Our story takes place in September of 1994 a quiet town in the south regions of France, many people do not know this but this is where an artist by the name of Julius Laurent has been living for the past 10 years.

Tucked in the Blossoming Hills of this quiet town stood a house. A simple house, it was 1 story and didn’t have much to it aside from a small garden bed that lay withered in the front lawn. It had looked as though this house had been abandoned for years but to surprise was not abandoned for here is where Julius Laurent lives.

Julius Laurent life was nothing special he did not do well in school, he struggled to socialize with people and as many of us in this world he suffered the loss of someone he held very dear to him.

It could not have been more then 5 years ago, Julius Laurent was going about his day like he always did. 5 am sharp he would stroll down to the market to pick up his produce, always a smile on his face and a skip in his step. Back in time for breakfast at 7 am when his best friend and life-long crush Lily Barbier, every morning she would stop by every morning to see Laurent and admire the mountain of paintings he had created, Lily was always his number 1 fan or well his only fan as no one else got to see what was made inside that home.

> Good Morning Laurent! Lily was as expressive as ever polar opposite to Julius’ blunt and crude demeanor

> ‘Morning Lily, to what do I owe your appearance today. Julius stated in a cold monotone voice

> Oh come now Julius, I always stop by to see what amazing painting you have working on. So how is it? The painting of our little town

Julius brews a tea for sweet Lily as she sits impatiently waiting for Julius to unveil the painting he has been working on the last few days. Just as he is returning he notices Lily peaking through his workshop, he can’t help but drop the tea and rush over to slam the door closed.

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> “Lily you know I don’t like it when you snoop around my workshop, I don’t like people seeing my works. You of all people should know this!” Julius raises his voice to Lily sending her into a pale state of shock

As Lily rushed out the door, Julius couldn’t help but feel a sense of regret in losing his temper like that. He knew that Lily only means well and she isn’t someone to be scared of but the thought of someone seeing what he creates without his control is unsettling to him.

He wouldn’t hear from Lily the following morning or the morning after that. Julius understood he upset Lily and knew it would take some time for her to come around again.

As Julius makes his way through town, following his daily routine. Dark clouds rolled over the hills and the sunny bright sky had now been masked by a blanket of darkness. Once Julius had reached the market everyone turned to him in silence, no one spoke a word. Old man Peirre who ran the market passed Julius one of the daily papers, everyone had one and when he scanned the front page he understood why.

> “Lily Barbier passed away age 27, what happened and why.” Stretched across the front page with a photo of her, sweet Lily.

> Julius could see, the way people looked at him, the shock and horror in their eyes. He knew they blamed him, Lily’s love and kindness was felt by all. It is not a surprise that people were so impacted by her death.

Anxiety slowly took over Julius’ body as he implausible rushed back to his home, he want in such a rush he forgot to grab his basket from the market but who remembers such minor details when they have their minds filled with questions and regrets. Julius’ couldn’t help but blame himself for yelling at Lily that dreadful morning. Maybe in his mind… Maybe if he didn’t do that Lily would still be here.