The Outsiders: Before My Time Part III

Bye Bye Goldie, Red, and Candy

Goldie's POV
April, 1966

Ever since Mom found out about us and we found out about her, we seemed to have gotten closer. She seemed much more relaxed, giggly, and funny. I think she finally let herself relax because she knew that she wasn't alone anymore. However, around the boys, she usually played it safe and hung around the sidelines. She was going by the "don't speak unless spoken to" rule.

All three of us started going with Mom on little scouting trips to the secluded grass field she arrived in. It was outside of the heart of town, only a single dusty road traveling through it, that never saw any traffic.

According to Mom, her Time Machine was ripped apart by animals, and it needed every single scattered piece in order to function. Our job was to help her find every stray screw, nut, and washer that originally was on the Machine. This was our biggest chance of being able to go back home. Probably our only chance. Once we collected as much as we could, then we would put it in a bag and bring it home where she would try to secretly repair the Time Machine, which was hidden under Dad's bed. It never worked, which meant the missing link was still out here in the weeds. God, what I wouldn't have given for a metal detector.

Because we were disappearing for hours on end, the guys were starting to notice. Darry would give us that questioning look of his, and Dad would ask where we were off to with those wide, trusting eyes. Mom always managed to pull an excuse out of thin air to deflect them, but every lie felt like a lead weight in my stomach.

During one of these trips, I asked Mom what she thought about hypothetically going back to save Dad's parents if we ever get the Time Machine to work again. I saw how hurt Dad and his brothers are, all the pain they have endured following the devastating accident. The rumors that have spread around town like honey on bread were haunting. Mom told me that we can't interfere, their deaths have to happen. It was a brutal pill to swallow, realizing that the tragedy I wanted so badly to fix was the exact thing that shaped my dad into the sweet, resilient man he became—and the very catalyst that eventually propelled Mom back in time to meet him. Without that heartbreak, there would be no us. It made my head spin.

April rolled around again, around the same time when we traveled here in the first place. I can't believe it had been an entire year already. I felt like I was running out of time. I looked down at my hands, genuinely wondering if I was aging normally or if my internal clock was paused until 2038. The existential dread was intense, but I forced a grin anyway and threw a clump of dirt at Red to keep the mood light.

We were scavenging through the dirt and patches of long, untouched grass when the wind started to pick up. The warm wind also picked up some dust so we were rubbing our eyes from the sudden stinging. The wind was blowing more and more, and started to blow in a circle.

"Is this a tornado?" Red asked through a squint.

"No, I don't think so," Mom said, but she was clearly confused as to what was happening.

A brilliant, piercing white light flashed, so intense it burned right through my closed eyelids. It vanished as quickly as it came, leaving colored orbs dancing in my vision as I blinked frantically against the glare.

"What was that?" Candy asked.

We turned back and Mom gasped. We suddenly saw a teenage girl sitting in the grass. She was tan, blonde, and she must have been about Mom's age. She was holding what looked like our time machine with a metal band around her head and clutching a mechanical contraption to her chest.

"Who's that?" Red whispered.

"Lillian?!" Mom dropped everything she was holding.

"Bri!" The girl shouted and the two ran towards each other and slammed into a hug.