They're still soft," Nes throws his head back in delight, his cheeks red from crying.
I bite into mine, the sweetness on my tongue sending goosebumps over my skin.
"I'll keep eating these, shut the lid!" The two of us laugh heartily.
"Right this ones from Kate," I hand him the letter.
"And this ones from Elsie." Ned reveals a letter I didn't know about, I grin and take it from him eagerly.
My dearest most infuriating Clancy,
Happy 21st Birthday my love, I wish I could be there with you today but I guess we all wish we were home as well. I'll have a glass of rum for you and Ned, and you can share the flask I've sent up for you. I'm assuming birthdays aren't a huge celebration on the beach but it's your first summer birthday so make the most of it you two.
I'll love you forever,
Yours,
Elsie.
Feeling extremely content and so very loved, the two of us make our way back to the landing beach, smiles glowing from our lips and our arms draped over each other's shoulders.
"There you two are, come round here!" Tom grins, he guides us around the corner and we see a heap of blokes with grinning faces, two bats and a ball.
"The Taylor Derby! Neddy there's a team for you and Clan, a team for you." Tom paused, he smiles at us then mutters, "Thanks, for being my best mates."
We return the smile, the happiness suddenly radiating to everyone in our presence.
"Shot gun batting!" I punch Ned's shoulder.
I bolt over to my team with my brother cackling behind me.
"Right boys lets play cricket!" I laugh, slapping two blokes backs, as two of them go out to the "pitch".
I turn to follow the rest of them and see my mate Jack, the dark haired lad sat with his back against a rock, fiddling with the dog tags that hang around his neck. I hurt him the other day, and I knew full well that I did.
"G'day Jack," I sit down beside him.
"Clancy." He replies bluntly.
"I'm sorry about the other day, I didn't mean to hurt you as much as I did." I put out my hand, "truce?"
Jack sighs and shakes my hand, "Righto, happy birthday mate." He says.
"Thanks, c'mon wanna play?" I point to the game.
"Nope, never was any good at cricket, I'll watch." He replies. I shrug and re-join my mates on the boundary.
-
A birthday is usually celebrated with a cake, maybe a few presents, a kiss from Mum and a handshake from Dad. Ned and I had been longing for our twenty first birthday since we realised there was usually a big party involved. Our 21st birthday may not have involved one of Mum's sponge cakes, a horse ride with Dad or a party but it did involve mates, cricket and ANZAC biscuits. For the first time in my entire life our birthday was in the summer, we played our favourite sport and we ate golden brown biscuits and drank golden brown rum until we ran out.
Luckily no one really was taking score of the match so we called it a draw.
Stick with diary, we've got a lot more to go through yet but I don't really want this happiness to end.
Your very happy and content,
Clancy Taylor.