Impact

It had become too much to handle. He kept his balance right, but he staggered only slightly – but even that much could have killed him without hope.

He stood on the ledge of his parents’ balcony. They were out somewhere, and he had planned this out to an extent.

He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed Riley to live, and now that Riley was gone, Asher found no reason to keep going.

The thoughts in his mind were racing, as if on NASCAR. Everything seemed to pound through his brain, screaming “Memories don’t return.”

Everything around him was degrading, falling to pieces – devastation was not something he could handle. Falling off that balcony would give him another chance to be with his best friend, to relive the good times.

It was going to be perfect. Until he heard her voice.

“What are you doing, Asher?!”

Luckily for Aimee, Asher fell backwards and on top of her.

“Ow,” they simultaneously said.

“Aimee? What are you doing here?” Asher asked, dumbfounded.

“I was coming over to invite you to Riley’s memorial service, but no one answered the door, and it was unlocked, so I let myself in. Thankfully, too. What the hell were you doing up there?”

“Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”

“He wouldn’t have wanted you to do it. He would want you to live,” Aimee had said to him, so bluntly, that it almost stabbed him through the heart.

Asher could only nod. It was hard to live life, but he had to.

“I don’t want to leave you here, so you have to come over,” she ordered, with a smile.

He nodded, redeeming the little dignity he had left. Aimee had been like an older sister to him. He couldn’t leave her and all the other people. The epiphany was mind-blowing.

He was going to make Riley proud.