Story of the Phonetic Alphabet and how it came to be…

“I am the Alpha male!” shouted John as he waved his putter above his head,

“Bravo” said…


Charlie ironically,

“If that is how we are ranking the round, I would be the Delta male” he joked…

as John Echoed his laughter, he grabbed Charlie and swung him around...

as if they were dancing the Foxtrot !

“That was the best round of Golf I have ever played!” bellowed John.

The group fetched their balls out of the hole and made their way back to the Hotel…

It was a blistering day in India and they were parched.

Juliet greeted them with a wave as she indicated their reserved position outside.

“These clubs must weigh a hundred Kilos…

even heavier than the ones I lugged around in Lima!” …

Mike grimaced as he over exaggerated his struggle to sit down.

“I can’t see you making it past November if you keep up like this!” …

said Oscar and everyone laughed harmonically.

“Don’t say things like that about your Papa !” Juliet lulled as she served them their order.

“Maybe next trip we can go to somewhere a bit cooler? The mountains of Quebec for skiing perhaps… although my old legs aren't getting any younger.” Mike whimpered rubbing his thighs.

“Oh cry me a river Dad; Romeo, Romeo, where for ‘art thou…” Oscar was abruptly cut off by a swift slap to the back of the head.

“I’ll let you know that I have been skiing Sierras from before you were born!” Mike exclaimed, and was surprised to see the table suppressing crooked smiles and laughter.

So in suit with the joke he carried on at his son, “I glided down those mountains so gracefully, I could have been dancing the Tango for anyone who didn't know I was on skies!” and the table burst into a round of hysterics!

Oscar, pleased with his dad’s sense of humour, butted in; “well it looks like you’d just finished doing the tango with that horrendous orange Uniform you call a ski suit!” the laughter increased.

As the noise died down, Juliet asked with a smile “so who was the Victor today?”

John stuck out his chest, raised his glass to the pretty girl and gave her a jokey wink before taking a long drag on his single malt Whiskey.

He made a delighted face, as he pulled his lips back from the glass, inspecting it as if he had X-ray vision. “This is divine!” he exclaimed as he gave a familiar look to his comrades.

“Almost as good as the whiskey that those Yankee’s made!” Mike agreed, inspecting his own.

“It gets a fire going in my gut! Makes me feel like a true Zulu warrior!” John joked. But as harmless as the comment was, silence fell over Mike, whom was frozen in time. The shards of broken memories scattering and cutting deep into his thoughts. Oscar placed a hand on his father’s shoulder and gave him an earnest look, a smile crept to the corners of John’s mouth as he fingered his tumbler…