Status: Finished (:
Impact
Chapter 1: Lindy
The rain trickled down Friedlinde Baum’s car window, almost at the same rate the tears did down her face. As the car came to a stop, she smoothed out her black dress. This was the last time she was going to see Riley, after all, and she wanted to look her best for her deceased partner.
It was September 1999. Lindy had just turned five, after her late birthday in August. She was swinging, high above the mountain tops – or at least, that’s what it seemed to her. Her mother was chattering nonstop with some lady whom Lindy had never seen before. Suddenly, she was face down in the sandbox, the gravely taste of the sand overtaking her tongue. But Lindy didn’t cry – she never did. She merely got angry. Curling her fists, she got up to take a whack at whoever had made her feel the pain of the newly formed scrape on her elbow. There was a boy, not much taller than her, standing there, with glasses that resembled that of a magical character in a book that Lindy’s mother read to her.
She growled at him, “Why would you push me?! I could beat you to a pulp, you know!”
Without missing a beat, the boy replied, “My name’s Riley. What’s yours?”
Lindy shook her head and walked towards the Church, not quite sure if she was ready to face this yet. Not that she had a choice. With her magnificently towering height, she didn’t have a tough time throwing on black flats, therefore giving her the ease of walking through the muddy grass. Her mother though, did not have the same pleasure. After many explicit words and a bold decision to walk barefoot, they finally made it across the green grass that led to Riley’s funeral.
To August 2003. Lindy’s ninth birthday. Her mother had granted her the honor of having a moon bounce in the backyard. The kids jumped around, falling down constantly. Riley, as he had been for the past four years, was also there. As he and Lindy jumped around, suddenly, Lindy felt his hand grasp her arm and drag her down to the latex ground. Riley somehow fell on top of her, hitting his head on hers, causing both of them much misery. They lay there for a little bit and finally Riley faced her. Suddenly, Lindy felt his chapped lips against hers and she pushed him off.
“Ew!!!” she screamed, “Riley! Why would you do that?!”
He hadn’t been able to answer and simply ran away, leaving Lindy astonished and feeling as if her innocence had been taken.
There he was. Riley Williams. Looking as handsome as ever, if Lindy Baum did say so herself. He may have been one year older than her, but she could still see the playful look on his face, although he was cold. He had always been the immature one, who loved to take risks and break the rules. It was why Lindy had fallen in love with him.
Lindy took her seat for the eulogies. Surprisingly enough, the tears had stopped, and her eyes, known for being large, were as wide as ever. Riley would tell her everyday that it was her eyes that had hypnotized him into loving her; she could never explain to him all the reasons she loved him.
It seemed to her quite funny how God worked; taking the lives of the innocent like Riley, but leaving terrible serial killers on the earth to do as they pleased. She knew Riley’s death was not deserved, just as well as she knew that there was nothing that could have stopped it.
July 2007. Riley was fourteen, leaving Lindy behind as seemingly two years younger, just as always. She was awaiting teen-hood to finally approach her in the long one month away. They sat side-by-side on the brick wall around their middle school. Riley was going to high school in the fall, leaving Lindy behind. Lindy swung her legs, as they watched the Independence Day fireworks that their city was known for. She was just barely maturing, whereas Riley had seemed to sprout several feet overnight. He put one arm around her, nonchalantly, and she leaned into him. They were not officially “going steady,” as their fellow classmates called it, but there was definitely a spark. Lindy wasn’t sure what Riley’s sister, Aimee, had meant when she overheard her talking on the phone by it, but she almost definitely knew that whatever it was, her and Riley had one.
Suddenly, Lindy heard her name, awakening her from her trance. Riley had always loved her short attention-span; Lindy was always day dreaming. He liked to call her his “little ADD girl.”
It seemed that Lindy had missed two eulogies and it was her turn to go up to the podium and say a few words about Riley. She had been his girlfriend and his best friend, so it seemed only right that she be one of the eulogists. As Aimee stepped down, Lindy went up, a soaking paper in her hands. As she opened her mouth to speak, the paper suddenly didn’t seem to say quite what she wanted. She looked up at the attendees and began to improvise, something she had always been good at.
“Riley Williams was my one true friend. He was with me as the best friend, the fall guy, and finally, as the boyfriend…”
It was May 2008. Riley and Lindy had begun to distance from each other, leaving both as the epitome of heartbreak. But just as he always did, Riley knew how to fix the problem.
Lindy was sitting in the swing made for two in the backyard. It was where her and Riley would sit in cool evenings, huddled in two, maybe three blankets and just talk about their lives and futures. She heard the doorbell ring and made her way to the front door. Purple daisies, just sitting there on the ground. She opened the piece of paper squeezed in between two flowers and read:
Dear Friedlinde Baum,
You stole my heart, so I stole you daisies.
Forever Yours,
Riley Williams
“… he loved to make me laugh and he made me feel as if I was truly beautiful. He was my everything. I know he is in a better place now…”
She couldn’t even remember the date for this one. They had hopped the fence near his house (although she had needed his help for that one) and headed to the local bowling alley. He held her hand as she rolled the ball down the lane for the first time in her life. She couldn’t describe the tingles she felt when he touched her; it was almost electric to her. When she only hit one pin down, she turned around, as down as ever, and saw Riley chuckling at her bad beginner’s luck. Inches away from him, she put her hands on her hips and said, “Don’t laugh at me, Mister! I could seriously hurt you, you know! I am German, after all!” she joked. His face had gone serious by that point, and his arms were around her – a perfect fit.
“Even if you were a Nazi, I would love you,” he whispered into her right ear. The coolness of his breath made her slightly shiver. She remembered looking into his eyes, but quickly darting them away. Without a response, she had grabbed the bowling ball to try her luck at the game again.
“I will always love him. He will always be my Riles and forever he’ll remain in my heart.”
She stepped down from the podium and looked around at the women wiping their tears with crumpled tissues and men looking at the ceiling, obviously holding back their own tears. It seemed to her that Riley had not only touched her life, but a thousand others. But then again, why should that surprise her?
It was September 1999. Lindy had just turned five, after her late birthday in August. She was swinging, high above the mountain tops – or at least, that’s what it seemed to her. Her mother was chattering nonstop with some lady whom Lindy had never seen before. Suddenly, she was face down in the sandbox, the gravely taste of the sand overtaking her tongue. But Lindy didn’t cry – she never did. She merely got angry. Curling her fists, she got up to take a whack at whoever had made her feel the pain of the newly formed scrape on her elbow. There was a boy, not much taller than her, standing there, with glasses that resembled that of a magical character in a book that Lindy’s mother read to her.
She growled at him, “Why would you push me?! I could beat you to a pulp, you know!”
Without missing a beat, the boy replied, “My name’s Riley. What’s yours?”
Lindy shook her head and walked towards the Church, not quite sure if she was ready to face this yet. Not that she had a choice. With her magnificently towering height, she didn’t have a tough time throwing on black flats, therefore giving her the ease of walking through the muddy grass. Her mother though, did not have the same pleasure. After many explicit words and a bold decision to walk barefoot, they finally made it across the green grass that led to Riley’s funeral.
To August 2003. Lindy’s ninth birthday. Her mother had granted her the honor of having a moon bounce in the backyard. The kids jumped around, falling down constantly. Riley, as he had been for the past four years, was also there. As he and Lindy jumped around, suddenly, Lindy felt his hand grasp her arm and drag her down to the latex ground. Riley somehow fell on top of her, hitting his head on hers, causing both of them much misery. They lay there for a little bit and finally Riley faced her. Suddenly, Lindy felt his chapped lips against hers and she pushed him off.
“Ew!!!” she screamed, “Riley! Why would you do that?!”
He hadn’t been able to answer and simply ran away, leaving Lindy astonished and feeling as if her innocence had been taken.
There he was. Riley Williams. Looking as handsome as ever, if Lindy Baum did say so herself. He may have been one year older than her, but she could still see the playful look on his face, although he was cold. He had always been the immature one, who loved to take risks and break the rules. It was why Lindy had fallen in love with him.
Lindy took her seat for the eulogies. Surprisingly enough, the tears had stopped, and her eyes, known for being large, were as wide as ever. Riley would tell her everyday that it was her eyes that had hypnotized him into loving her; she could never explain to him all the reasons she loved him.
It seemed to her quite funny how God worked; taking the lives of the innocent like Riley, but leaving terrible serial killers on the earth to do as they pleased. She knew Riley’s death was not deserved, just as well as she knew that there was nothing that could have stopped it.
July 2007. Riley was fourteen, leaving Lindy behind as seemingly two years younger, just as always. She was awaiting teen-hood to finally approach her in the long one month away. They sat side-by-side on the brick wall around their middle school. Riley was going to high school in the fall, leaving Lindy behind. Lindy swung her legs, as they watched the Independence Day fireworks that their city was known for. She was just barely maturing, whereas Riley had seemed to sprout several feet overnight. He put one arm around her, nonchalantly, and she leaned into him. They were not officially “going steady,” as their fellow classmates called it, but there was definitely a spark. Lindy wasn’t sure what Riley’s sister, Aimee, had meant when she overheard her talking on the phone by it, but she almost definitely knew that whatever it was, her and Riley had one.
Suddenly, Lindy heard her name, awakening her from her trance. Riley had always loved her short attention-span; Lindy was always day dreaming. He liked to call her his “little ADD girl.”
It seemed that Lindy had missed two eulogies and it was her turn to go up to the podium and say a few words about Riley. She had been his girlfriend and his best friend, so it seemed only right that she be one of the eulogists. As Aimee stepped down, Lindy went up, a soaking paper in her hands. As she opened her mouth to speak, the paper suddenly didn’t seem to say quite what she wanted. She looked up at the attendees and began to improvise, something she had always been good at.
“Riley Williams was my one true friend. He was with me as the best friend, the fall guy, and finally, as the boyfriend…”
It was May 2008. Riley and Lindy had begun to distance from each other, leaving both as the epitome of heartbreak. But just as he always did, Riley knew how to fix the problem.
Lindy was sitting in the swing made for two in the backyard. It was where her and Riley would sit in cool evenings, huddled in two, maybe three blankets and just talk about their lives and futures. She heard the doorbell ring and made her way to the front door. Purple daisies, just sitting there on the ground. She opened the piece of paper squeezed in between two flowers and read:
Dear Friedlinde Baum,
You stole my heart, so I stole you daisies.
Forever Yours,
Riley Williams
“… he loved to make me laugh and he made me feel as if I was truly beautiful. He was my everything. I know he is in a better place now…”
She couldn’t even remember the date for this one. They had hopped the fence near his house (although she had needed his help for that one) and headed to the local bowling alley. He held her hand as she rolled the ball down the lane for the first time in her life. She couldn’t describe the tingles she felt when he touched her; it was almost electric to her. When she only hit one pin down, she turned around, as down as ever, and saw Riley chuckling at her bad beginner’s luck. Inches away from him, she put her hands on her hips and said, “Don’t laugh at me, Mister! I could seriously hurt you, you know! I am German, after all!” she joked. His face had gone serious by that point, and his arms were around her – a perfect fit.
“Even if you were a Nazi, I would love you,” he whispered into her right ear. The coolness of his breath made her slightly shiver. She remembered looking into his eyes, but quickly darting them away. Without a response, she had grabbed the bowling ball to try her luck at the game again.
“I will always love him. He will always be my Riles and forever he’ll remain in my heart.”
She stepped down from the podium and looked around at the women wiping their tears with crumpled tissues and men looking at the ceiling, obviously holding back their own tears. It seemed to her that Riley had not only touched her life, but a thousand others. But then again, why should that surprise her?
♠ ♠ ♠
Beginning... was not quite sure about my wording, but I hope it's enjoyable :) I hope no one gets offended about the God things... I just believe this is how someone would feel after losing someone so close to them.