Download wordart here**Harmony's time with Pat is ending. Are you guys tired of this story or would you like for me to keep sharing ?)**
Pat was just finishing up her conversation with Mary Harrison when she turned to see Harmony walking into the house. The girl was upset and crying so hard that no sounds were leaving her body but it shook with the force of her sadness. Without hesitation, Pat dropped the phone and ran to Harmony engulfing the child in her arms.
“What happened? What happened? Are you hurt.” Pat was crying tears of her own without even knowing what it was that had upset or hurt the little girl she loved more than life itself.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t listen to you. I should have stayed in the yard, but I didn’t listen.” Harmony sobbed.
Pat relaxed the hold she had on the girl but didn’t let go completely. “You left the yard? Were you riding your bike?”
Shaking her head, “I did. I just wanted them to be my friends. I thought they would play with me if they saw I had a bike.” Harmony said between sobs.
Pat became scared again. “Who is they? Did someone hurt you? Harmony, baby, are you hurt?”
“They took my bike. I didn’t listen and now my bike is gone.” Harmony cried harder as she begged Pat for forgiveness. “I’m sorry. Pleae don’t be mad at me. I’ll listen from now on. I promise.”
Pat pulled the crying child in closer to her and held her as tightly as she could. “Oh baby girl, I’m not angry with you. I could never be angry with you. I love you so much. You know that don’t you?”
Harmony was crying too hard to answer, but she nodded her head as she tightened the hold she had on Pat.
“Listen to me,” Pat said as she pushed Harmony back so she could look into the little girls beautiful face. “I know you loved that bike, but it’s you that I love. We can get you another bike, but I can never get another you. You’re safe and that’s all that matters to me.” Pat moved her hands to Harmony’s face and rubbed some tears away. “If anything ever happened to you I would die. Do you hear me? I would just die.”
Harmony threw herself against Pat again and hugged her tightly. “I love you too and I promise I’ll be good from now on. Just don’t leave me, please, don’t leave me.”
Pat felt her heart breaking for the beautiful little girl in her arms. The child who had known more sadness in her short lifetime than most adults. The child who had never done anything wrong or bad. The child she wanted to protect with everything she had.
Suddenly the heartbreak she felt became a little too real. Pat was overcome with emotions as she thought about the things that could have happened to Harmony when her bike was taken. They could have hurt her or even taken her away too. Pat wanted to keep hugging the crying child. She wanted to let her know that she would never be left alone again, but there was a tightness in her chest that kept her from holding on. Slowly Pat started sliding down onto the floor.
Harmony pulled back because she thought her weight was causing Pat to slip and she didn’t want the lady to fall. That was when she saw the gray pallor that had taken over Pat’s skin and the cold sweat that had broken out along her hairline. “Grandma Pat?”
Pat tried to comfort the girl by holding her hand, but the pressure in her chest was getting tighter and it was hard to make the words come out. “Go to the phone…..call 911 like….like I taught you….”
Harmony ran for the phone and somehow managed to call for help.
