Rewound

Only Fools Rush In

I stepped out of my apartment building and onto the streets of the city that never seemed to sleep. As it always was, the streets were filled with the loud noise of the honking cars of busy commuters and the chatter of people moving freely through the streets of the enormous city I called home. Above all was the noise of anti- Vietnam protestors parading through the streets and occupying various corners begging for pacifism and a return of their troops. As I passed a group of them on the streets I heard a young girl scream,

"But if they'd only listen to us for half a second and realize that we're not doing any good over there-" I sighed. I knew they only had good intentions but when it all came down to it, it didn't matter. We would never be able to convince the government to pull out of Vietnam already. The anti-war protests started 4 years ago, and while I'll admit they've gained a lot of momentum and influence lately, it still didn't matter. The war was still going on and would continue to go on until someone lost. I shook my head. If only they knew that there would still be eight more years of war before it all ended and with a communist victory at that. How crushed they would be to know that the whole war was being fought for naught and would leave nearly 59,000 of our own dead and another 300,000 wounded. The soldiers that did come home would find it hard to adjust to civilian life and many would suffer from what was later coined in the 1980's as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, otherwise known as PTSD. None of those boys ever came back whole again. They came back damaged, plagued by nightmares and flashbacks. In short they had just seen too much. It was a shame really. Most of the boys going over were so young, had barely had time to live their lives, and the sad reality of it all was that more often than not they didn't come home. They didn't get the chance to live the life they should have. I sighed. It was the down side of getting to live forever, having to live through this period over and over again, knowing the outcome, but having to keep it a secret to the rest of the world. I was deep in thought when I felt someone tap my shoulder and I spun around to reveal the girl who had been screaming on the street corner. Funny, that had never happened before. Then again, small things such as this didn't have to be the same each time I returned. It was highly unlikely it would change history. I must of merely caught her attention this time. With a big smile on her face she proudly held out a button between her thumb and pointer fingers. "You want a free button sir? Its to support bringing home our troops. It may not be a lot but it shows that support against the war is growing." I could not help but smile in return. There was just something so innocent about her, about the way she spoke. Or perhaps it was in the way she dressed in a flowing purple floral skirt and blue crop top, her blonde hair hanging in loose waves around her head, a flower crown resting on top of it all. I imagined she couldn't be any older than nineteen. With a nod I replied,

"Why not? It couldn't hurt the cause now could it?" The girl shook her head, that smile still plastered on her face. Slowly, she reached for the lapel of my leather jacket, carefully fastening the pin into place. As she did so she stated,

"No siree Bob sir! They'll listen to us soon enough. My brother is over there. Says that the place ought to make hell look like heaven with the condition of everything. Says it's horrible. Senseless killing, slaughters even. I'm so glad he'll be home next month. I told him I simply forbid him from returning to that damn place." Unconsciously I frowned, feeling for her. If she lost her brother she would be devastated. As much as I hated to admit it though, the odds of him coming home were slim. If only she knew in a two short weeks one hundred and ten American soldiers were going to be killed, four hundred and seventy-three were going to be wounded, and two would go missing never to be found during Operation Union and that in all likelihood, her brother would be in one of those counts. Unable to look at her anymore I once again nodded and quietly responded,

"I hope your brother returns home safe." I truly did for her sake. With that I continued on my way down the street, not really thinking about anything, but at the same time thinking about everything. I was thinking about the Vietnam war and the protestors. About wives losing their husbands, mothers and fathers losing their sons, and sisters losing their brothers. I was thinking about how important the war was to all these people now and how it would be all but forgotten in the future. That was the cruel truth of time, things had a funny way of getting lost in it.

Ten minutes later I found myself at the local diner, a silver mirrored building with a fluorescent sign that hung above its double door entrance way that read "Cherri's Diner". Walking into the place, it was just as I always remembered it, neon blue lights lining the ceiling, glossy black and white tiles arranged in a checkerboard formation on the floor. Along the windows and walls were booths with puffy, baby blue vinyl, small jukeboxes mounted to the wall at the ends of the tables. On the walls hung records and photos of up and coming artists and bands, faces like Elvis and the Beatles mixed in with those of Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones. On a small tube television set suspended from the ceiling the relatively new Batman television series featuring Adam West played silently. I took a deep breath, taking in the familiar smell of French fries and burgers cooking back in the kitchen. Say what you may, but in the many years I've been alive, I'd still say the burgers sold here were the best I had ever eaten. I was deep in my nostalgic trance when from a nearby booth I heard a familiar voice call,

"Charles!" I turned my head to see Garret half sticking out of the same booth we always sat in, a smile on his face. I walked over to where he was sitting, sliding into the oversized bench across from him. As I did so Garret continued, "Hope you don't mind, but I ordered your burger for you while I was waiting. Well-done with tomato and mayonnaise right? Oh and I had them put the dill pickle on the side. Ordered you a Coca-Cola too." I couldn't help but laugh. It never ceased to amuse me how much he knew me, especially knowing that he'd still be the same way in the future. With a laugh I replied,

"Just the way I like it. Thank you. You look good Rhett. It feels like I haven't seen you in ages. How have you been?" I silently laughed at my statement, at how Garret would never understand how literal I had been. Seeing Garret again though always brought a smile to my face. I had seen him get older and suffer more and more as the years went by time and time again. It was nice to know that I could always go back and see him in the way I always remembered him, young and full of life. Garret took a sip of his drink, loudly placing it back down on the table before answering exuberantly,

"I've been great. I got a new job down at the raceway, it pays a lot better than at that damn auto shop on Main Street, and honestly I love it there. Bonnie does too. She takes Daytona down there to watch most of the races. Which reminds, could you believe that Daytona is already potty-trained? Barely above two years old and already she has it down. Bonnie say's she's very advanced for her age. Ain't that something? Here, we just bought one of those new Kodaks. Let me show you a picture of her. You wouldn't believe how much she has grown." Garett dug into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. A moment later he took out from it a small glossy photo of a young Daytona, donning a pair of pink overalls over a white t-shirt, her hair typed up in pigtails. How amazing it was that this little girl would one day become a stunningly beautiful woman. I smiled at the photo, committing to memory, and then promptly returned it like I always I did. A moment later our food arrived at the table, and as we ate we had the same conversation we always did, although I liked to change it up a bit each time. Ask new questions, talk about different things. I always learned something new about Garret that I hadn't known in my previous times back. It kept life interesting and in a world where you already knew what the future held, any surprises that arose were gladly met.

My meeting with Garret lasted another forty-five minutes, once again ending with his promise to find me a girl as we walked out the doors and headed our separate ways. Normally, I would head back to my apartment and read a book or wander to a nearby market just to browse what they had, but today I felt like changing things up. Today I wanted to just walk around with no particular destination in my mind. I had nothing but time, and nowhere to be. Truth be told, I was out seeking something new. A break from the life I always led. So as I began to wander down Main Street I couldn't help but be filled with a mild curiosity about the world and a new thirst for adventure.

Thanks so much for reading!!!! I hope you are enjoying the story so far :) As always any comments or constructive criticism are welcome! If you see any spelling or grammer errors that I missed feel free to point them out and i'll fix them! To all my fellow writers out there: happy writing!! Until next time my lovelies!