Before My Time Shorts: The Outsiders

Finding Brianna

Timeline B
Narrator's POV
1967

When Soda was deployed to Vietnam, everyone in the gang had the high hopes that he would come back safe and healthy. Girls around town wrote him letters, sealed with bright red lipstick kisses, praying for his safety and that he would be back soon.

Soda never opened those letters. He only responded to the ones sent by his family and closest friends, but always dreamt about receiving a letter from Bri. He imagined that the gang found her, and she was waiting for him to come home. His delusion kept him strong against the difficult war he witnessed.

On one fateful day, Soda gave the biggest sacrifice. His life.

Soda was not done with this life, he had unfinished business. And that was to confront Brianna for the emotional pain she caused him. The rope that tethered their love was cut, and he was lost without her hanging onto the other end.

As a spirit, Soda was pleased to not be plagued by the responsibilities of work, time, and money in order to search for Brianna. After a quick visit to his mourning brothers and the rest of the gang, he went around town, looking into the faces of everyone. No Bri.

Then, he traveled outside of town, no Bri. Outside the state, no Bri. Outside the of South, no Bri. Outside of the country, no Bri.

Soda spent the next thirty-three years searching the grounds of Earth. Of course, now being immortal, time wasn't of the essence. But the longer that Soda looked, the more impatient and worried he got. What if Bri was too old for him to recognize her now? The population had grown considerably since his untimely death, what if she was hiding? Did she know about Soda being dead?

2000

In the morning of early March 2000, Soda was wondering around in Alaska. He suddenly felt an inner tug, telling him where to go next. Soda was annoyed, because he had visited that town before. The urge was so tremendous, he figured that he had nothing to loose.

Bakersfield, California was where he found himself. It was almost as if a shadow was pulling and pushing Soda in the right direction. He reached a hospital, and came across a room with a new mother holding her baby girl.

The urge stopped, letting Soda feeling relaxed and able to breath again. He didn't understand, the mother wasn't Brianna. The baby was far too young to be the girl he fell in love with over thirty years prior. Soda didn't spend another second in that room. He fled, mad like a bat out of hell. His hopes were high, and they came crashing down once again.

2017

Knowing that Bri would now be too old to recognize her as the teenager he last saw her as, Soda knew that even if he saw her, he would not be able to recognize her. Half a century is a long time, and now he was willing to wait for her on the other side.

Soda was lounging at a beach in Greece, watching the crystal blue water splash by his toes as he inspected his reflection in the water and fixed his hair. At this moment, he felt the same urge as he did seventeen years earlier. Soda tried to ignore it, but it was like an itch that got worse. He nearly groaned and followed the invisible shadow's pushes and pulls, all the way to the familiar city of Tulsa.

He had visited it a couple times recently, it looks considerably different than it did fifty years earlier. He could visualize what everything used to be. But he knew he was on a mission, so he couldn't reminisce too much.

He reached a particularly large house with big welcoming windows. He almost felt nervous, and he hadn't felt that in decades. He ran his fingers through his perfect hair and walked through the open door.