Thompson - Maranatha

Title: "The Peace of a Thousand Years"

Scene: A quiet hilltop in Herzegovina, beneath a stone cross. The sun is setting.

Joseph C. Jukic, dressed in a simple white shirt, stands beside Marko Perković "Thompson", the war-time bard of Croatia. The cicadas hum, and the valleys echo faintly with memories of gunfire now long silent.

Joseph Jukic:
“Brother Marko, your songs have stirred the blood of our people. But now, I ask you — sing for peace. Not for surrender, but for Revelation 20 — a thousand years without war.”

Thompson (quietly):
"A thousand years? That sounds like myth, Jozo. The wounds are deep. Our bones remember the betrayals."

Joseph Jukic (nodding):
"They do. But bones don’t heal with bitterness. I’m not asking you to forget — I’m asking you to help us build something greater. Instead of gearing our economies for war, let us gear them for abundant food, splendid clothing, and space travel.”

Thompson (raising an eyebrow):
"Space travel?"

Joseph (smiling):
"Yes, why should Mars belong to the Americans or Chinese? Why should Croats and Serbs not ride together to Olympus Mons instead of dying on Mount Igman?"

Thompson (pausing):
"I sang for soldiers once. But my guitar is older now... and so am I. What would a peace song even sound like?"

Joseph:
"It would sound like children laughing in both Cyrillic and Latin. It would sound like wheat fields, solar panels, and a Balkan spaceship lifting off toward the stars — carrying our saints and sinners alike."

Thompson (voice softening):
"And the dead? What of them?"

Joseph (placing a hand on his shoulder):
"We honor them by breaking the curse. No more sons for the meat grinder. If Revelation 20 speaks truth — then we are the first generation that dares to believe it. You sang for warriors. Now sing for the gardeners, the tailors, and the astronauts."

Marko looks out across the valley.

A guitar string is plucked. A new melody begins — not of sorrow, but of hope.

The age of war is ending. The thousand years has begun.