The Lives of Louis Linville

By Kevin M. Treanor

LOUIS LINVILLE is plagued by nightmares that seem to foretell of something bad about to happen. By night, he dreams of a mouthful of blackened, rotting teeth and struggles to breathe. By day, he works as a busy and successful consultant and spends time with his love, Karen. But when he is involved in a horrific car accident, it seems Louis's nightmares have unfortunately come true.

As Louis floats somewhere between reality and the world beyond, he meets his Watcher who has been with him throughout his lives. As the Watcher reveals that Louis has landed in a place where he can take stock of his lessons, observe what he has learned and has left to learn, and prepare to accept the next phase of growth and maturity, he also discloses that Louis has held several identities in his past lives. While the Watcher leads Louis back in time to see who he has been and why, Louis realizes there is greater meaning to his existence than he ever knew.

In this poignant short story, a man who meets his Watcher after a life-altering accident is led on an enlightening journey back into his past lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Nov 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781480871106

Kevin M. Treanor

Kevin M. Treanor is a retired aerospace manager who now has the time to indulge his imagination. He resides in Lancaster, California. The Lives of Louis Linville is his first book.

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Copyright © 2018 Kevin M. Treanor.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-7111-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-7110-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018913053

Archway Publishing rev. date: 11/12/2018

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

About The Author

This book is

dedicated to Wendy Kaye Reuschling, who showed me that a person can have more love within them than can be expressed in one lifetime.

CHAPTER 1

Louis Linville was burning up with fever. He was dripping wet and weak. He had tossed and turned all night long. Then he bolted upright in bed, suddenly awake. It was a nightmare.

The bed was soaked through, as were his pajamas. He sat for a moment blinking his eyes into focus. There was not much to see, since the room was pitch-black. He looked for something to draw his focus. His eyes came to rest on his digital alarm clock on the bureau. He worked at focusing on the bright digital display: 2:15.

Louis stumbled into the bathroom, switched on the light, and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

My God, he wondered aloud. What happened to me? He did not recognize himself: red-rimmed eyes; sagging, sallow skin; black-and-blue bulges under his jaw. He looked like something out of a horror movie. As he opened his mouth to speak, he saw that his teeth were mostly gone. Those that remained were blackened and rotting.

He screamed, long and hard. His scream was picked up by a siren that was screeching, piercing, maddening.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The alarm clock. He was still in bed.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

The alarm continued insistently. He groaned as he got up, peeling himself from between the wet sheets. He crossed the room to the bureau where the clock sat screeching.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Bee—

He hit the off switch, and the room went silent except for his heavy breathing. He was out of breath. He stumbled into the bathroom and switched on the light, reluctant to look in the mirror, afraid of what he would see. He breathed a sigh of genuine relief when he saw his reflection: tousled, unshaven, with bags under his eyes, but himself.

Nightmare, he muttered, then reached for his toothbrush. The hot water and shaving cream felt good as he shaved. It made him feel better about himself and the day—more optimistic. Tennis this morning with the love of his life, then lunch with a client. Lunch might be a bit testy, and he would have to use all of his diplomacy to explain why his client’s company was losing money and market share. But that was lunch, and he was prepared. Now he was getting ready for a tennis match with Karen.

Drying himself off with clean, soft towels was luxurious, as was dressing in his tennis whites. His nightmare was only a vague memory by the time he reached the tennis court. Karen was already there warming up. She was a tall, athletic, and graceful woman with long red hair in a ponytail today. Her legs were long, toned, and … distracting, to say the least.

Good morning, Karen.

Good afternoon, Louis, was her cheeky response.

I’m not late, he said.

I didn’t say you were, she replied. You weren’t early, either.

Louis never needed to go easy on Karen in tennis. She was good enough that he had to walk a fine line between challenging her skills and winning. She had a hard time handling his serves, but she was getting better at them. In fact, he thought to himself wryly, when she learns to place her shots better, I will be fighting for my life out here.

What are you smiling about over there? asked Karen.

"You are getting better. A lot better."

It’s the practice.

He was out of breath chasing her shots. "I’m just about