Since it’s nearing Halloween, I changed my theme to Monster. I like it a lot, actually. I have never really gotten tired of playing dress-up, so Halloween rocks. 🙂
Anyway, here is the next part of the Yarn Wars. In about a month we will be done with it!
~~~~~~~~~~~
Alta ushered Harriet out the door. “I trust you can find the way on your own.”
Harriet nodded. “I’ll bring them back to the office.”
“Be sure that you do,” warned Alta. “I’ll be watching you.”
Harriet shuddered. As she walked away from Crochet & Chocolate, the last thing she saw was Alta smirking.
With Harriet’s stiff limbs, it took her a while to walk to Lakeview Park. On the way, she had a chance to make a plan. No plans were forthcoming, since the situation was so muddled. Harriet knew one thing, though ~ she wasn’t going to endanger her granddaugher, or her friends. She also wasn’t going to stop the rebellion. No matter what happened, she wasn’t going to give in now.
Harriet reached Lakeview Park and settled upon a course of action. She would follow Alta’s orders until they reached the office. Then she would quickly explain what happened, and her and the teenagers would try and turn off the microchips. It was extremely faulty, but Harriet couldn’t come up with anything better.
After several minutes of watching, Harriet saw the group of girls slip into the crowd. She started after them. When she caught up, a curly-brown-haired girl was holding Kira up, and Lynnea was looking shaken.
“Come with me,” called Harriet. The brown-haired girl turned around and looked at Harriet, confused. “Kira,” amended Harriet, shakily pointing behind the girl.
“Kira,” the girl said, elbowing her friend. “There’s somebody stalking you.”
Kira turned around and saw Harriet. She smiled, and got Lynnea’s attention. They ran towards Harriet and gave her a huge hug, which Harriet returned guiltily, thinking about what she had to do.
“Ki-raaaaa,” protested the brown-haired girl, poking her friend.
Kira turned around. “Oh, sorry. Maeve, this is Lynnea’s grandma, Harriet. Harriet, this is my friend, Maeve.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Harriet, smiling at Maeve. She was glad to know who she was, and also glad there was another person on their team. Then again, that was another person that she had to betray.
“This isn’t a good time for introductions though. Follow me!” Harriet proclaimed. She grabbed Kira’s hand and pulled her through the crowd, trying to act more confident than she was. Soon they were in the bushes.
“How did you find us, Harriet?” asked her granddaughter.
“I knew you would come here, once you saw the fighting,” lied Harriet. “I was just waiting.” She looked awkwardly around. “Do…you have a plan yet?”
“Wait a minute!” interrupted Maeve, looking pained. “I don’t understand any of this! Can somebody start explaining?”
Harriet listened with interest as Kira and Lynnea recounted the story for their friend’s benefit. She watched Maeve’s reaction carefully. At first she looked disbelieving, then shocked, then suspicious, and it went on like this. Maeve leaned back in the grass. “Wow.”
“I know.”
“We need to turn those microchips off,” Harriet suggested, feeling a pang of guilt go through her. “Everyone will be able to think for themselves again, and it will be like waking up from a really long night…” Despite the fact that she was betraying them, these facts were true.
“How will we tell them?” Maeve asked. “Won’t they believe us?”
That was a very good point, but Harriet couldn’t let that show. “I think they’ll see it for themselves,” she said, trying to sound well educated on this subject.
“Let’s go then!” said Kira, energized.
The group made their way to the office building where Alta had said to go. Suddenly, Harriet couldn’t go through with it. Quickly, she told her little group the whole story.
They listened, dumbfounded. “I’m glad you told us,” Kira commented. “I’d prefer to know when I’m walking into my grave.”
“You can’t still come, though,” chided Harriet. “You have to go hide.”
“And what?” asked Lynnea indignantly. “Leave you to face Alta alone? We’re not leaving you!”
“We have to turn off the chips!” exclaimed Maeve. “That’s what we’re meant to do!”
Kira looked slightly baffled. She turned to Harriet. “The microchips don’t work on you, do they?”
Harriet looked at Kira. “What makes you say that?”
“You knew the truth about this, the whole time,” Kira explained. “You questioned it from the very beginning…and you still do. How do you manage it?”
“I don’t have a microchip,” Harriet said. She had to tell them sooner or later, it might as well be now. “My mother was a nurse, and she was in charge of microchipping the day I went in. She didn’t like the idea of me having a foreign object in my head. So she inserted a blank one instead. It doesn’t work, and it never will.”
“Cool,” said the rest of the group together.
“You have a brave mom,” Lynnea said, in awe. “Do I have a microchip?”
“You all do,” Harriet said. “But Lynnea, microchips don’t stop you from wondering. If your mind is strong enough, you can fight them.”
“So, if you’re stubborn enough,” Maeve giggled. “No wonder why Kira’s isn’t working.”
Kira punched her friend teasingly. “I guess we’re all pretty stubborn, if we’re still here right now.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A post without a picture is a sad thing indeed, so here you go:
Since I posted a picture of Harriet last week, I didn’t want to leave the other chickens out. I will do pictures of the other two in the following weeks. 😉
Have a splendiferous day!