Groceries in hand, he walked cautiously, making sure that every one of his steps would impress her. They silently strolled until they reached their destination. He immediately recognized a pendant that hung from her mirror. It was the Chinese symbol of love. His mind raced. Who could have given it to her? Did she buy it herself? Has her heart already been stolen? She instructed him to put the bags in the backseat, he did. He let her drive away without even getting her name.
She buckled her seatbelt and found herself constantly thinking about him. She wondered what he was like and if they would like the same things. She couldn’t just leave without knowing anything about him. Halfway home, she turned her rusty Oldsmobile around and headed back to Laney’s Grocery. She swerved into the parking lot, and saw her love standing in front of the automatic doors. He looked surprised, yet happy to see her. She ran up to him and embraced him. She could feel his heartbeat on her chest. Both their hearts were beating at the same rate. She looked up into his eyes, and he gently put her hair behind her ear. The emotions ran out of her like a tracker. She confessed her love for him. He looked at her in silence. The girl heart stopped, waiting for his reaction. He grabbed her waist, looked deep into her eyes and asked, “What is your name?” There was a long pause. She was confused. Why would he just ask her name after her heart-felt speech? The blank expression on the man’s face gave her no clue of what he was thinking. She soon realized that she hadn’t answered the question. She was embarrassed. Her cheeks blushed. She forced her eyes to the ground and stated her identity.
“Harmony,” she replied. That name was music to his ears. He made a joke to himself, “I wonder does she like to play the harmonica?” He chuckled. His face split into two, teeth protruding out of the gash. “I’m George.” She thought about their names, how good they sounded together, Harmony and George.
George walked her to her car. The anxiety about the pendant was killing him, so he asked her about it. She told him that her mother had given it to her so she could be quiet about moving. He was even more in love when he found out that she wasn’t from Cincinnati. He liked change, and Harmony was the perfect kind of change. They began to laugh, and find out more about each other. George is working to help his mother pay her doctor bills because his father is in the military. He also told Harmony that he would get her another jar of mayonnaise. She told him that her father actually works across the street from the grocery store at Big Daddy’s Pawn Shop, and her mother was a housewife. Time had slipped their minds until George looked at his watch. His break was over. They hugged again and he let her drive away, this time satisfied with his actions.
The next day, Harmony was no longer the person she had been. She woke up in a mood that even Ronald McDonald couldn’t compete with. Her parents didn’t believe how happy she was. They didn’t question her because they liked this Harmony better. She ran into the kitchen, where her Mom was, and asked her if they needed anything from the grocery store. Her mother gave her the list, and she skipped to the car. You could see her aura illuminate around her. With a smile plastered on her face, she set off to Laney’s.
She couldn’t help but think about George while she was driving. How could she have fallen so deeply in love so quickly? She turned into the drive of the store, speeding. She couldn’t wait to see her lover. As soon as she turned the corner, a man backed out, and her vehicle busted into his bumper. Her head plowed into the steering wheel, cracking her skull like a pecan. Her seatbelt critically fractured her collar bone, and her chest was bleeding internally. She gasped for her. Her old Oldsmobile had no airbags, nothing to cushion the blow. Her vision started to get cloudy and she started hallucinating. She millions of hearts floating in the air. Each one had the face of George. She heard a voice. A strong voice.
“Mrs.?” It was the man she had ran into. “Are you okay?”
“George?” blood pooled in her mouth as her lips formed the name of the person that she wanted to be with forever. “Someone call nine one one!” That was the last thing she heard. She blacked out.
George ran to the car. He saw the limp body lying in the driver’s seat. Her father saw all the commotion and ran from his work to the parking lot. George had tears tormenting the back of his eyes. He didn’t let them fall. He was in shock; he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The girl that he had loved was unconscious and he had no idea what to do. Harmony’s father shook George.
“Go call for help! Don’t just sit there with your mouth open!” George just stared at him. He saw his mouth moving, but couldn’t make out the words.
“For Christ’s Sake, boy, move now!”
George ran to her car. He opened the door and a lifeless cadaver fell to the unforgiving pavement. He caressed her, blood coating his clothes. He combed his fingers through her bright red hair. Her father stood in the distance, pacing, on the phone with her mother. You could hear her mom’s crying through the receiver of the phone. George kissed Harmony’s nose, and hugged her for the last time. He heard the ambulance in the distance. “You just don’t know how much I loved you, Harmony.” He said. He got up, wiped his face, and thought about how good their names sounded together. Harmony and George.
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