Silver Pt. 08

Misty was sitting in the passenger seat, gazing out the windshield while sporting my sunglasses. "Misty-girl, you would never wear my glasses when I put them on you," I laughed as she patiently waited for Marlene to make a move. "You look like a long nosed Ray charles," I said with a laugh as my precious pup looked to Marlene, almost telling her that it was alright. Marlene looked to her right and broke out in a smile as the gray face, black Lab let her tongue slip from her mouth. Misty could make any person smile, she was just that type of dog. Marlene lifted her hand and scratched the side of Misty's muzzle before opening her door. She was dressed in a heavy blue sweatshirt, tight blue jeans, and her cute Reeboks. Her hair was pulled back in her patented ponytail, and she wore a large pair of dark sunglasses over her eyes. She stopped at the rear of the Mustang and lifted a blanket from the trunk. Walking around the car, she opened the passenger door and let Misty out, taking the leash into her hand and closing the door behind her. They stopped at the entrance of the gate and stared at the baren field. "C'mon, the next step is the hardest, but you can do it," I pleaded.

Marlene looked down at Misty and took a step onto the ramp which led down to the track. Stepping onto the smooth surface, they slowly made their way to the field. As Marlene set foot onto the pitch, a warm feeling filled my being. A feeling of pure love filled my spirit as they walked across the soft grass and stopped at mid field. Marlene released the leash from her grip and unfolded the blanket, shaking it out and laying it down on the grass. She spread her hand across the material, neatly smoothing out the wrinkles and adjusting the corners. Sitting on the blanket, she bent her knees up and folded her arms around her shins, and buried her head. Misty laid against Marlene, resting her head between her outstretched paws. I could see Marlene's body shaking as it rocked back and forth, and the brilliant diamond sparkling on her delicate hand as it held her legs tightly against her body. "Don't cry, Sweetheart, I'm right here," I whispered from the stands. "Don't cry, I'll be right there."

I rose and made my way down the alluminum steps, walked along the railing and down the ramp. I slipped through the gate of the fence which surrounded the track and stepped onto the all-weather surface. Standing at the edge of the grass, I nervously hesitated before taking my first step onto the field. Misty raised her head as my foot stepped onto the grass. I could hear Marlene's sobs as she held her head down into her legs. Misty suddenly sat up at attention, staring at me as I proceeded to walk closer to the blanket. Marlene looked up as Misty let out a slight whimper. "What is it girl?" she sniffled, reaching her hand up and rubbing it on the Lab's head. Misty stood, gave a quick shake, and performed her usual long stretch with her head down at her paws and her butt held high in the air. She immediately sat again, this time thumping her tail on the blanket. "Misty, what is it girl? What is it?" Marlene inquired in a soft, caring voice. Misty didn't take her eyes off of me as I stood at the left corner of the blanket. "Hi Misty-girl," I whispered, "Have you been a good girl for mommy?"

Misty's tail thumped wildly on the blanket, causing Marlene to kneel up and sit back on her heels next to her. "It's OK girl, it's alright, what do you see?"

I listened to Marlene's soft voice as I gazed at her face. "My God, you are so beautiful," I whispered. I couldn't believe a woman so beautiful, so absolutely gorgeous, so kind, caring, and loving, loved a simple man like me. I watched as the tears dried against her cheeks. I let out a long breath and watched as the few curls of her hair which weren't collected in her ponytail fluttered in the breeze. She pulled her sunglasses from her face in shock. "Michael?" she whispered.

"Hi Beautiful," I breathed. Another breeze blew across her face, creating a blush on her cheeks. "Michael?" she gasped, "Michael, is that you?" she whispered as a tear reappeared in the corner of her right eye. "Michael, say something, let me know you're here... Please, please, don't leave me, let me know..." she cried.

"Misty, lay down girl," I whispered.

Misty dropped to her belly, now sweeping her tail across the blanket.

I whistled and my buddy flew down, landing on the goal to Marlene's left. Marlene's head jerked to the left, fixing her eyes on the beautiful cardinal. "Michael, I love you, I miss you, I am in so much pain, I need to feel your warmth against me, I need to feel your heart beating against my face as I ly on your chest..."

I gave another whistle and the second cardinal flew down, resting at the far right goal. Marlene's head jerked violently to the right, her face turning pale as she gazed into the black eyes of the second bird. "Michael," she whispered in a bareley audible voice. "Michael, we should have been in a plane right now," she began in a weak, shaky voice. "We were supposed to leave on our trip today."

"Our trip to St. Barts," I thought, "We were supposed to leave today, that's why you weren't here this morning," I whispered as I looked at Marlene's blank stare. "You weren't ready to say goodbye, you couldn't," I whispered again, this time cupping her face in my hand. "I'm sorry, Marlene, I'm so, so sorry, Sweetheart."

She held her arm around Misty's neck, pulling her in tightly and burying her face into her black fur.

I whistled one last time and the two beautiful birds flew to the sideline at mid-field and stared at Marlene. She looked up from Misty's fur and let out a long, loving breath. "Michael, wait," she said, reaching into the pocket of her sweatshirt and pulling out her phone. "Wait, Michael, please, please don't go," she begged, tapping on her phone before lying it down on the blanket. A guitar began to play before a voice sang, "There are places I remember, all my life but some have changed..."

"Michael," she cried, "You were stolen from me, you were stolen from me, my sweet, beautiful, Michael... I know you're here, I can feel you, can you hear me? Can you hear our song?"

"In my life, I loved you more," the gorgeous song continued.

"I'm here, and yes, I can hear our song," I whispered, blowing a breath of air against Marlene's face. "I will always love you, my beautiful baby."

"Hey Tony," a deep voice behind me said.

I froze, knowing there was only one person who called me Tony. I jerked around and stared into the face of my father as he stood next to the cardinals. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I snapped.

"It's time to go, Son," he calmly said.

"I'm not going anywhere, especially with you. Why don't you just go fuck yourself and leave me alone," I screamed.

"Some are dead and some are living, in my life, I love you more," the song continued to play through Marlene's phone.

"Son, you have done your work, you have saved a beautiful woman's life, and made her whole again," he softly explained.

"Saved a life? Saved a life? Look at her... Can't you see the pain I have caused? Is this what you call saving someone? Maybe I should have beat her like you did to mom; maybe that would have made her happy in your eyes."

"Mike, Marlene was dead inside before you walked into her life, she wasn't going to live, but you saved her from herself," my father softly explained, ignoring the last comment I had thrown his way.

"Yes, we saved each other, we fell in love, we adored each other and were going to spend our lives together until I was ripped from her heart," I screamed. "My work wasn't done,my work isn't done... We were supposed to be married; we were supposed to live the rest of our lives together, then my work would have been done, then it would have been fucking done, you bastard."

The anger I had tucked away from my early childhood, teenage years, and adult life which I held against my father exploded from me as I stood face to face with the abusive husband who was supposedly here to tell me my work was finished. Did he really believe he didn't leave any scars behind when he left our earthly world? Who the fuck was he to tell me my work was done? He had no right, no opinion in the matter, no fucking discision was to be made; he just didn't have any fucking right.

"Michael," another male voice said.

I turned to look to where the voice had come. A man in his early forties and a young boy stood before me. "Who are you, and what do you two want?"

My memory turned back in time, and a picture of me and Marlene sitting in an Italian restaurant played before me. Marlene's face was flushed, and she looked like she was trying to suppress a laugh. An older man, the waiter, stood at the end of our table and looked down at us with love in his eyes. "I've observed the two of you throughout the night," he began, "And I must tell you, the way that you interact, the way that your faces light up when speaking to each other, the way that you touch, laugh, and talk, is heart warming. You know, I have worked here for thirty-seven years, and every now and again, I come across special people. The two of you together, are special. It has been nothing but my pleasure to have waited on you tonight and it gives me security to know that kindness does indeed, still exist out in the world. I wish you a good night and a blessed life together."

"Thirty-seven years," echoed through my mind as I looked at the man. "Marlene was forty-nine, so what did any of this mean?" I wondered. "Holy shit, Marlene would have been twelve," I whispered as I gazed at the man.

"It's time, Son," Marlene's father said in a calm voice, "It's time for you to come with us."

"Mr. Cassidy, no, I can't leave Marlene, I promised.

The young boy spoke next, "Mr. Daltton, you saved my sister Marlene; I watched it myself and saw the look on her face when she danced in your arms." A visual of Johnny, the DJ at the dance club and wedding Marlene and I so happily attended, appeared before my very eyes. "Johnny," I whispered in a shocked voice, "You're Marlene's brother? You were watching over us?"

"Mike, you saved my sister before it was her time. You gave her life, you showed her love, and changed her outlook on the cruel world she previously suffered."

"But, my job; it's not finished, I have so much more to do... I have to marry Marlene and keep her happy for the rest of her life," I pleaded to her brother.

"Sweet child, it is time for us to go," an older black woman whispered as she stood next to me.

It was the elderly black woman who helped Marlene as she knelt over my body in the parking lot of the supermarket. "Who are you? And why are you here?" I asked, stunned to see her standing beside me.

"I am the woman who had a heart attack while driving home to my husband," she began, "I was the woman who hit Mr. Cassidy and young Johnny's car as they drove to the ball game."

"In my life...I love you more," the words streamed through the phone before ending with George Harrison's beautiful guitar.

My father held out his hand. I stared at the callussed fingers as they waited for me. "Dad, I can't," I cried, looking back at Marlene as she pleaded to me with tears streaming down her face. "Dad..."

I hesitated before slowly reaching my hand out toward him. I twisted my torso back to face Marlene, and watched as she fell onto Misty's body, wailing out loud in excruciating pain. The two cardinals flew close overhead and disappeared into the blue sky. Staring at my beautiful Marlene as I held my hand out, my visual of her and Misty began to fade. I could still see her body shaking as she dissolved before me. I felt the touch of a soft hand grasp mine, sending a feeling of warmth and love throughout my spirit. I knew the feeling of the hand very well. "Come, Sweetheart, our work is done," the soft, beautiful voice whispered.

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Well, the Silver series has come to an end. For those of you who have closely followed the true love between Michael and Marlene, I am hoping you have enjoyed the stories. As the author of the series, I would like to let you know, the entire story was based on the ending, and a dream I had many years ago, where my father held out his hand for me to take. Needless to say, I didn't take it in my dream, and woke shaking and sweaty. So, whose hand did Michael take at the end of this story? You can decide for yourself, but I would like to believe it was Marlene's. As the one cardinal sat alone on the railing of the stands and was joined by a mate before flying off together, I would like to believe Marlene came to take Michael away too! No, this was not meant as a dream; everything in the story was real in Michael and Marlene's life.

As for those of you who commented about guide dogs, blindness, and not knowing a thing about disability, I just want to let you know...

1. I am totally blind, and did indeed lose my sight 28 years ago.

2. I have a black Lab as a guide dog whose name is actually Misty.

3. The entire series was written on Notepad and while I had no spell checker, did the best I could with the tools I had; and while having the unbelievable help of my editor, WickedInside, find myself to be human and make mistakes.

I want to take the time to thank all of you for your kind comments (well, some of them not so pleasant!), and taking the time to vote on every story. As an author, it is so nice to receive feedback from readers and listen to your thoughts.

I would also like to take the time to thank one particular reader who followed this series from the first sentence, "Misty and I found ourselves sitting outside on the red brick steps of our home on a typical July night in southern New Jersey" to the last words, "Come, Sweetheart, our work is done," the soft, beautiful voice whispered. Captain_Fapulous, you have written some of the kindest comments an author could wish to receive. You have given me positive replies to each story and let me know when I have missed a thing or two, or as in Part 05, didn't save my edits to the second half of the story! LOL! I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your kindness. I hope you are not disappointed with the ending.

This last part was the hardest for me to write. I was tempted to change the ending and have Michael and Marlene marry, and live out the rest of their lives together in the physical world. I decided to keep to my original story though, and keep the story ending based on the dream of my father's extended hand. For those of you who did not like the ending, I can't say I blame you, but if you look at life in general, not all stories have a fairytail ending, and bad things happen to good people.

Again, I thank you for reading this story and hope you will take a few minutes to vote and leave your comments.

Remember, be nice to each other and give someone a smile; it may be the only one they receive that day!

Thanks to all!

CantC54

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