One soldier's condition

In a short film by Steven Wright of deadpan comedic fame called ‘One Soldier,’ the tale of a man unable to make sense of it all is told. Misery and confusion never leave his face and voice.

He comes home from the war and in one scene he’s trying to explain to his wife how odd it seems: first, we don’t exist for a very long time, then we are alive, then we don’t exist again for a very long time. “ Doesn't it seem like life is just an interruption from not existing?” he asks.

In another scene he’s talking to himself, saying how everything is going too fast, and since he can’t slow time down, maybe he should just make it stop – for himself, at least. If nothing else, he wouldn't have to spend so much time thinking about death.

He then ends up killing a man who is urging him to be a more vigorous soldier and kill other men whom he doesn't even know. He is sentenced to death by a firing squad. At the moment before his death he suddenly exclaims, “My God, I wasted my whole life thinking about this stuff. I should have just gone fishing. I should have had a sandwich or had a few laughs. Now I get it.” The shot sounds.

Then you see him wandering in a hillside cemetery and he says in conclusion, “I’m going to miss being alive.”