Soda's Story

By: Ponyboy Curtis

Before you read this story, there are some things you need to know. This isn't about me or my life. It's about a person that was very close to me. Where he is right now or what he is doing, I don't know. Well, this is Soda's story.

Soda had always been happy, but there were some things that made him upset. Blonds made him upset. Switchblades and pocketknives made him upset. And, above everything else, Socs made him upset.

I guess everybody was surprised the day Soda came home from work that day, grinning happily. Usually, when he got home from work, he would sit on the couch, maybe watch some TV. Then he would eat dinner (or cook it, if it was his turn to cook), and then he would go to sleep. But that day was different. That day, he came home and went straight to cooking dinner. Then, while dinner was cooking, he started to clean. He mopped the floors, collected dirty laundry to wash, hung clothes up to dry, and he even cleaned all our bedrooms. But that wasn't the scariest part. The scariest part was that he seemed to enjoy it. Like it says above, he was smiling, but he was also humming and prancing around the house.

Nobody had seen Soda like that in a long, long time. It had been weeks, maybe even months before anybody had seen such a grin from that kid. But it made me feel happy even though I was clueless to why he was in such a mood. But I didn't ask for fear that his mood you shatter.

That night Darry and Soda had a conversation.

" Well, Soda, you seem happy," Darry said as the two turned the TV on. " What got you into such a mood?"

" Ohh," Soda sighed, perhaps in a response to his older brother's question. " Good day at work."

Darry took it as a question and answered it. " Yeah, it was okay. What about you? How was work today?"

" Good day at work," Soda repeated. Finally, it dawned on Darry that Soda wasn't asking him about his day, but he was merely stating the fact that he had a good day at work.

" I see. Why was it such a good day?"

" Girl." Soda was sighing happily, starring into space.

Darry sighed and stood up. " Well, I'm going off to bed."

" Girl," Soda repeated, now getting up as well to go to sleep.

For the next couple of weeks, Soda was happy. He was always smiling and happy to do just about everything. If you asked him to jump of the roof of our house, he would happily comply.

He was enjoyable to be around. He always had some joke or story to tell you. And he didn't get mad at you. He was never the guy to get mad easily, but he always had a breaking point. It seemed that his breaking point dissolved into thin air.

Soda spent a lot of time at work. It seemed that the more he worked, the happier he seemed. It was odd, really, seeing someone that into working.

Nobody really knew why he was happy, but once in a while he would mutter something about a girl. But no one expected him to date, after what had happened with his last girlfriend.

It was weird the way Soda was, but nobody was complaining. In fact, it was nice to see him happy…

A/N: I'm experimenting with a different sort of writing style. If it confused you, please tell me so. I want to know if this style is too weird. Anyway, I like reviews, so if you read, it would mean a lot to me if you did review. Thanks,

Blame it on the Government