He could see her face, mainly her eyes.  The expression those eyes held - the pain, the loss, the feeling of utter defeat.  And yet the success shone through, the faith that they could go on.  The battle might have been lost but the war was won.  He could see it in her eyes - she knew all that was important to her, all that she loved would be safe.  Diamond tears shone in Sapphire eyes and as he watched one fall he could see more of the scene...

The soldiers... yelling at the deserters, herding them onto the boats.  The General... silent, standing next to her, an aura of utter triumph surrounded him.  The despised man had what he wanted... and what he didn't want was leaving.

As the boat pulled away from the shore, and headed out of the Mariel Harbour he looked down with his mind's eye at the little girl he had been holding.  Tears streamed down her face, she was crying,  "Mommy!!  Moommmmyyyyy! I want my Mommy!"  She clung to him, her tears wetting the front of his shirt, and she had one hand stretched out towards the shoreline, trying to reach her mother.  The total and utter desolation in the child made his heart break, for there was nothing he could do about it.  He whispered to himself, repeating the last words that he had said to the woman he loved as he held the little girl close, "Oh Grace, I love you so much.  I make a vow to you now - I promise you I will care for her.  I'll keep her safe."
 
 

With a start Manny Ramirez woke up.  He sat up, swinging his legs off the bed and ran his hands through his hair despondently.  When would it end?  Not the pain maybe, he deserved that at least for leaving her behind, but the nightmares.  When would they end?  If only he could get real work, then, maybe they could move on.  Maybe they could begin to rebuild their lives.  He thought about the nightmare, the replaying of the last few minutes he had seen his wife.  It hadn't mattered that she had American citizenship... that she had only moved to Cuba after traveling though the turbulent country and meeting the love of her life.  None of that mattered, she had married a Cuban citizen and therefore submitted herself to their laws.  And when the General decided she couldn't leave, they had no choice...

It was then that the heartbroken man realised that the crying hadn't ended when the nightmare had.  The desolate crying of the 6 year old girl continued.  He pushed himself off the bed and strode out of the room and into his daughter's bedroom.

Angela Ramirez or Angie as she was more commonly known was curled up in a tiny ball, facing the wall, and sobbing her little heart out.  Her father entered the room, picked her up and sat down on her bed.  She instinctively turned and wrapped her arms around him, but the sobbing
did not diminish.  He held her and rocked her gently, murmuring soothing words and he rubbed her back in an effort to calm her.  He could feel tears on his own face, reflecting his own pain as he felt her pain so acutely.

He had been so sure leaving was the right thing to do but now he wasn't so sure.  It had been two months now, and in that time he was certain his little girl hadn't smiled, not even once.  The loss of her mother had been devastating for the little girl and nothing he had been able to do had made an impression on the dark cloud that hung over her.  He needed to get her out of here.  Out of this grimy dank apartment complex and into somewhere where there was hope.  But there was no chance of that until he found some form of permanent employment - the intermittent labouring jobs were enough to keep this roof over their heads and food on their table but they needed progress.  He needed a permanent job, and one that had signs of progress in the future.

The sobbing had subsided into a few hiccups before Angie had fallen asleep again in his arms.  He stood up and carried her back to his own room.  After tucking her in on the far side of the bed Manny Ramirez climbed back into his own side and fell into an exhausted slumber.

"Hurry up now Angie.  Finish your breakfast so we can get going."  Manny was ironing his only clean respectable looking shirt as Angie was seated at the breakfast table.

The little girl poked at her cereal, "Why Daddy? Where are we going?"

"One of the Producers down at the movie set where I was working last week asked me to come in for a meeting."  Manny pulled the still warm shirt on and started doing up the buttons.

Angie poked at her cereal again, not hungry and still feeling sad and tired after the broken night's sleep. "What about?"

Her father took the bowl and spoon from her, placing them in the kitchen sink. "I don't know, pum'kin.  But it could be a job so hurry up."

Manny sat in the waiting area and sighed, Angie sat in the seat next to him, one of her small hands engulfed by one of his own.  The little girl solemnly took in her surrounds, under the watchful gaze of her father.  Manny had tried leaving her with Mrs Fernandez, their neighbour but Angie had whimpered and clung to his arm despite the fact that she was usually quite comfortable being watched by the buxom woman.  He tried to think of some way to cheer the little girl up, remove some of her insecurities but the only idea that ever came to mind was trapped in Cuba, and that was assuming she was still alive.  A firm female voice interrupted his thoughts. "Mr Ramirez - you can go through now."

The nervous man stood and strode into the office, his daughter trailing behind.  A short, brown haired man stood as he watched Manny enter his office.  His eyebrows rose in mild surprise when he noticed Angie following and then when she stopped to stand behind her father, curiously peering around from behind him.  The brown haired man walked around the side of his desk and shook hands with Manny, "Good morning Mr Ramirez, I'm AC, one of the producers here."

"Good morning, umm, call me Manny."  He smiled nervously as he returned the handshake.

AC crouched down to Angie's level, "And who's the little sweetie we have here?"  He reached out in an attempt to shake hands with her too.  Angie drew back hiding right behind Manny, she grabbed her father's hand and clung to it, too timid to shake hands and say hello to the stranger.
 
Manny replied, "This is my daughter Angie.  We've had a bit of a bad time lately - I couldn't leave her with our neighbours..."

The producer brushed the remark away with a flip of his hand as he walked back around the side of his desk. "Not a problem Manny.  Take a seat and we'll get down to business."

There were two chairs in front of AC's desk, Manny sat in one and Angie, instead of sitting in the other, remained standing.  Her arms wrapped around her father's upper arm, she felt secure as long as she could touch him, and she began to take in her surrounds again as the two men talked.

AC spoke first, "I'll be honest with you here Manny.  I've watched you work with some of the gangs doing the hard labour putting some of our sets together and I've got to say - from what I've seen, I'm very impressed.  You're a hard worker and you've got more of a brain in that head of yours than most of that gang put together.  I've done some checking, I know a little of your unfortunate situation, and why you're doing such a menial job instead of using that brain of yours."  Manny sat silently and nodded, unsure of where AC was going with this conversation.  "We've got an in-house special effects group, they need another assistant.  It'll still be pretty menial stuff to start off with, but it's a permanent job with a good chance of quick advancement.
What I want to know is - are you interested?"

Manny sat there stunned - he had no idea what this meeting had been for and this outstripped even his wildest dreams.  He hadn't seen himself as an effects man - but then again he didn't know what he wanted to do in this country of dreams and promises.  "Ummm, yeah.  I mean, Yes, I'm
interested.  Very interested...  Sir..."

As the men continued to talk Angie started to explore a little further afield.  The strange man, AC, had done nothing to cause alarm and she was beginning to feel a little more confident.  She started exploring the office, remaining purely on her father's side of the desk so she could get back to him quickly if the need arose.  She heard a small whimper from a basket in the corner and went to investigate cautiously...

... "So, you can start Monday then?"  AC asked his new employee.

"Yes, I can.  Where should I..." Manny stopped mid sentence, his eyes opened wide in shock as he heard a childish giggle behind him.  He spun in his seat, his eyes seeking his daughter...

Angie was sitting next to the basket in the corner of the office.  A small dog was sitting up in the basket - several puppies surrounding her.  Angie held one of the puppies, she was giggling as it licked the end of her nose.  AC smiled indulgently, kids and baby animals - you had to love it.  Manny turned back to his new employer the shock still showing in his face, he whispered more to himself than anyone else, "That's the first time she's even smiled, let alone laughed in more than
two months."

AC's smile faded as he glanced back to Manny, "You serious?"

The desperately relieved father nodded.  "Yes, Angie's been taking the loss of her mother badly.  I've tried everything, nothing made her smile."

The producer looked back at the little girl and made a quick decision.  "Manny - you can have that puppy if you want, for free.  I've been meaning to try and find homes for them."  The purebred terrier puppies were worth a lot of money but Manny didn't need to know that.  In the
short time AC had been observing this man he had been impressed so... what the heck.

Manny nodded again.  "Thank you, I believe we will take you up on that offer too."

Later that day a new dog bowl sat in the corner of the small apartment, and fresh groceries sat on the kitchen counter thanks to the advance from AC.  Manny Ramirez smiled as watched his daughter played a ball game with her new pet and thought reflectively about the dramatic change
in the temperament of his little girl, "Angie, sweetheart, what are you going to name her?"

Angie grabbed the ball and held it behind her back as the small dog bounded around her.  "Harmony - she's called Harmony Daddy.  That's what you used to say to Mommy..." She giggled and continued the ball game.

Manny's smile slowly and gently faded as he thought about his wife Grace.  He remembered what Angie was talking about.  Grace had been devoted to her family, she'd loved them and always made an effort to keep their home harmonious even throughout the turmoil that had surround them in Cuba.  He remembered he always used to say the three words to her before they went to bed each night, almost as a prayer, and as he thought about her he realised she had worked her magic again without even being there.  He sighed and whispered the words as he remembered...

"Grace... Love... Harmony..."