A Dream of Lilies: A Novella

By Petra March

Nicholas Baudin lives in Toulouse, France, where he owns a small coffee place, Le Petit Café. His life is apparently tranquil, and made of small joys and simple habits. In truth, though, this young man's soul is troubled with memories of a painful event.
Then, on a bright spring day, Nicholas meets a strange, enchanting young woman with white hair, and pale blue eyes. Her name is Lily Brightwell. She is an actress who captivates crowds with her talent and her stories.
As Nicholas begins to fall for the young artist, his life turns into something unexpected and lovely.

(Ages 17+)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Petra F. Bagnardi
• Release date: Jun 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311333032

Petra March

Petra March is the Award Winning Author of the A Touch of Cinnamon Series, and of the stand-alone novel, A Different Kind of Lovely. Her book, All the Skies I will not See, is a Library Journal SELF-e Selection. The book won the 2016 Pacific Book Awards for Best Short Story, and was a Gold Medal Winner (Fiction - Short Story) in the 2016 Readers' Favorite International Book Awards. In 2015, the book was a Finalist in the 2015 Wishing Shelf Independent Book Awards, won the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best Novella, earned the Literary Classics Seal of Approval, and received a 5-Star-Review Seal from Readers' Favorite. The literary magazine Shelf Unbound listed All the Skies I will not See amid the 2015 Top 100 Notable Books. The multi-award winning All the Skies I will not See features characters from Petra March's other works: A Veil of Glass and Rain (Special Edition), A Dream of Lilies: A Novella, and A Different Kind of Lovely: A Novel. A Veil of Glass and Rain (Special Edition) was a Finalist in the 2016 I Heart Indie Contest (New Adult), organized by the Las Vegas Romance Writers of America, and was featured in the June 2015 issue of the literary publication, InD'tale Magazine; Book Riot listed A Veil of Glass and Rain amid the 100 Must-Read Books by International Romance Authors. A Different Kind of Lovely won the 2018 Elit Book Awards and received the Bronze Medal in the Literary Fiction category. The book was also a 2018 Readers' Favorite International Book Awards Honorable Mention in the Literary Fiction genre, and won First Place in the Fiction: Novel eBook category of the 2018 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards. The novel was also a 2018 SOMERSET Book Awards Semi-Finalist. A Different Kind of Lovely: A Novel is a BiblioBoard's Indie International selection. Petra March (aka Petra F. Bagnardi) graduated summa cum laude in Theater and Cinema Studies at University of Rome 3, and earned a MA degree from the Catholic University of Milan. She studied Screenwriting and History of American Cinema at UCLA and NYU, and worked as screenwriter in Italy and France, where she also taught Creative Writing in elementary schools and junior high schools. Presently, she keeps traveling and dreaming through her novels and stories; just like Petra, her characters are deeply in love with Europe and the USA. Website: authorpetramarch.weebly.com Facebook: @AuthorPetraMarch

Book preview

A Dream of Lilies: A Novella

Petra March

A Dream of Lilies: A Novella by Petra March

Copyright 2016 Petra March (aka Petra F. Bagnardi)

Smashwords Edition

Dedication

To my Little Company.

Acknowledgments

A big, huge, infinite, thank you to my amazing Editors, Sharon Taylor Xuereb and CeeCee Lawson; I will be forever a fan of their respective blogs: Sharon's Book Nook and The Literary Melting Pot.

Then, I'd like to thank my best friend Francesca Chericoni, artist extraordinaire, for always being there for me, no matter what, and the awesome Nancy and Fizza for helping me promote my work.

Prologue

The man awoke to the sweet sound of a violin, and the laughter of a man and a woman in love.

Husband, wife, beloved, they chanted.

The bed in which the man was reclining upon felt unfamiliar, as did the scent of old wood and lavender filling the air.

Sudden and unexpected fear clutched at the man's chest, so he rose to look out a window that was opened to a sea of sunflowers and lavender. The fields were interrupted here and there by slender, winding roads, and littered with various dwellings.

The man's gaze searched the sky. As the unwanted fear he felt grew even stronger, he glimpsed clouds as red as blood, and a sky stained with dark smoke.

Making his way across moaning floorboards, and down screeching stairs, the man reached a wooden door that led to a lovely garden of roses and lilies. Although the pretty flowers grazed the man's bare feet, and teased his senses, the colorful fields, bleeding horizon, and writhing strands of smoke attracted him even more.

Leaving behind the lovers' laughter, the sound of the violin, and the old house, he stumbled his way through the purple and yellow expanse, until he reached a dirt road lined with tall pine trees. The air around him became dense with sounds of sorrow. The young voice of an unknown man cried out in pain, while another man mourned and repeated, Save my friend. Please, save my friend David!

As the man listened, his lungs filled with bitter smoke, while his heart brimmed with unbearable pain. He turned around to retrace his steps, and go back to the old house full of all the things he loved the most, but dark, twisting shapes hindered his path.

The man parted his lips to protest and to scream; however, he discovered that he had no words, only a breathless silence.

Chapter 1

Nicholas Baudin woke up with the remnants of a familiar nightmare shivering throughout his clammy skin. Reclining amid the sweat-soaked linens, Nicholas looked to the white ceiling of his studio apartment, and waited for the fear and the pain to dissipate.

The rays of the sun creeping through the windowpanes told him that it was time to get up, go to work, exist. Still, Nicholas waited because, in spite of the hurt it caused in his soul, he wanted to feel the soft, burning touch of the nightmare playing upon his body, for it carried the memories of a precious past.

The violin crying tunes of love. A young man with dirty-blond hair, moaning the name of a beloved, lost friend. A son screaming for his parents.

Nicholas' cellphone, which had been resting quietly onto the nightstand, chimed, and shattered his thoughts. Nicholas heaved a pained sigh, and finally left his bed.

The hot shower washed away all the lingering images of the dream. As drops of water glistened upon his long limbs, he stepped out of the stall and immediately caught the scent of smoke. Although the smell was faint, it still made his heart beat faster with fear.

Nicholas rushed to open the three small windows that lined one wall of his place, and let the morning air in. He breathed in and out, repeatedly, until all he could taste upon his tongue was the comforting scent of his beloved town: Toulouse.

Later, at work, Nicholas beamed as he served coffee, croissants, and sweets to the well-known patrons of the Petit Café, the coffee place he proudly owned.