Love and Beyond Part 3

by Nathan Colston

  “Time is different between life and death. Each passing moment shows a different future of what is and what could be. It is the machine that holds life to the body,” Sabrina said.

  The vision faded, then in front of him, a bright light started, then returned behind him. The shadow still remained, the vision of Britney trying to hold on to him with all she had. Gloria, dancing on the stage, appeared. Francois said, “Son, no matter the choice you make, trust in those that know more than you. Your memory will fade as you return.”

  “But what is the point in going back, Dad. If I can’t remember, then the outcome is the same, is it not?” Stanley said.

  Sabrina gave a serious look. “Hope, son. I told you the answer. Each passing moment is a possible future. There is always hope and freewill. Trust your heart, son.” He looked at the light and it started moving towards him. Then he saw the shadow of a man standing in the light. The shadow also started walking.

  “Death is coming. Your time is up. I will help, son, but I can only do so much. You have got to find the will to make your heart beat. Only you can do that, son, only you,” Sabrina said.

  “Mom, Dad, what do I do?” Stanley pleaded.

  “That, son, we cannot tell you. That is your choice and your choice alone. I will do all that I can for you, no matter what you choose,” Francois said with a hint of sorrow.

  Stanley looked and saw a shadow form. “Dad, Mom, what is this?” The shadow took the form of a man. He couldn’t see the face. The form spoke and its voice seemed familiar somehow. “They have done all they can. Before you continue on with your next life, or if you should return. It has nothing to do with your decision or with your life as you know it.” Then, all at once, he saw several huts made from tree branches, grass, mud, and rocks. Many people stood around; some of them looked in love, some of them sad. There was a sound of instruments that he had never heard before and some of the people were dancing. It was dark, and a large fire was blazing. A man walked close to the fire where the others were. He looked like he had been in a battle. Then he fell down and several started to run to him.

  The man said to Stanley, “Sheamalight. That is the name of existence he is from. It takes great power for anything to travel to other existences. He does not belong here. His body fades like a ghost. He is being erased. Tell me, do you know what the dance they are doing around him?”

  “According to the Dannarr, there are several dances being done. They are called the Dance of Life, Remembrance, Time. Some I have not seen before. But what does this have to do with me?” Stanley said.

  “I told you it has nothing to do with the life you have lived and seen,” the man replied.

  “Then why show it to me at all?” Stanley asked with a confused tone.

  “To give you an understanding about how there is power in dancing and reasons for things you could learn later. In life, there is only one thing that is certain. We are all born to die. He was a stranger; no one had ever seen him before. They think the gods have cursed him. Trying to take his soul, his spirit, and send his body into exile to join the cursed. They are trying to save him. But in reality, they do not know what they are doing. But the dance is doing just what they are dancing for it to do. He can feel the power of the dance. He knows what they are doing, but he does not know how.”

  “His chest is glowing.”

  The man nodded. “Yes, it is. The dances they do is giving him strength and hope. They are accepting him for who and what he is. But they do not know who or what he is. So many times in life, people do things from the heart. They go on with their lives, not knowing the impact that they truly had in someone’s life. We do see some of the reward of somethings we do. But the reality is you don’t know all that comes from what you do. Life is connected by many things. Even death is connected to many things. Everything has an opposite. That is the reason you can find bad in good. You can find good in bad if you search for it that is. Death is a journey all that are born must face. Look at these people they are alive but the moment you see the light again. All of them will be dead. Let me rephrase that. The bodies you see before you will be dead. Their spirits and souls will be reborn to a different body with a different name. Have a different life, maybe become a different being altogether. Who knows what the true meaning of life is?”

  “He looks stronger now,” Stanley said.

  The man nodded. “That he is. But he is not the first to come to this existence.”

  They started talking to the man. “What is he saying?” Stanley asked.

  “Thank you for saving me. They don’t understand him, he doesn’t understand them. This one event is what leads all of them into damnation.”

  They started walking and the man said, “The question was asked what you would do if you woke and this was all a dream. I have the same question what if you woke up and this was a dream of a dream?”

  They stopped, and the man looked at Stanley. “Some things you can choose, others you cannot. If you do go back, use caution to what you say and do. Changing the future can be a very dangerous thing. If you continue in the light as you were. May your next life be filled with joy, love, peace, and happiness. Farewell, my friend.” “Wait,” Stanley called out as the man started walking away.

  The man looked at him. “Yes.”

  “That is you, isn’t it?”

  The man shrugged. “It depends on what you mean by ‘he is me.’ Do you remember the two that danced closest to him?”

  “Yes, they danced the dance of life,” Stanley said curiously.

  “Was that you and Gloria? The two that danced the Dance of Remembrance. Was that Antonio and Juanita? If that was me, it was in another life. If that was you, then it was in another life. It has nothing to do with what you are facing now at this moment. It is to show you a past that is similar to what you face. You will not remember this conversation at all until the time is right. If the time ever comes, that is. They saved him, and in return, he started them down a path that would lead all of them into damnation of the curse. The curse’s own hell, so to speak. If you return, you will not remember me at all. Because that would influence you in several ways. The choice of what you should do now is yours and yours alone. What you do either way is also up to you. But don’t worry. You are not alone, no matter what you decide.” He walked up to Stanley and placed his hand on his shoulder. “Old friend, what you see is not all that is happening.” He looked as if he wanted to say more but turned and walked away.

  “If I walk into the light, will Gloria try and dance the Dance of the Dennarr?” Stanley said curiously.

  The man called back, “Like your parents said, it is a possible future. But many things are possible within the unknown, Stanley. Like you told them concerning the curse, there is good in all things. You focus on the bad, so you have an idea what can happen, not necessarily what will happen. Think of yourself first, Stanley. Good and bad is all part of life the same as living and dying. Her path is hers to follow, the same as you.”

  Stanley shouted, “Why do you hate me so much? Why do you show me all of this?”

  The man looked back at him and said, “I had nothing to do with what is happening to you. I did none of this. I am guilty of one thing and one thing only: starting something that will lead nearly everyone you see dancing into damnation. By making them see what they thought they knew but didn’t believe. That is, there are two things: There is magic in love, Stanley, and extremely great power in dancing. But what good is that power if you can’t wield it. You should think fast on that. You will not have this choice again.”

  The man vanished, and Stanley was standing where he was before the man came to him. Stanley stood, and the light shined all around him.

  Francois said, “Your time is up, son. You must choose now or the choice will be made for you. It is too late.”

  Stanley pleaded, “Dad, they need me. Help me, please.”


  The doctor was turning knobs and levers on the life support machine. At nine forty, Britney’s hand trembled as she pressed play on the CD player. The song was “Night Fever” by The Bee Gees, the first song they ever danced to. She took his hand as the doctor unplugged the machine. Britney was dancing beside him. At nine forty-two, Stanley’s heart monitor stopped beeping. Tears started to fall from Britney’s face.

  She stood there as the song played. The doctor walked out of the room. She lay down over him and said, “Stanley, I love you. Don’t leave me, Stanley.”

  Ivan placed his hand on her shoulder. “He’s gone.”

  “No, he isn’t. He can’t be.”

  Ivan gently took her arm. “You should go. Come.” Stanley lay motionless.

  “No, I will not leave him. I will not leave him. Stanley, come back to me!”

  Ivan started pulling a little stronger. “We need to go.”

  Britney held on to Stanley shouting, “I will never leave him never, never! Stanley, I love you. Stanley, stay with me! I need you, Stanley.”

  Ivan started pulled harder. He was stronger than her. She started trying to shove him back with one hand as hard as she could as she held on to Stanley and screamed louder, “Oh God, please don’t take him from me! I don’t want to live without him. Oh God, I don’t want to live without him!”

  Ivan got her away from him and held her as she leaned forward and grabbed Stanley’s hand, holding on for all she had. At nine fifty, just as his hand was leaving hers, she screamed as loud as she could. “Oh God, I want to die! Oh God, I want to die!” His arm fell down and didn’t move. Britney screamed as loud as she could, “God no! God no! I need him! I need him!” It took nearly all the strength that Ivan had to get her out of the room.

  To Be Continued

  This has been

  Dancers Curse of Love

  Book 3 Love and Beyond Part 3

  By Nathan Colston

  Find out what happens next in

  Dancers Curse of Love

  Book 4

  The Power of Dancing & The Magic of Love

  Find out what happens next in

  Dancers Curse of Love

  Book 4

  The Power of Dancing & The Magic of Love

  A man stood at the gates of Olympus beside a tree that grew fast. He stood with his eyes closed and his head facing the ground. At the gates of the hells, a dragon walked up beside a man with black hair.

  Gloria stood in the center of the room, her heart pounding with fear. She knelt, stretching her legs. She stood bent over side to side, stretching her back. Beside her, Sam was doing the same thing. They had concentrated looks on their faces. As he held out his hand, he said, “We cannot do this, but if we dance just enough, we may can change the past.” They started dancing. In the wind, a voice started to sing. The song was the sound of silence. They moved to the sound of the wind, she closed her eyes and saw her loved ones that had passed on. Tears flowed down the side of her face as she moved with grace from her heart. She spun. Sam matched her every move. The voice continued to sing as they moved. She spun too fast and Sam touched her. With tears in her eyes, she said as she stopped, “I failed you all.” She wept out loud. Sam had a look of terror on his face as a voice started laughing filled the room. Gloria grabbed her chest as the pain struck. She dropped to her knees.

  The sky over Olympus darkened, and the man lifted his head at the gates of the hells.

  Gloria fell over. As her heart beat its last beat, she said, “I loved you all.” Pain came all over her body. Her eyes, which were sky blue, faded to a gray as death claimed her. Sam grabbed his chest and fell beside her. The tree standing at the gates of Olympus started changing limbs formed arms as the trunk split, making legs, and the roots came up out of the ground, making feet. It swung its arm. The gates to Olympus exploded as it walked with a purpose. The man beside it started running his body changing as if he was made of wind.

  At the gates of hell, the dragon stood as the man opened his eyes. They were black and full of hate. As they changed to white and the look of rage, he said, “Open.” The sound of locks being unlocked and screeching metal moved in the silence. They came running out screaming many manner of beasts, creatures, and men. He started walking fast towards them. The dragon roared and turned to fire. He started running towards them, screaming a battle cry. All that saw and heard them stopped, and as they ran towards them, they all turned and started shouting, “Save us” as they went back into the hells.

  He stood over Gloria and sang, “And whispered, in the sound of silence.” He turned and walked into the winds of confusion and time.

  Thank you to all the people that helped me make this book into a reality.

  Thank you so much to the Beta Readers who took the time to read the story:

  Beck Young,

  Lisa Palmertree

  Stacy Lane

  Proofreading

  BZ Hercules

  Cover Design & Formatting

  Melissa Stevens

  Help with Blurb

  Author Rachel Carr

  Author Rick Gualtieri: Thank you for encouraging me to follow my dreams. Inspiring me to follow my heart and helping me to accomplish. Something without your encouragement and guidance would have never come to be.

  rickgualtieri.com

  About me

  I am just a simple guy. I am an over-the-road truck driver that likes to spend quality time with my family and likes to tell stories. I hope you enjoy them.

  You can follow me and get a complete list of my future projects on Facebook. Nathan Colston Author, Sheamalight Domain and Ballroom of the Cursed. As a fun way to reach out to my readers, I have an interview room set up in the basement of my website if anyone would like to ask a character in the book a question. Thank you for reading my book and I hope you enjoyed it.

  Nathan Colston Author

  Realm of the Sheamalight

  Ballroom of the Cursed

  My Group

  Website

  Twitter