Impact

Delaney had gone to the funeral. She had sat with her best friend, Aimee, and comforted her as best as she could have. Delaney had barely known Riley – what she had known of him was through almost daily visits to the Williams residence. Yet, there was one memory that she simply could not forget about.

“TAG! You’re it!” Delaney screamed tapping Riley. Aimee had suggested that Riley be included in their game so they would have at least three players – every kid knew that tag was not fun with only two people.

Delaney and Aimee were eleven and Riley was ten. The Williams house was not huge, but it was quite a size, making it perfect for tag indoors on a rainy day. Aimee and Riley’s mother had left for a few minutes to buy groceries, so that the kids could eat dinner that night.

Delaney was on top of the world that one game. She was swift as ever and could dodge any attempts to make her “it.” In front of the fireplace, she pulled a quick fake and dodged Riley, but Riley could not stop his feet. He had flown headfirst into the fireplace, which was thankfully off. He had hit his head on the marble before landing in the logs and did not move. Delaney had frozen – this was her fault.

Aimee came around to where they were and looked at Riley with an expression of pure horror.

“B-b-blood!!!” she had stuttered than screamed.

Delaney hadn’t noticed it before, but then she saw the dark red liquid spilling out of Riley’s head at, what seemed to be, a very quick pace. Delaney squirmed and Aimee rushed to the telephone, calling her mother.

In about ten minutes, there were two ambulances, a firetruck, a police officer’s car, and an extremely worried mother. Riley was stabilized but Delaney overheard the police officer say that if the call had come any later, Riley would have been in a coma.

Delaney still couldn’t describe the feeling that sentence had given her. If the call had come any later, Delaney would have been a killer – like one of those people who get electrocuted. Somehow, the day after when Riley came to, he had forgiven Delaney in an instant.

“Lane!” her mother called. “Come eat something, you haven’t eaten since before the funeral!”

She called back, “Not hungry, mom. Later, I’m busy.”

“You know Delaney Roberts, I miss you when you were younger. You were such a good child, always listening to your mother. God knows what adolescence has done to you. If only I was graced with a child like, I don’t know, Aimee. I’m sure she…”

But Lane had already immersed her eyes into the ceiling to another memory.

“Hello?” Lane answered to the unknown number that had called her.

“Hi Delaney, it’s Riley, Aimee’s brother,” a voice replied. “It’s almost Aimee’s birthday and I wanted to throw her a surprise party. I thought you’d be interested in helping out.”

Delaney had completely forgotten that Aimee’s fifteenth birthday was coming up. She had been so overwhelmed with school that remembering birthdays was simply not an option.

“Of course I want to help, Riley. What can I do?”

For ten days Lane and Riley had meticulously planned every detail of the surprise party, from the guest list to the food to how they were going to surprise the most paranoid girl on the face of the earth. And when the day came, Delaney remembered Aimee’s face – the planning had been worth it.

It was the closest Delaney had gotten to Riley and although she could not remember much of it, she did remember that Riley could have potentially become a close friend of hers, had God graced him more time to live. But of course He hadn’t, and they hadn’t really talked since. She would maybe never know, but for now, she could live the might-have-been through Aimee.