TIME2DREAM

As the morning sun flows in through the big window into her cozy office, Lily glances out at the dark green pasture that fades off as it meets the creek that flows through the valley. She sits back and smiles as she catches a glimmer of the flies dancing over the water and listens to the songbirds off in the distance.

Lily got up to stretch, she went out to the patio where she found herself completely enveloped with the warmth of the sun, she closed her eyes taking it all in, the smell of the morning grass, the sound of the creek as it trickles over the rocks, the birds singing their song, what perfect setting for writing her novel.

The deadline for her draft of the second edition was due in a few days and she knew she had to get back to work. Taking one last look, she asks, “how did I get here?”, she smiles and proceeds to go back into the house, opening the patio door, she stopped, and looked at the reflection of herself, “when did this happen?", she asks, “Damn, I look good, if I may say!”, Lily wasn’t one to really take notice of her body shape, she doesn’t wear a lot of makeup, “my green eyes work their magic”, she thinks to herself, her long brown hair is always in a pony tail. Smiling to herself with a giggle, goes into the kitchen and pours another cup of coffee and goes back to her office.

Sitting down, she notices a missed call from her editor, Lydia Cameron, wondering if she was going to get grilled on when her draft can be expected. Lily proceeded to call Lydia back, “Hi Lily, how is the writing coming along?”, “it’s going pretty good, I should have this to you by Monday”, Lily responds, to her surprise Lydia’s voice perks up, “so I received a call from Tahlor McDonald, Executive Director here and he has asked to see us both tomorrow. Be here at nine, ok?”, “Yes, of course, see you then”, excited, curious and a little nervous, she puts her phone down, “what just happened?”, Lily stops, takes a couple of deep breaths, “trust the process, trust the process” she whispers to herself. 

With a quick shake of her body, sits back down at her desk, “OK, I’m going to make this happen”, she says quietly and proceeds to start typing again, this time the words just keep flowing and before she knows it, her draft is completed. “Thank you, thank you, thank you” she says to herself.

Not realizing what time it was, she was exhausted, and hungry, she doesn’t remember eating today, “doesn’t matter”, she thinks to herself, “this was such a great day.” She decides to go to bed and read, but as soon as she crawls under the covers, she decides to surrender to the day, smiling, she whispers, “thank you”, and falls asleep.

As Lily wakes, the morning greets her with a slightly grey sky, she can see the sun peeking through a break in the clouds, but this does nothing to sway her mood. As Lily gets ready, she looks in the mirror, “I’m going to crush this meeting, I AM worthy of success”, she says to herself with conviction. Lily always had a passion for writing, her upbringing was conflicted, between religion and depression as both Lily’s parents struggled with this, but it was her upbringing that inspired her to write her story, one of determination, resilience and persistence. Lily knew she had a purpose in life, and she wanted people to know that they could overcome their past and can live the life they truly deserve.

Lily finished getting ready, took one last look, her long brown hair hung down her back, she highlighted her eyes with a little mascara and liner, and put some gloss on her lips, “You clean up nice, girl”, she winks at herself, grabs her keys and leaves.

The drive didn’t take long, she found a parking spot right away. As she pulled her car in, a thought crossed her mind of her first meeting with, Tahlor, it was at a company function a year ago, he was very tall, with the bluest of blue eyes, and a smile that makes you want to smile back.  

Lily proceeds to go upstairs to the office, Lydia is coming down the hall and sees Lily, gives her a big hug and smiles, “how are you doing today?”, Lily looks at Lydia trying to get a read, but she wasn’t giving anything up. “I’m great, thank you”, this time Lydia was looking at Lily trying to get a read, nothing. The two ladies walked together to the boardroom where Tahlor was sitting, he gets up and shakes Lily’s hand, looking her straight in the eyes with a genuine smile, he says “it’s so great to see you again, Lily”. Lily could feel the sincerity behind his words and began to relax.

The boardroom was a large room with a long dark table, a smart screen at one end, and a door at the other end. Tahlor led Lydia and Lily through the door to a smaller conference room, where it was brightly lit with sunlight, a small round table, coffee, and pastries all laid out. “Ok, now this is next level treatment”, Lily thinks to herself. “What could be so important to discuss that they would go to this extent for me?”, “stop the self-talk, you ARE worthy!” she thinks to herself and proceeds to sit in the chair Tahlor pulled out for her, he does the same for Lydia.

As Tahlor sits, he smiles, pours coffee for them, then looking at Lily, he proceeds to say “I read your first edition of TIME2BE”, Lily smiles, and before she could ask what his thoughts were, he says “you need to share more of your story, there is some real substance to this, and I truly believe you can make a change to so many lives.” His eyes didn’t leave Lily’s, he had such a sincerity in his words, she had no idea her story would impact him as much as it did. Lily couldn’t help herself from smiling, thinking to herself, “little does he know what’s coming in my next draft.” Tahlor looks at Lydia and back at Lily, “I understand you have a deadline this coming Monday for another edition, is that right?”, he asks, “Yes” she replies. “Perfect!” he exclaims, “get that to Lydia as soon as you can”.  

There was a pause, it felt like an hour before he spoke again, Tahlor looks at Lydia, who nods her head and smiles, he looks back at Lily, “if you’re interested, we would like to turn TIME2BE into a series, offering you the opportunity to inspire, and empower your readers, develop a following. This would include book signings, and public speaking engagements, how does this sound to you?” he asks. Lily’s body just went from static to electric in the blink of an eye, “keep your composure girl”, she thinks to herself.

Lily had to snap out of it and get back into the conversation, “Yes, that would be great, I would love to.” Lily couldn’t believe what was happening, she made her dream a reality. She smiles, and proceeds to say, “if you have some time now, I would love to share some ideas with you?” Tahlor and Lydia looked at her and both said, “Yes, of course.” Lily smiled, and said “Thank you.”