Paki Kēhua

The Last Goodbye

Episode 32 - The Last Goodbye (Based on a True Story) 
You might think that talking to the dead is abnormal, but not if you're Māori! We communicate with them all the time through our whaikōrero, karanga, and waiata. Sometimes, if you're lucky or unlucky (depending on the circumstances), they might even speak to you. A few years back, one of my wife’s whanaunga passed away. We were all very close, and my wife and her whanaunga kept in touch over the years through Facebook, Messenger, and the occasional phone call. One day, we received an odd phone call from the whanaunga....... a year after she died. It was weird because my wife had a personalised ringtone, whanaunga calling – the whole bit.  So, we freaked out when her name came up on the caller ID, we hesitated to answer but couldn't help ourselves and picked up. This story is inspired by what awaited us on the other end of the line. 
 
T.A. Whero
 

The War God (Part 2) – Te Korenga

Episode 31 – The War God (Te Korenga) Part Two (Tikanga Based Story) 
Te Pāpaka and Te Korenga: twins! One alive and the other...something else.  Separated at birth, māhanga, neither knew of the other's existence. Yet, as the old saying goes, 'toto ki te toto' or 'blood attracts blood', the brothers were destined to meet on the battlefield.  For Te Pāpaka, the question wasn't about facing a warrior of unimaginable power, nor the realisation that only one of them was destined to walk away from their inevitable clash. No. The burning question for Te Pāpaka was far beyond life or death, and in fact, much simpler... how does one face a fight to the death against a brother he has never met? 
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The War God (Part 1) – Te Pāpaka

Episode 30 – The War God (Te Pāpaka) Part One (Tikanga Based Story) 
Prepare for the censorship whānau to have a field day on this one.  I have thought very carefully about what I should include or exclude in this story.  I have decided…. to include every blood-curdling, upsetting and controversial detail. To do otherwise would be inaccurate and insulting to our tipuna. We can all guess that the inception of a War god and let's be specific here, a Māori War god, could be considered by today's standards of morality, cruel and ruthless.  All true, but that’s not what’s interesting.  Today's paki explores the disturbing creation of a War god and follows two power-mongering tohunga. They are hell-bent on capturing the soul of a newborn baby, the key ingredient needed to create the ultimate weapon.  Listener discretion is advised.
T.A Whero 

Kia ora, is statue? (Part 2)

Episode 29 - Kia ora, is Statue? Part Two (Based on a True Story)  
Paki, Tame’s cousin who bullied Tame about his imaginary moving statues now finds himself a born-again believer. Being surrounded by an army of moving statues can indeed shift one’s beliefs.  Now Paki, Tame and Tame’s loyal cousin Hori can all see that the statues are alive and ready to strike. To get out of this one, they first need to answer a few questions about the statues and before time runs out.  Like, how are the statues moving? What do they want? Why have they chosen to reveal themselves now, and to all three of them, no less? For now, however, we must address the minor issue of the army of statues. That's one thing they definitely have an answer for. It's time to run! 
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Kia ora, is statue? (Part 1)

Episode 28 – Kia ora is Statue? Part One (Based on a True Story)  
I went to a marae once that had creepy white marble statues, tonnes of them at the back of the wharenui. I still remember the very first thought that came to my mind, it looked like an urupā. I think they were actually art sculptures, but they looked like they were headstones made by a kaiwhakairo and as such there was an air of unease about them.  Tame, a marae kid seems to think that the statues at the back of his marae move when no one is looking. No one believes him of course, especially his older cousin Paki who can’t stand him and thinks Tame is a straight out liar.  Highly possible, or maybe Tame simply has a creative imagination. He could of course be seeing things or there is one other possibility to consider….the statues are alive.  
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The Train Ticket (Part Two) - Māori Vision

Episode 27 – The Train Ticket (Part Two) - Māori Vision (Based on a True Story) 
You could call the last story an extraordinary example of “Luck”. One life saved by a twist of fate. But could luck strike twice on the same night and to someone seemingly disconnected? Well, fate has an interesting way of twisting back on itself, and two destinies are about to collide in an extraordinary way. It's December 23, 1953, and Pāora has a “not-to-be-missed” end-of-year party with the boys to attend. But Pāora has been seeing strange things all day. Come morning, Pāora will think that he has been dealt a cruel blow in life when, in actual fact, he will end the day being one of the luckiest guys in the world. 
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The Train Ticket (Part One) - The Missed Journey

Episode 26 - The Train Ticket (Part One) - The Missed Journey (Based on a True Story)
It's December 23, 1953, and an old school friend has turned up out of the blue, offering to take Emily on a whirlwind trip across the countryside, back to their hometown in Taumarunui. Why take tomorrow night's express train when you can have a chauffeur-driven ride right now, and catch up with an old school friend at the same time? But there’s something not quite right about the old schoolmate that Emily can’t put her finger on. Emily and her old buddy, Billie, head off the night before the scheduled train trip, all set to surprise Emily’s whānau a day early. And what a surprise it will be, but not for the reasons Emily thinks. The trip home is about to rock not just Emily and her family, but the entire world. Get ready to relive the ride of Emily’s life.   
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Happy (Ghost) Feet

Episode 25 - Happy (Ghost) Feet (Based on a True Story) 
If you ever spoke to a dead person, would you know it? Would anyone else be able to see the dead person and witness the conversation, or would it look like you're talking to yourself? I'm trying to steer clear of a "Sixth Sense" scenario here, but I've heard many stories where the dead return for a final farewell.  I remember my Māori teacher from college talking about a kid who missed school, turned up in the afternoon on his horse, and then left, only for a message to arrive at the school later that day saying the kid had died earlier that morning. This tale is true, and secondly, I'm going to let one fact out here that's not in the story but needs to be said: one of the characters quit her job after the incident. We know that the dead can indeed come back, but this story is not about that; it's about why the dead choose to return. 
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The Old Man (Part 2)

Episode 24 - The Old Man, Part Two (Based on a True Story) 
Herana is being hunted by a malevolent spirit from the nightmare world, and if that isn't bad enough, the spirit seems to be able to physically hurt Herana. She has woken from the nightmares with marks and bruises all over. Herana and Hona have reached out to their mother's brother, Uncle Tipene, whom their mother forbade them from seeing when she was alive. They are hoping their uncle will be able to help. What they don't know is that there was a reason their mother wouldn't let them see their uncle. It's a secret that's intertwined with all the nightmares. Buckle up because things are about to get worse. Much worse. 
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The Old Man (Part 1)

Episode 23 - The Old Man, Part One (Based on a True Story) 
Have you ever had a dream that was so real that you didn’t know it was a dream until you woke from it? I have grown up knowing that when you dream, you cross over to the spirit world. I remember my koroua saying that you should never wake anyone suddenly, as their body might return while the wairua stays in the dream world. That always troubled me. If you could cross to the dream world then it would stand to reason that something could also cross into this world, which is fine if you’re talking about marsh-mallows and butterflies, but what if it’s demons and monsters? 
Herana and her sister Hona are all alone after their mother died a year or so ago and they are about to discover that the veil between them and the demons is thin……real thin.  
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