Impact

It had been three days since Riley’s death. Not a piece of food had entered Lindy’s stomach. But the pain of hunger felt better than the pain of grief. She had lost all energy and could not leave her bed. Her mother’s pleas seemed to be far from her, and it almost felt as if life itself were suffocating her.

The weight dropped quickly, something she didn’t expect to happen. The frailty of her body became apparent within thirty-six hours. The dehydration had caused her body to lose all color. Closing her eyes seemed to be like a battle with death at all times.

Then at one point, it became a true, all-out war.

The light came closer and closer, and Lindy did not dodge it, nor did she move toward it. She let it come near and let it overtake her entire being. She began to walk across the tunnel of light, seeing her beloved Riley at the end of the tunnel, that seemed to never end.

“Riley,” she whispered, somehow regaining the lost strength.

“No, Lindy, it’s not your time. Go back. I need you be alive, I need you to eat. It’s not your time.”

“Riley, I need to be with you… don’t you want me here?”

“Of course I do, Lindy. But I can’t screw with fate. I might be a rebel, but even I can’t do that much,” he said with a wink.

Lindy couldn’t help but to smile through her tears. She knew he was right.

“One last moment, please… I love you Riley Williams.”

“I love you too Lindy Baum. Go back, go eat. You look like crap, not going to lie,” he chuckled.

She would have slapped him lightly, if he were close, but she just laughed through the salty tears.

“Goodbye,” he spoke, with a tenderness to his voice that Lindy could not help but obey.

“Bye Ri,” she whispered.

Her eyelids fluttered open, as she saw her worried mother panicking.

“Hi Mom,” Lindy croaked out.

“I thought you were going to leave me forever, Friedlinde! What the heck is wrong with you! Can’t you be civil and eat?!”

“Don’t call me Friedlinde, Mother,” Lindy groaned, mustering up her energy to get up and take the sandwich out of her mom’s hands. As she graciously munched, her mother stared in awe at the sudden change in character, but didn’t question.

The experience was Lindy’s own – she was never going to tell anyone about her true last moments with her love. All that mattered was that it had made her regain happiness, as if he was alive and once more in her arms.