Now she was forced to face her reality.

It had been three years since Harmony’s dad James left. Harmony is now seventeen and she and her mother, Melanie, live in a townhouse down the street from the beach. They live in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The day James left, Harmony’s life fell apart. He never came to visit, not even a phone call. Harmony became so depressed. She used to sit by the phone, hoping her father would call, come back and rescue her. Melanie hated seeing her daughter like that. She too, became depressed and started drinking. It got worse and worse over the years. Harmony didn’t know who her mother was anymore. Melanie would go out with her friends, leaving Harmony to fend for herself, then come in late when she thought Harmony was fast asleep, but she wasn’t. Harmony use to stay up, open her door a little and watch her mother stagger into the door, tripping over her own two feet trying to get to her bedroom. She would mumble things but Harmony couldn’t hear her. Sometimes Melanie would even have some of her male friends over drinking and carrying on. Harmony wondered if Melanie had forgotten she had a child. Then it would all stop. The next day, Melanie was the best person to be around and also the nicest, until the sun went down. The drinks came out and Melanie wasn’t Melanie.

Harmony never told anyone about her mother’s drinking problem. She always hoped one day Melanie would come to her senses and realize what harm she was causing to her and Harmony. Even at a young age, Harmony knew what was going on. Then there were some nights that Melanie came home and went into the kitchen and grabbed a beer. She would sit in the living room and just yell at Harmony for everything she could think of. Harmony hated when Melanie told her she was the reason her father had left her. Harmony knew it wasn’t true, but it hurt her more than anything. She never let her mother see her cry though. She would walk into her room and grab her things and run down to the beach. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore always seemed to calm her down. Then she would return home after a couple hours and spill her heart out in a poem. After a couple years, Harmony learned to stay out of her mother’s way and ignore her when she made smart remarks about her father.

Soon it was the last day of school before the winter break and Harmony was so excited. They had a half day and everything just seemed to go right. They handed out report cards and of course Harmony had gotten all A’s and B’s. Everyone was in a good mood, even the teachers who always looked like they wanted to go home as soon as they got there. It was the end of the day and Harmony, Amanda, and a couple others were going to the café to get some hot chocolate because it was extremely cold out. They walked into the café and it seemed like the whole school was there.

“Hey Harmony, what’s up?” yelled Andrew, the captain of the football team.

“Hey,” Harmony said, as she walked over to him to give him a hug. Andrew was Harmony’s ex boyfriend. They were still very close but it was too much pressure for them to be together. Andrew hated it but he knew things would never change. Harmony couldn’t open up to him the way he needed her to and she knew that too. She ended their relationship but asked if they could still be friends and he said yes. It was bad enough he lost her as a girlfriend, he didn’t want to take the risk of losing her as his friend too.

Harmony and her friends decided to sit in a booth near Andrew and his crew. They ordered their drinks and talked about their plans for over the break. There were a couple parties that weekend but Harmony didn’t know if she was up to it yet. Parties weren’t really her thing. A couple hours passed and Harmony was still sitting in the same spot, on her second hot chocolate.

At this point she really didn’t want to go home. As she looked at her watch, she knew Melanie was home from work, probably already drinking. That pained Harmony a lot. She desperately wanted her mother to get help.

“Huh?” Harmony was caught up in her own world, she didn’t hear Amanda.

“I am,” Andrew stated getting up from his seat and standing next to Harmony

“You are what?” Harmony asked confused.

“Going to be your date to my 18th birthday bash silly. Weren’t you paying attention?” Amanda responded.

“Um I have to go,” Harmony said gathering her things and quickly rushing off, out the door, the wind quickly slapped her in the face. Harmony walked the short distance to her townhouse and was surprised to see an unknown car in the driveway.

Harmony hesitated before going into her home. She quickly prayed that Melanie was not drunk. As she opened the door, she heard arguing; a male voice and a female voice. She recognized her mother’s voice and went to where the two voices were coming from. She slowly walked up the stairs, which surprisingly didn’t have her mother’s clothes up and down them. The whole house was clean, it seemed. She finally reached the stairs and quickly, but quietly walked to her mother’s bedroom door, which was slightly ajar. Harmony stood, outside the door listening to the two people argue. Usually Harmony wouldn’t eavesdrop but something told her to listen.

“I don’t know if I can do this James,” Melanie yelled, feeling defeated as she threw clothes on her bed.

“You can and you will,” James said through clenched teeth.

“But I can’t leave my baby; she needs me,” Melanie said as tears sprang from her eyes and she began to sob.

“She needed you a long time ago. I left because of you Melanie and I’ll never forgive you for running me out of my own home. I may not have been there, but believe me, I know what has been going on and I am not happy,” James said. Melanie continued to cry. At this point Harmony, too, had tears rolling down her face. She was speechless. Harmony knew who that man on the other side of the door was, it was her father and he had finally came to rescue her, but he came too late. Harmony quickly pushed the door further open to make her presence known. Her parents stared at her surprisingly. Harmony slowly walked into the room and stood between her parents.

“What’s going on?” was all she managed to say.

“Harmony, Honey, why didn’t you tell me? You never seemed to care. I’m so sorry,” Melanie cried as she picked up a notebook on her bed and handed it to Harmony. It was her poetry notebook. She quickly grabbed the notebook and held it close.

“I never knew you were hurt. I read them all Harmony. I’m so sorry!” Harmony walked over to her mother and gave her a hug. That too pained Harmony. She hated seeing her mother cry. Melanie pulled away and pointed towards James.

“I called your father about a week ago. I’m going to check into a rehabilitation center thanks to him. He showed me how I was messing up your life and mine. I don’t think I can live with it anymore. I’ll be gone for a couple months and until then, you’re going to be staying with your father. Well, he’s going to be staying her watching you. I know you have a lot of questions you want to ask me, but my plane leaves in three hours and I still have to finish packing,” Melanie said as she pulled Harmony into a hug. She then went to her closet and pulled more clothes out, laying them on the bed.

Harmony replied slowly, unsure of what to say,
” Um okay”. Harmony wasn’t mad that her mother was leaving; she was happy, finally her wish came true. Thanks to her poetry, her mother finally saw what she saw. Harmony’s raw emotion scattered on a paper, made to tell a story, Melanie saw that and understood the message behind it. Melanie also saw that there was more to Harmony’s smile then what it appeared to be, there was pain. Harmony wasn’t mad that her mother had gone into her room. She was actually happy her mother saw her notebook on the floor and decided to pick it up. Harmony felt kind of ashamed though. She never would’ve let her mother read that poem that she wrote about her. Harmony actually loved the poem her mother must have read first since it was turned to that page. The poem was strong, it was from the heart. It was one of the best poems Harmony had ever written. “Faded”, the poem, was very harsh toward her mother but everything said was all true. Yet Harmony loved the poem dearly.

James then walked over and stood next to Harmony. He extended his hand but Harmony pulled him into a hug and cried on her father’s shoulder like she did when she was young, everything she felt, came out in her tears. It seemed like they had been hugging for hours. Melanie watched the scene in awe. She hated the fact that she was the reason for all of this and wished she could’ve changed things or saw them coming. She never wanted James to leave but because of her childish ways, he did and she couldn’t blame him. Melanie just wished he hadn’t walked away from Harmony too. Melanie continued to pack her things as Harmony and James began to converse. Soon Melanie was being driven to the airport. Everyone was in tears, but they all knew this trip was for the better.

Over the couple months that have passed, Harmony filled James in on all that has gone on since he left. She left out the part of her having a boyfriend, knowing how her dad was over protective. In his eyes she was still a little girl. Harmony and Andrew did go to Amanda’s party and they had so much fun, that night ended good for the both of them. Harmony explained to Andrew why she had broken up with him and she told him her life story. He asked her back out that night and she accepted the offer. Andrew finally got the chance to meet Harmony’s father and they are so close. It’s like the son James never had. Harmony talks to her mother everyday to see how she progressing. She’s doing great and Harmony couldn’t be happier. Over time, things seemed to change from bad to worse to good to great and in reality; Harmony’s blacked nightmare became faded. She’s free of pain and now has a mother who can stay sober. Harmony still wonders how long her happiness will last. Maybe forever.