[ WP ] `` What happened to me ? Were you here the whole time ? ''

I think, deep down, I had thought I would never see her again. I realise that now as she stands before me, her grey eyes sparkling like they always did before. There's a swelling in my chest, the familiar surge of overwhelming love and deepest sorrow that always came to me in those many quiet moments when I thought of her. Only now it threatened to consume me. 
 
 My eyes are so blurred with tears that I can barely see, yet I make out her hand reaching towards me. Without hesitation I take it. It's now I notice the gentle smile on her face, filled with familiar love and warmth. But her eyes... her eyes are darkened with a heavy sadness. And for a moment, it frightens me. 
 
 I squeeze her hand more tightly as slowly fear and realisation begin to take hold and a memory forms in my mind... 
 
 It was dark. The light from the streetlamps reflected in the wet pavement and I remember thinking in my own way it was somehow beautiful. Behind me there were footsteps. Quiet at first but steadily they became louder. I knew what would happen before it did. And as the now deafening steps crescendod, I braced myself and prayed I was wrong. 
 
 I already know the answer, but now I've finally found my voice, I whisper 
 
 `` Grandma, what happened to me?'' 
 
 A beat passes by in silence and slowly she hangs her head and closes her eyes. She stays like this for a moment. When she eventually looks up, I see her eyes have filled with tears. It seems she does not have the words to tell me. 
 
 A new question comes to me. And suddenly this one feels so much more important than the first. 
 
 `` Were you here the whole time?'' 
 
 Her face breaks into a loving smile. `` Yes my beautiful girl. Yes I was''
