Belle Meramec

Lilies Belle Meramec

Ariettea is 17, relentlessly alone, clinically depressed, and desperately looking for a reason to keep going. She meets Lily, a 13-year-old with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, through a hair donation drive. Jumping at any excuse to leave her Michigan small town, Ariettea is shown life beyond it when she visits Lily in coastal Georgia. Lily is vivacious, purely happy, and wants everyone else to be, too. Ariettea wants to find her true home and place in the world, but is that just a pipe dream? Are her parents and everyone else in her small-town right about how her life will play out? Is true reality nothing like she wants it to be? What about love? Is there really any hope for her life after high school? Along with Lily, Ariettea's Aunt and Uncle, both doctors at Lily's hospital, are begging for her to keep hanging on. But what does hanging on mean, in the real world? 'Lilies' explores the topic of coming of age when coupled with mental illness and faith. Trigger warning- 'Lilies' discusses suicidal thoughts, self-harm, depression, and anxiety.