A Dance Between Life and Death, By M.J. Palladino

A dance between life and death.

“I remember the day I died.”

Beatrice mused to her nephew as he was gazing in awe at the decaying leaves falling off the trees.

“You died?!” Beatrice’s nephew, Raymond, shouted in disbelief. “Auntie Reese, I don’t believe you! You’re alive right now!”

“It’s true though!” Beatrice laughed, “I remember so vividly.”

“Really?” Raymond challenged her, “Tell me.”

“Alright then.” Beatrice gave in. “Have a seat, and I will tell you everything I saw.”

Raymond quickly plopped himself down on the autumn grass, eyes bright with anticipation. Beatrice sat down next to him and cleared her throat…

Twenty-nine years ago, in the year 1993. I was walking home from school with a friend.

“We should hurry up and get home, Alice,” I told my friend. “The rain is getting harder and we are in no position to catch a cold in the middle of the week.”

“Calm down, Beatrice,” Alice replied back to me, “It’s only a little sprinkle. Just enjoy the scenery.”

I had no idea how she could be so calm about the moment. The weather was only getting stranger that day, the clouds were a dark gray and the sun was nowhere to be seen, but even I had no idea that it would be such a catastrophic storm. The winds were raging and it was so hard to stay on the ground. The rain was pouring down horizontally. Of course Alice thought that we were doing fine, but then there was a bright light that came out of nowhere. My ears were ringing and I was having trouble keeping up. On the spur of the moment, there was this loud bang. I don’t remember what happened after that. Everything went dark for a bit.

When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed. The lights were polychromatic, but my eyes could hardly tell. I didn't feel wet or in any pain, so I had no idea why I was there. I sat up and thought for a moment. Did my mother know I was here? I asked myself. She must be worried. School let out a while ago. I decided to get up and look for her. When I arose and dusted myself off, I looked back at the bed, and a spasm of horror ran through me. I saw myself, still in the bed. I didn’t know how to react, so I screamed. Of course, nobody could hear me. I looked at my hands. They were pale and slightly transparent. That’s when I knew I was dead and not crazy. I was as dead as a doornail, and I was having trouble accepting that. I could hear voices in the other room, talking about me. I heard my mother, my best friend, and a voice I couldn't identify. It must have been the doctor.

“Is she going to be okay?!” I heard my mother ask frantically.

“Ma’am, I need you to calm down,” The doctor responded in a serious tone. “We ran some tests and we speculate that she is in a coma. She has broken several bones, and we do not know when she will wake up.”

“It wasn't a terribly severe hit, ” Alice pointed out. “Because of the weather, the car wasn’t going at a fast pace…”

As I was listening to this, it all started making sense. I was hit by a car in extreme weather conditions, and slipped into a coma. Whether I would wake up or not was to be determined. I was betting that I would not wake up. I decided that I was wasting my time here. I opened the door and left the room. I walked right by them, and they didn't even see me. How ironic it felt to be a ghost wandering about. I wondered how I would cope like this. Why wasn't I in my body? If I was dead, why wasn’t I face to face with God Himself? My lifeless mind was at work as I headed out of the hospital.

I stood in the middle of the street, staring into the abyss. The rain had stopped, but it was still cloudy. I didn’t know what to do or where to go. It felt so weird to be a lifeless individual, standing on the same street where I was ripped from my physical body. Even though I was alone and disembodied, I still managed a smile. I had been through a proper life cycle, and if I did not wake up, that would be okay.

“Hello there.” A voice behind me said. I looked behind me and saw a boy, about my age, with bright cheerful eyes.

“You… you can see me?” I sputtered.

“Of course I can!” He answered me. “It’s been a while since I last spoke to anyone.”

I took a good look at this boy. I noticed that he looked just as I did at that moment: Pale and slightly transparent.

“Are you out of your body?” I asked, knowing the answer already.

The boy nodded.

“Me too.” I said, “If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to you?”

The boy hesitated before answering. “There was an outbreak in my city. I was shot. My body is in a coma and has been for a little more than a week.”

I stopped for a moment before responding. “I left my body not very long ago. It feels so weird to be… dead, but not all the way.”

“I know.” The boy laughed. “But it does feel good to finally talk to someone.” The boy held out his hand. “I’m Maddox.” He introduced himself.

“I’m Beatrice.” I replied, shaking his hand.

Maddox breathed in. “Now that we are formally acquainted with each other, do you want me to show you around… the ghostly way?” He asked me in a whimsical manner.

“I have nothing better to do, so why not?” I stipulated.

And indeed, Maddox showed me the world in a way I never would have seen it. We floated in air, letting the breeze take us where it desired. By day, we would goof off and pull pranks and such; by night, we would relax by a surreal lake that we found together. And I have to admit that although our antics were genuinely laughable, I found that I enjoyed sleeping by the lakeside more. I loved it even more when we found out something magnificent about it.

We were staying up past our bedtimes one night, because we could. I was talking to Maddox about my family. About how devastated they must feel for me. How worried they might be, not knowing when, or if, I would wake up.

“It will be alright.” Maddox reassured me. “I think you’ll wake up. Because you’ve proven to me that you are a human being worthy of coming back into life. You’re kind, funny, and you are everything to the people waiting for you.”

I couldn't help but smile. “Maddox, I…” My voice was cut off by a sweet melody, sounding as if it were coming from a music box.

“What is that?” I asked, looking around.

“Funny you should ask.” Maddox addressed. “Every night at eleven o’ clock, that strange music starts to play, and it stops whenever it wants to. I call it, ‘An extra wonder of the world.’”

I was astonished, knowing that such a thing felt so enchanting to be real. Such a thing sounded so enchanting. Just then, Maddox rose from the ground and walked onto the lake. He beckoned for me to come. I hesitated at first, but I eventually did join him on the lake.

“Would you like to dance?” He asked me.

“Yes.” I replied. “Yes I would.”

Our hands intertwined. I felt like a spectral figure skater gliding across the lake. If I had a heart at the time, it would be fluttering. We would dance for hours at a time with the moon as our spotlight. This went on for days. It was on the thirteenth day when we ceased our nightly waltz. When the music faded that thirteenth night, we were both floating in the air due to ecstasy.

“You are a fantastic dancer.” I told Maddox.

“Thanks.” He replied. “It runs in our family.”

“Your family sounds amazing, ” I remarked. As we gently drifted back down to the surface of the lake, I noticed something about Maddox.

“Maddox, you’re glittering.” I breathed. Particles of blue light flew around him. Maddox smiled.

“I’m going now.” He stated.

“What?!” I blurted out. “You’re dying?!”

“No.” Maddox informed. “I’m going back to my body. I’m waking up.”

I didn’t say anything in response. I looked at my hands and saw that I too was glittering.

“You’re right behind me,” Maddox enlightened. “But before I go, I want to say that these past weeks with you have been the best weeks of my life. I know that I may never see you again, but I will never forget you, Beatrice.” “I won’t forget you either.” I promised. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Maddox replied. Just before he faded Into nothingness, he kissed me. I couldn't feel it physically, but I felt it on the inside. As my ghostly form faded away and I shot into my body, I felt it in my heart.

Overall, the sudden transportation into my body was painful, waking up in that bright room, and the stiffness of my limbs. But something nice about it was that I heard the loud rejoicing of my loved ones, and that somewhere in the world, my friend Maddox was also waking up to unconditional joy.

“The end.” Beatrice finished.

Raymond’s mouth was agape. “That all happened?!” He asked, surprised.

“All of it.” Beatrice answered.

“That is very… interesting.” Raymond pondered. “So is that why you got the tattoo with the fancy ‘M’ and ‘B’?”

Beatrice looked down at the small tattoo on her wrist. Then she looked at Raymond with a sinister grin.

“I never got this. I woke up with it that day.”

Raymond shouted in agony he was feeling in his brain. “I regret I asked to hear this! You’re crazy, Auntie Reese!”

“I love you so much, Ray-Ray.” Beatrice laughed.