The Package of a Lifetime

One small change, Can have an enormous impact.

-The Ripple Effect

An unknown package provided me sight, to that which I was blind; the gift of a life.

“Alright Lyra!”

“Calm down!”

“You can do this!"

Though mature in appearance, adorning a black skirt and blazer, with a prim white blouse, the girl was only 19 years old. She walked determinedly down the city park path, in the direction of her interview, while trying her best to tame her nerves.

Stopping for a moment to catch her breath, she bought a coffee and stood watching ducks in the pond. Finally feeling relief, Lyra turned to leave, only to collide with a large man in a hoodie.

“HUH!”

Lyra went crashing to the ground. The shear shock of being hit so suddenly, only subsided due to the burning feeling she felt across her chest, from the coffee she now wore. She leaned forward pulling her shirt away from her body, in an attempt to lessen the heat. Finally, with the heat having dulled to a tolerable amount, Lyra looked up at the man, who seemed just as surprised to have run into her. He began to apologize, until the two locked eyes, to which his shocked expression seemed to twist into one of panic.

“SHIT!”

The man expressed. Then before she knew it, the man sprinted away.

“HE-Y?!?”

“WAIT!”

Lyra shouted after the man, doing a double take from where he once stood, to that where he disappeared. Picking herself up from the ground, she looked down at her now ruined blouse, when she saw a brown paper bag on the ground beside her. Looking after the man once again, Lyra picked up the bag wearing an expression of disconcertment.

“Do I want to open this?”

“Hmmmmm….”

Lyra lifted her eyes and cast her gaze across the park, questioning if anyone would speak up to claim it, but no one did. In their absence, her curiosity laid its claim. Having sat down, she couldn’t help but ask: “why do I feel uneasy about doing this….?”

Lyra unraveled the paper bag, opening the end. She hesitated for a moment, shaking her head. Breathing in, she steadied herself as she reached her hand into the bag, pulling out a small cardboard box. Removing the lid revealed a single photo within.

“BEEEEP!”

Lyra’s phone blared, letting her know that it was time for her interview.

“NOOOO!”

“I’M LATE!”

Throwing the box into her purse, she sprinted off.

Upon reaching the street where the building was, Lyra found that everything was cordoned off. Looking beyond the barricades, she found that in place of the building, lay a pile of rubble. The building had collapsed. The building that she was supposed to be in. The one she would have been in, had she been on time, had that man not run into her.

Standing there in disbelief, Lyra found herself pulling the box from her bag. Looking at the photo, her eyes widened.

“THIS LOOKS LIKE MY MOM?!?!?”

The photo held 6 people celebrating and smiling, with “the best family you can have” scrawled across the back. Lyra found that a few of them looked familiar. In the events before her, the revelation of the photo brought her warmth.

Lyra had not seen her mom since she was 13, when her parents died in a car accident. Since then, Lyra had lived with her best friend Sam’s family, until they turned 18, when they both went off to school and rented an apartment together. Shortly after that, Sam made the school’s varsity team, but varsity athletes were given special housing accommodations. So, Sam moved out and Lyra had to pick up an additional job to cover the rent. This is what led her to today.

A year had passed, and Lyra held onto the photo. She now had two new roommates. The first was Alex, whom was actually an old neighbour of Lyra’s, from her childhood home. The second was Vera, a girl who was new to living alone and needed lots of help learning to do so.

Lyra was still friends with Sam; however, Sam was always busy with school, the team and Alex. Sam and Alex were dating, so Lyra felt a little left out, but found solace in helping Vera. The two spent lots of time together and became great friends. However, just as time heals all wounds, it also builds in pain, for the wounds left neglected.

A rift had grown between Sam and Lyra, of that they were both silently aware. They finally planed a night to spend out together, for the first time in a long time. Lyra was excited. When the night came and she had arrived at the dinner, her excitement turned to disappointment. Sam had brought Alex. Lyra still wanted to spend time with her friend, even if it had to be as a third wheel. After all, Lyra enjoyed both of their companies individually, so she hoped that it would still be fun. An hour passed and the three talked quite a bit. Sam and Alex laughed joyfully, but Lyra felt like an outsider. Slowly her disappointment grew. Then a boy showed up at their table. Sam seemed excited to see him and introduced him to everyone as Ian, a member of Sam’s team. Ian sat down with the group and talked with Lyra, but she slowly noticed that after the boy’s arrival, though all four sat at one table, they had become two groups. Sam and Alex had stopped talking to Lyra, almost all together. Lyra was hurt, though she didn’t mind Ian and imagined that under any other circumstance, he would have been pleasant company, it was the wrong time and place. As Ian spoke, Lyra only paid him half of her attention, as the rest was focused on hiding her true feelings. Then as someone had finally turned on the lightbulb in her mind, Ian had let slip, that Sam had invited him. Sam. Sam had invited Ian and Alex. Sam instead of focusing on a neglected friend, was setting her up on a date and ignoring her. Lyra was angry.

“YOU SET ME UP ON A DATE?!?”

Lyra exclaimed at Sam.

“Hey chill”, Sam responded.

“NO! I WON’T!”

“TONIGHT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE JUST THE TWO OF US! WE HAVE BARELY SPENT TIME TOGETHER SINCE YOU MOVED OUT AND THE FIRST TIME THAT WE DO, YOU SET ME UP, TO HANG OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE!”

“You should have just told me you hated spending time with me.”

After finishing, Lyra grabbed her bag and stood up to leave when Sam got mad too.

“ME?!? ME?!? THAT’S A JOKE, RIGHT?!?”

“CAUSE YOU’RE THE ONE THAT REPLACED ME, WITH THAT LITTLE PUPPY YOU’RE ALWAYS HELPING!”

Lyra wheeled back around to defend against Sam’s comment.

“VERA IS NOT A DOG!! AND YOU LEFT ME BEHIND FIRST!!”

With that, Lyra left the dinner.

Weeks had gone by, with neither of the two talking. Lyra and Sam also ignored Alex, who had been trying to act as a mediator. Sam and Lyra were furious. They had let feelings fester, unchecked.

One day, as Lyra moved things around her room, something fell. When she went to pick it up, she found that it was the photo. The same photo that she had discovered a year before. It lay still in its original box. She had never felt there was a reason to remove it. The photo was safe in its little box. Holding the photo in her hands and gently rubbing its message, Lyra felt prompted to look at her old photo album. Seeing the old memories reminded her of the reasons she held for doing things and reminded her of everything she was thankful for. Alex, a good person, with a good heart. For Lyra, Alex held nostalgia and a feeling of home. Vera, now a best friend, reminded Lyra of herself when she had been lost and alone. Lyra took Vera in, the way Sam’s family had taken Lyra in. Sam, Lyra’s best, and oldest friend. Lyra’s semblance of family. Lyra looked at her mom’s photo once more. Her mom had been lucky enough to find a family within friends, which was clearly a group she cherished deeply. Lyra wanted to be lucky enough to have that too. She wanted it with the people currently in her life, but Lyra realized that she was about to lose it. That she was about to throw it away, because of a stupid fight, that both her and Sam were much too stubborn to end. Neither would admit the other was right. If Lyra wanted to keep Sam in her life, Lyra would have to swallow her pride. That night Lyra called Sam. The two friends reconciled and actually went out together, alone.

As time went on, the group grew closer. Alex and Sam continued dating. Sam and Vera became friends and Lyra started dating Ian. Ian even introduced everyone to his kid sister, Roxie. They all took to her almost instantly. Lyra became so close with Roxie, that Lyra even helped her study for the LSAT. Lyra had unofficially adopted Roxie as her own little sister.

A few years later, the 6 of them were all living together. They had become a real family. Lyra had gotten her dream.

Like the family they were, they all celebrated Roxie passing the bar, together. They had a party with cake and balloons and of course to commemorate the event, Ian had brought a camera, to take a group photo. After the flash, Ian retrieved the camera, to show everyone the memory they would forever keep. However, when Lyra saw the photo, it took only a second for her smile to contort into shock. She ran to her room. Within a few minutes of rummaging, Lyra emerged holding a small cardboard box. Lyra revealed the photo to her friends. The one that she had mistakenly thought was of her mother but wasn’t. It was identical to the photo the group had just taken. It was herself and her friends in the photo.

As everyone grew confused, Lyra explained the story of how she had come by the photo years before. She explained how the photo had saved her life and played a part in bringing each of her friends into her life too.

Though concerned, they also felt comforted, so each of her friends decided to share a story of their own. Alex after transferring schools, was new to the place and didn’t know anyone, but then ran into Lyra. Alex was grateful to Lyra, for not being alone and for being introduced to Sam. Vera told Lyra how the day they met; Vera had been disowned by her family for dropping out of medical school. She was thankful to Lyra for providing her a place to live, for teaching her how to take care of herself and for being the reason she was able to follow her dream of becoming a pilot. Ian spoke of how he was depressed before he met Lyra, but that she taught him how to appreciate what he had in life. Roxie was happy to finally have a sister. Lastly, Sam spoke of how during their fight, there was a tryout with scouts for a national team. Sam was super nervous and was only able to calm down after remembering some encouraging words that Lyra had once said, and that after making it, the first-person Sam wanted to share the news with, was Lyra.

Lyra had never imagined that all the people she was beyond thankful to have in her life, were just as appreciative, to have her in theirs’.

Though you may never see it, no matter who you are, know the profound effect that one life can have is immense, amazing and beautiful.

While it may seem small, the ripple effects of small things is extraordinary. -Matt Bevin