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Talking To The Dead; And its not a monologue....
Topic Started: Feb 14 2008, 06:15 PM (406 Views)
Harmony
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Gogz once fucked a ginger
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Time is an incredibly strange thing. In reality, the passing of time is at a constant speed, but within a person’s perception, the speed of its passing seems to vary wildly from the hypersonic to the sluggish. This was the main thought running through Harmony’s subconscious as she strolled along the path of the London Cemetery, an A4 envelope, large bottle of water and a large bouquet of purple and white roses in her arms, and the collar of her wool coat pulled up around her neck to keep out the chilly wind. The weather was deceptive for the middle of February; the sun shone vivaciously in a bright blue and cloudless sky, but the air still had that chill that brought dew to the grass in the early morning.

The fact it had been over a year since Harmony had last made this visit still astounded her, but she knew the route like she made the trip every day, and while some aspects of it changed, others stayed the same. The rows upon rows of Granite and Marble markers the lasting reminder of the loved ones lost that were never changing, but the splashes of colour around them a reminder of the loved ones that remained, the changing of said colours marking a new visit.

The brunette shivered as a gust of wind blew around her, whistling around her neck and making her curls dance a merry jig around her shoulders as she continued along the path, finally stopping in front of a pale grey marble headstone, the writing carved into it and gold paint filling the flawless stonemasonry.


Thomas Andrew Maynard
1952 – 1985
Beloved husband of Alice and father of Harmony
Sadly missed, but never forgotten


She tentatively steps onto the grass, not sure if her heels wound sink or not, and safe in the knowledge that the ground is hard; she leans over and gently kisses the top of the headstone.

Harmony: Hello daddy.

Many would consider it strange that a 22 year old called her father “daddy”, but Harmony only felt it right. Considering she only came to visit twice a year at most, and considering he wasn’t walking this earth, she had missed years of it to make up for. She had visited his grave with her mother, her aunt Claire and her Uncle Neil as a child, and the routine remained the same. A new bouquet of flowers with every visit, and a “chat” with him to update him about their lives, with big news often being accompanied by a keepsake. Of course, said keepsakes didn’t stay at the graveside for long thanks to the ever growing roaming groups of youths in the local area, but the sentiment remained. This ritual had been the same ever since her father had died when she was 6 months old, but the older Harmony had gotten, the less frequent her visits had become due to the strains and stresses of her life and their effects on her schedule. While finding time to visit was a struggle, she had promised she would try and at least make it twice a year.

The brunette kneels down next to the headstone and removes the top from the ornate marble vase next to it, then places her items down on the ground and peels the cellophane around the flowers open, separating them away from each other before emptying the bottle of water into the vase and placing the grate top back on it. One by one, she picks up a rose and begins to arrange them in the vase, taking to her task like clockwork.

Harmony had often wondered how different her life would be had her father still been alive, and her mother never met Jimmy, her Step-father. Would she be travelling the world, performing in front of a different group of people every night or would she be holed up in a lecture theatre in a university somewhere, studying for a job behind a desk? That thought brought a slight ache to her heart; had her father been alive, would she have ever met Plus? It had made her somewhat downhearted that he hadn’t been able to accompany her on her visit home before Revenge; the event needed promotion, and with him being in the main event, his presence at said promotion was required. Harmony wasn’t particularly needed for Revenge, and in some ways, this pleased her, as the mental breathing space after what she’d been through was much needed.

She also wondered what parts of her were “him”. Her mother had shown her pictures of him holding her as a baby, and Harmony could see which of his physical attributes she had: his height, and his strong jaw line, but the personality traits were another story. Was her never say die attitude, or her belief in fate and karma down to him?

Satisfied that the roses are arranged to her satisfaction, Harmony screws the cellophane up and thrusts it into her coat pocket, then folds her hands in her lap.


Harmony: That’s better. It looks far nicer now. I brought roses this time, seeing as I haven’t been for a while. Sorry about that, daddy, it’s just been one hell of a year.

The last words rang very true. From finding out Adam had slept with Skye, to drunkenly sleeping with Plus, and from retiring Skye at Immortals to ending up being the EWA’s bitch for weeks on end, the last 12 months hadn’t exactly been what one would call “easy” by anyone’s standards.

Harmony: You’ll be happy to know I’m not with Adam anymore. He decided to sleep with Skye while we were together. Perfect match I think.

A little ball of anger started to burn in the pit of her stomach. It was just over a year since Adam’s betrayal, and while she had moved onto far better pastures, the fact she had almost met an early grave herself due to him still made her blood boil. Plus had told her on numerous occasions that he wasn’t worth her emotion, but at the same time, she felt almost compelled to seek a satisfying vengeance. However, there were more important tasks at hand.

Harmony: I’d rather not go into details, but all you need to know is that I came out on top, and there’s a new man in my life.

The corners of her mouth curl into a proud smile and Harmony picks up the envelope, gently pulling at the flap until it rips away and she tips it up, a laminated photograph sliding out into the palm of her hand.

Harmony: But he’s more than just “a new man” daddy, he’s my husband.

She holds the photograph up and turns it around, making its image face the grave, as if she were presenting it to her father. The photograph in question was Harmony’s favourite photo from her wedding pictures. A photograph of her and Plus, stood together with bright smiles, her in her wedding gown, looking like a princess and him in his tuxedo, looking dashing. Harmony gently props the photograph up against the vase, sitting it underneath the flowers before holding her hand up towards the gravestone, wiggling her digits slightly to display her wedding ring with pride.

Harmony: His name is Andy, and he’s lovely. He’s funny, and loving, and he’s a gentleman. I think you’d like him. He accepts me for me, and he knows about my past, but he sees fit to forgive and loves me, and I love him… a lot. I’ve never felt like I’ve connected with anyone like this before daddy. It’s like me and him where meant to be together. We’ve only been married a couple of months, but it just seems perfect.

Suddenly, Harmony drops her hand and her head, sitting looking at her hands and playing with her wedding ring as if she’s embarrassed.

Harmony: I put him through so much the last few weeks daddy, and I’m so guilty about it. He keeps telling me it wasn’t my fault, no one actually believes it was my fault, but I know in my heart it was. I should have known better, I shouldn’t have been stupid enough to be so naïve, especially not a second time around.

A gust of cold wind blows again, making Harmony’s curls dance once more and the brunette to pull the collar of her coat in closer to keep her neck warm from the chill.

As much as people had told her that what happened with Gogz and the EWA wasn’t her fault, it didn’t help quash her guilt. In her eyes, she was responsible. She was the one who had made the challenge to wrestle him again, and had been stupid enough to give him the courtesy of picking the match, not to mention being naïve to the fact he was a no good bastard and would cheat. It was a mistake she had made before with Skye; this idea that people who appear bad on the outside have a fleck of compassion deep within them. They say you’re supposed to learn from your mistakes, but when it came to this lesson, Harmony seemed more than a little slow on the uptake.


Harmony: He won’t even acknowledge it’s my fault. He just keeps on telling me to stop apol-

Harmony suddenly stops in her tracks, the slamming of a car door causing her to frantically twist around, nervously scanning around the cemetery in panic, gulping in air at a hurried rate and her hand on her heart in the hope of helping calm her panic.

Safe in the knowledge that she’s alone, she turns back to her father’s grave, but her eye catches the photograph of her and Plus on their wedding day, and the tears begin to well up in her eyes.


Harmony: I’m sorry daddy, I just …

And she begins to sob, the tears rolling down her cheeks making them sting against the chill in the air.

People had passed comment about how Harmony had seemed to come out of her experience with the EWA relatively unscathed (if you didn’t count the physical marks from her beatings) and how she must be such a strong person to cope with that without any after effects, but the Harmony they saw was different to the Harmony in private. To the world, she was still “Supergirl”, a moniker she had earned by surviving Skye Jones on numerous occasions, but when she was on her own, she was a nervous wreck. The slightest noise or unexpected physical contact startled her to the point where she’d scream, Insomnia seemed to take hold every other nights and 3am seemed to be the time her body had picked for her to wake up in a cold sweat from her re-occurring nightmares.

She had managed to keep the façade up around almost everyone. The only person who had seen past it, was Plus, but he only saw part of it. He knew that she was easily startled, but he knew nothing of the nightmares, the insomnia and the fact Harmony had broken 6 glasses in the last 4 days thanks to the phone ringing or the letter box clattering from the mail being delivered.

Finally regaining control of her emotions, Harmony pulls a tissue out of her pocket and wipes away her tears before speaking again, the occasional sniff interrupting.


Harmony: I’m a quivering wreck, daddy. I try not to let it show, but it’s so hard. I keep thinking that I’m still with them, and they’re still there. Every time I hear a noise, I think it’s another beating on the way, or more humiliation. I can’t sleep because when I went to sleep there, bad things would happen, or I’d be woken up in the cruellest of ways.

She pauses, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, trying to regain her composure.

Harmony: Everyone thinks I’m fine. I’m not, but I don’t want them worrying about me, especially Andy. He has bigger things to worry about than the fact I’m not sleeping at night. His career, my career, everyone’s jobs are on the line at Revenge, and he needs to concentrate on that rather than worrying about whether I’m ok because the dishwasher made a loud noise.

That’s the way Harmony had always been: Independent. She never wanted anyone to worry about her, and generally they didn’t because she had managed to get putting on a face to the world down to a fine art, but she always concerned herself with the worries and problems of others while never letting anyone worry about hers.

Harmony: I know I shouldn’t bottle it up, and I will talk to someone about it, I promise I will daddy, but we just need to get Revenge out of the way first. I know I’m being stubborn, and mum says I’m just like you when I’m stubborn, but there are more important things to deal with first. I just needed to get it out away from everyone, and to someone who I knew would listen.

The brunette lets out a slight chuckle.

Harmony: You can’t exactly give me an answer, can you? Sorry daddy that tickled me. Anyway, I really should be going home. Mum is cooking and I wouldn’t want to be late for dinner.

Resting her hands on the ground, Harmony gets back up to her feet, folding the empty envelope up and shoving it into her jacket pocket then picking up the empty water bottle in her hands before leaning over and kissing the top of the headstone again.

Harmony: I promise I won’t leave it so long before I come and visit again, and next time, I’ll bring Andy to meet you. I love you.

The brunette steps off the grass and back onto the path, turning back to face the grave and lifting her hand up to give a wave.

Harmony: Bye bye daddy.

And with her wave, she turns and makes her way back towards the gate of the cemetery.

Fade.

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CM Pyro
For Admin.

Hey, only one person is allowed to have dead parent(s)who they randomly converse with and have heart felt/teary eyed conversations with and thats me sister! :acro:
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Centurion
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Good work, liking the descriptive work, very nice. I think that had been lacking a bit from your work in recent times. It's also nice to glimpse a bit of Harmony's psychological damage from the EWA thing, and also to give us a look at more of her background.

Kissing headstones though - I find that slightly creepy. :P
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Centurion
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CM Pyro
Feb 15 2008, 08:36 PM
Hey, only one person is allowed to have dead parent(s)who they randomly converse with and have heart felt/teary eyed conversations with and thats me sister! :acro:

Actually I thought it was obligatory for all efed characters to converse with a dead relative/friend at least once in their careers. :P
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Tara Shannon
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Excellent work, girly. I love the description, something you have such a flair for, but most of all I love the fact that you show Harmony's conflict at thinking she can't show her vulnerability to anyone else but a dead man.
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The Southside Kid
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You know who I am
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Harms, this was a well written piece. I thought that the description was great as usual. The monolouge was great, and it was almost as if you could feel a presence in the words which is always a good thing. Nice work lady.
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Blonde Doctor
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Great stuff as usual, excellent descritpiton, teeny bit gutted that there weren't any flesh eating zomibes, but meh. :P
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