Julie's Butterfly (28 page)
Authors: Greta Milán
E
PILOGUE
It was one of those perfect summer days. The sun shone down from a cloudless sky. Flowers dotted the wide expanse of the meadow, and the long grass rippled in the soft breeze. A small butterfly fluttered joyfully through the air, delighting in the scents of nature and its own vitality.
A pair of lovers caught its attention. They were sitting in the shade of an ancient oak, a baby stroller nearby. The man leaned back against the tree and gazed into the distance with a contented smile while she lay with her head in his lap, enjoying the gentle touch of his rough hands running through her hair.
The butterfly landed on the stroller’s bug net and peered in cautiously. A baby was asleep there.
Delicate and beautiful.
“In two weeks, when you’ve finished your exams, we should go away somewhere,” the man said.
She blinked up at him. “Where to?”
“We could visit my father in the South of France,” he suggested. “He can hardly wait to meet you. There are some vacation homes available for rent nearby, right by the sea.”
“Sounds good. But you do realize it’s a bit soon to be building sand castles?”
“It’s never too soon to build a castle fit for a princess.”
“Another one?” she teased. “Have you seen her room recently?”
“I’m still not sure I can learn to love those flowers on her walls,” he murmured.
“That’s because you’re not used to the feminine touch,” she said with an indulgent smile. “You made such a fuss over having the walls of your precious studio painted pink.”
“Yes, but you let Isabelle talk you into buying shocking pink,” he said indignantly. “It’s got nothing to do with pink in itself.”
“Of course it does,” she said with a giggle. “And those flowers are lovely.”
“If you say so, my love,” he said.
She cocked her head mockingly, a silent request in her eyes, with which he complied at once. He bent over and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.
As he drew away, his eyes were misty with love. “So are you finally going to marry me?” he asked.
She grinned. “Maybe.”
Life was strange. An onlooker would have thought her answer would worry him. But an unshakable air of confidence was visible in his eyes.
The butterfly flew merrily into the air and danced away from them on the breeze, a silent witness to their happiness.
A
CKNOWLEDGMENTS
Mika, I thank you for your love and the two wonderful children you have given me, for your unshakable belief in my abilities and your boundless support.
Mom, I thank you for so much. I will never be able to repay all that you have given me, but I will try my best.
Sanni, Julie’s power of empathy owes a lot to your wonderful ability to understand what others don’t see. I thank you for that.
Nana, thank you for your enthusiasm and trust over many years. I’m very fortunate to have you on my side.
Jules, thank you for the sincere friendship that has united us for so long and, of course, for your merciless constructive criticism.
Judith, many thanks for taking the time to get rid of all the mistakes I overlooked.
I would also like to thank, from the bottom of my heart, all those who have been unprejudiced, self-sacrificing, and compassionate, especially my grandparents, Mopi, Rähne, Robert, and many other good friends.
I wish to thank the specialist centers and associations who so selflessly help EB sufferers and their families. Above all, I would like to thank the doctors in Freiburg and Dr. Riedl of DEBRA Austria for their support.
And I warmly thank the readers of this story for their interest and their generous feedback.
F
URTHER
I
NFORMATION ON
B
UTTERFLY
C
HILDREN
Network Epidermolysis Bullosa
http://www.netzwerk-eb.de/e7/index_eng.html
DEBRA
(Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa Research Association of America)
DEBRA UK
A
BOUT THE
A
UTHOR
Inspired by her real-life love for a “Butterfly Child” and moved by the reactions of other people, Greta Milán wanted to find an unconventional way to raise awareness of the rare hereditary skin disorder epidermolysis bullosa. In her debut novel,
Julie’s Butterfly
, she deals with prejudice, describes the experience of EB sufferers, and gives rich and varied insight into life with EB. Greta Milán is married and lives near Frankfurt, Germany.
A
BOUT THE
T
RANSLATOR
Alison Layland has been a professional translator of French, German, and Welsh into English since 1994. A member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting and the Society of Authors, she won the Translators’ House Wales/Oxfam Cymru Translation Challenge in 2010, as well as various short story competitions for her own writing. Her translation of the novel
The Colour of Dawn
by Haitian author Yanick Lahens was published in 2013, and her debut novel
Someone Else’s Conflict
is to be published by Honno Press at the end of 2014. She is married with two children and lives in the beautiful and inspiring countryside of Wales, United Kingdom.