Post by rinielaranel on May 7, 2006 21:57:46 GMT -5
In another thread you may have remembered me saying I *rushed off to write a fanfic* about Susan after the death fo her family. Well I actually did! Not all of it quite yet but I've finished the first part. Enjoy! ;D
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The sun split through the trees as an early sun rose over the faraway horizon. Susan Pevensie looked up and shaded her face with her gloved hand. She had arrived at such an hour in order to meet her cousin, Eustace. Apparently his train was not on time. She would have very much liked to complain to anyone nearby, but even her siblings weren’t there yet. Humph.
“Susan!” She turned at the sudden voice to see her older brother, Peter, standing behind her. Lucy was next to him. “Seems you beat us to the station.”
“Yes, well.” Susan sniffed. “I had to rush here from—”
“When will you learn that we don’t care?” Lucy said, laughing happily. Susan didn’t laugh back. Peter nudged his younger sister.
“That’s enough, Lu.” He said under his breath. It was enough for Susan to detect.
“Why do you use a pet name, Peter? You know it hinders growth.”
“Susan, I don’t think a bit of affection is going to harm Lucy.” Peter sighed, knowing he couldn’t win against his sister. “Just be kind for once, won’t you?”
Susan frowned and turned away. Lucy was practically immune to their quarreling as she saw a train pass in front of them.
“Look!” she said.
“That train wasn’t Eustace’s, was it?” Susan muttered disappointedly.
“Nope,” said Edmund, appearing behind her. Susan turned once again. Edmund’s nose was stuck in a book, as usual. “Eustace’s train should come in a couple minutes. You know, Mum and Dad will be on the same train, probably.”
“Fascinating.” Susan said in an uninterested monotone.
“That’s Ed, always informed.” Peter said in a nervous chuckle. “Okay. We need to…uh…get ready, or something.”
“You don’t have to be so cheerful all the time,” Susan complained.
“Golly, Susan, will you never be satisfied? What has happened with you?” Lucy looked up at her sister, confused.
“Let’s all just sit down on the benches, off the platform.” Peter said. He grabbed Lucy’s hand. The three sat down next to one another, while Edmund went off by himself reading his book.
For a while the siblings sat in silence. Then Lucy spoke.
“Trains always make me think of Narnia,” she said care-freely.
Peter looked at his sister astonished, and then nervously glanced toward Susan. She had made no move. Peter looked down at Lucy and smiled.
“We did have quite some adventures, didn’t we? They always seemed to start on trains.”
“Yes,” replied Lucy, in a slower tone. She looked up at Susan. “I always liked how we were when we went to Narnia.”
Knowing Lucy was referring to her attitude, Susan finally snapped.
“I can’t believe you can still encourage this behavior, Peter!” she exclaimed. “Certainly you don’t believe those silly games we played were real?”
Peter was used to these outbursts whenever Narnia was mentioned.
“Certainly you have not forgotten the truth.”
“Truth?!?” Susan was furious. “You know it’s just not logical!”
Lucy was now very frightened.
“Logic? Don’t you talk logic to me, Susan. Why, I don’t believe you even remember Professor Kirke!”
“He was an old, eccentric man, strange in his ways. My memories of that time long ago are faded. Why do they matter?”
“He taught you so many things, Susan! Do you not remember his view on logic?” Susan shuddered. “Have you forgotten all of it?”
“You’ve changed, Susan.” Said Lucy.
“Changed?” said Susan, amused. “I’ve matured. I’ve grown up. You have not, and you are all the worse off for it.”
“If what you’re going through is called maturing, then I have no interest in being mature.” Peter snapped. “Come on, Lu.” He and Lucy got up and returned to standing on the platform.
Well. That was nice. Susan leaned back in her chair, disturbed by her sibling’s unshakable faith in that old childhood game. She was sure she was the only sane one left.
Susan glanced over at Edmund sitting a little ways off. He probably hadn’t even heard the conversation, so engrossed in his book. She wondered what kind it was. Nothing logical, she was sure, like the literature he used to read. It was probably some awful fairy tale, or fantasy—trash that filled your mind with wishful, untrue thoughts. She shook her head. Or worse—it could be The Bible. She had seen Edmund studying that earlier. What he would want with a collection of old myths, she had no idea.
“You could actually talk to me, you know.” Edmund’s words startled Susan. She hadn’t known he had noticed her.
“Oh, well, I…” Her attempts to form a sentence dwindled to nothing. She was silent for a while. Edmund put down his book.
“What do you remember of that summer in the country, during the war?” He asked. Susan rolled her eyes.
“Oh, come , Edmund, must you bring this up again?”
“Seriously, Susan. What do you remember?”
Edmund’s older sister paused, collecting her thoughts.
“Well, it was boring, mostly, in the beginning. Then…I think, I don’t remember to well…Lucy made up some sort of game, the Narnia gibberish you’ve all been talking for years. And after that things were different. We seemed to get along better.” Susan shrugged. “I remember the game lasted for a few more years. Then it stopped, but you all still talked of it though it were true.”
“Do you remember anything about Narnia?” Edmund asked.
“It wasn’t real, Edmund.” Susan smiled.
Edmund was still troubled.
“Well, even our ‘pretend’ Narnia. How would you describe it?”
Susan thought hard again. Then she unearthed a strange feeling she didn’t often discuss.
“I know I have some vivid memories. But they have long since faded, and I only have dreams of memories of pictures created through the imagination of my own mind.”
Edmund blinked, a laugh forming on his lips.
“Was it snowy?”
His simple question caught Susan off-guard, and she nearly laughed as well. But she soon realized the huge problem behind such an idea.
“Edmund, Edmund.” She sighed. “I do not understand why you can’t grasp the logical truth. Certainly you with all of your knowledge must be able to realize Peter and Lucy are in the wrong.”
Edmund chuckled.
“If this is true, Susan, why do I have these memories? Why will they not stop haunting me?” He played with the book in his hands, which Susan had now realized was his Bible. Edmund was silent for a second as his voice turned more grave. “You remind me of myself, Susan. Don’t you remember that?” He looked her in the eye. “I was the one who took the peace away from our family.”
Susan glared at him.
“You know I’m right. You know I’m trying to help.”
“You’re not right, Susan.” Edmund said. “It’s three to one. We all remember. Why don’t you?”
Susan didn’t respond.
“You pushed the memories away, Susan! You classified them as dreams, because you knew they weren’t logical! And it hasn’t helped. Your speeches, your newfound ‘maturity’ hasn’t helped this family one speck!”
Susan turned away from him, pain engulfing her emotions.
“I thought you were different, Edmund.” She choked. “I thought you, and Lucy, and Peter…I didn’t think you were like this.” Susan sighed. “Did you have to bring this up today?”
Edmund didn’t respond. He just set his book down on the bench and walked to the platform where Peter and Lucy were standing.
“I though you were different too, Susan.” He called back. Then he turned toward the train tracks.
Susan tried to keep herself from tears. Tears, she knew, would not solve any problem. Today just seemed so overwhelming. No wonder she tried to escape from the house so many times. Her family had gone crazy—or else, she had.
The noise of an oncoming train caught her attention. Eustace’s. Susan tried to gather herself and look presentable. Her three siblings stood on the platform, craning their heads around to see the train. Susan supposed she should get up and join them, but she didn’t want to. She could greet Eustace just as well from her spot when he arrived.
The train’s noise got louder and louder as it approached the station. Something seemed wrong. Susan glanced up and heard the screeching of brakes. Brakes? What for? Something was wrong! Susan stood up and ran toward the platform. She never got there.
A terrible thud, and suddenly her siblings were no longer standing in front of her; just a huge, de-railed train. Susan gasped in horror. It can’t be happening…it isn’t happening…Her stunned body fell into a heap on the ground as she fainted.
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The sun split through the trees as an early sun rose over the faraway horizon. Susan Pevensie looked up and shaded her face with her gloved hand. She had arrived at such an hour in order to meet her cousin, Eustace. Apparently his train was not on time. She would have very much liked to complain to anyone nearby, but even her siblings weren’t there yet. Humph.
“Susan!” She turned at the sudden voice to see her older brother, Peter, standing behind her. Lucy was next to him. “Seems you beat us to the station.”
“Yes, well.” Susan sniffed. “I had to rush here from—”
“When will you learn that we don’t care?” Lucy said, laughing happily. Susan didn’t laugh back. Peter nudged his younger sister.
“That’s enough, Lu.” He said under his breath. It was enough for Susan to detect.
“Why do you use a pet name, Peter? You know it hinders growth.”
“Susan, I don’t think a bit of affection is going to harm Lucy.” Peter sighed, knowing he couldn’t win against his sister. “Just be kind for once, won’t you?”
Susan frowned and turned away. Lucy was practically immune to their quarreling as she saw a train pass in front of them.
“Look!” she said.
“That train wasn’t Eustace’s, was it?” Susan muttered disappointedly.
“Nope,” said Edmund, appearing behind her. Susan turned once again. Edmund’s nose was stuck in a book, as usual. “Eustace’s train should come in a couple minutes. You know, Mum and Dad will be on the same train, probably.”
“Fascinating.” Susan said in an uninterested monotone.
“That’s Ed, always informed.” Peter said in a nervous chuckle. “Okay. We need to…uh…get ready, or something.”
“You don’t have to be so cheerful all the time,” Susan complained.
“Golly, Susan, will you never be satisfied? What has happened with you?” Lucy looked up at her sister, confused.
“Let’s all just sit down on the benches, off the platform.” Peter said. He grabbed Lucy’s hand. The three sat down next to one another, while Edmund went off by himself reading his book.
For a while the siblings sat in silence. Then Lucy spoke.
“Trains always make me think of Narnia,” she said care-freely.
Peter looked at his sister astonished, and then nervously glanced toward Susan. She had made no move. Peter looked down at Lucy and smiled.
“We did have quite some adventures, didn’t we? They always seemed to start on trains.”
“Yes,” replied Lucy, in a slower tone. She looked up at Susan. “I always liked how we were when we went to Narnia.”
Knowing Lucy was referring to her attitude, Susan finally snapped.
“I can’t believe you can still encourage this behavior, Peter!” she exclaimed. “Certainly you don’t believe those silly games we played were real?”
Peter was used to these outbursts whenever Narnia was mentioned.
“Certainly you have not forgotten the truth.”
“Truth?!?” Susan was furious. “You know it’s just not logical!”
Lucy was now very frightened.
“Logic? Don’t you talk logic to me, Susan. Why, I don’t believe you even remember Professor Kirke!”
“He was an old, eccentric man, strange in his ways. My memories of that time long ago are faded. Why do they matter?”
“He taught you so many things, Susan! Do you not remember his view on logic?” Susan shuddered. “Have you forgotten all of it?”
“You’ve changed, Susan.” Said Lucy.
“Changed?” said Susan, amused. “I’ve matured. I’ve grown up. You have not, and you are all the worse off for it.”
“If what you’re going through is called maturing, then I have no interest in being mature.” Peter snapped. “Come on, Lu.” He and Lucy got up and returned to standing on the platform.
Well. That was nice. Susan leaned back in her chair, disturbed by her sibling’s unshakable faith in that old childhood game. She was sure she was the only sane one left.
Susan glanced over at Edmund sitting a little ways off. He probably hadn’t even heard the conversation, so engrossed in his book. She wondered what kind it was. Nothing logical, she was sure, like the literature he used to read. It was probably some awful fairy tale, or fantasy—trash that filled your mind with wishful, untrue thoughts. She shook her head. Or worse—it could be The Bible. She had seen Edmund studying that earlier. What he would want with a collection of old myths, she had no idea.
“You could actually talk to me, you know.” Edmund’s words startled Susan. She hadn’t known he had noticed her.
“Oh, well, I…” Her attempts to form a sentence dwindled to nothing. She was silent for a while. Edmund put down his book.
“What do you remember of that summer in the country, during the war?” He asked. Susan rolled her eyes.
“Oh, come , Edmund, must you bring this up again?”
“Seriously, Susan. What do you remember?”
Edmund’s older sister paused, collecting her thoughts.
“Well, it was boring, mostly, in the beginning. Then…I think, I don’t remember to well…Lucy made up some sort of game, the Narnia gibberish you’ve all been talking for years. And after that things were different. We seemed to get along better.” Susan shrugged. “I remember the game lasted for a few more years. Then it stopped, but you all still talked of it though it were true.”
“Do you remember anything about Narnia?” Edmund asked.
“It wasn’t real, Edmund.” Susan smiled.
Edmund was still troubled.
“Well, even our ‘pretend’ Narnia. How would you describe it?”
Susan thought hard again. Then she unearthed a strange feeling she didn’t often discuss.
“I know I have some vivid memories. But they have long since faded, and I only have dreams of memories of pictures created through the imagination of my own mind.”
Edmund blinked, a laugh forming on his lips.
“Was it snowy?”
His simple question caught Susan off-guard, and she nearly laughed as well. But she soon realized the huge problem behind such an idea.
“Edmund, Edmund.” She sighed. “I do not understand why you can’t grasp the logical truth. Certainly you with all of your knowledge must be able to realize Peter and Lucy are in the wrong.”
Edmund chuckled.
“If this is true, Susan, why do I have these memories? Why will they not stop haunting me?” He played with the book in his hands, which Susan had now realized was his Bible. Edmund was silent for a second as his voice turned more grave. “You remind me of myself, Susan. Don’t you remember that?” He looked her in the eye. “I was the one who took the peace away from our family.”
Susan glared at him.
“You know I’m right. You know I’m trying to help.”
“You’re not right, Susan.” Edmund said. “It’s three to one. We all remember. Why don’t you?”
Susan didn’t respond.
“You pushed the memories away, Susan! You classified them as dreams, because you knew they weren’t logical! And it hasn’t helped. Your speeches, your newfound ‘maturity’ hasn’t helped this family one speck!”
Susan turned away from him, pain engulfing her emotions.
“I thought you were different, Edmund.” She choked. “I thought you, and Lucy, and Peter…I didn’t think you were like this.” Susan sighed. “Did you have to bring this up today?”
Edmund didn’t respond. He just set his book down on the bench and walked to the platform where Peter and Lucy were standing.
“I though you were different too, Susan.” He called back. Then he turned toward the train tracks.
Susan tried to keep herself from tears. Tears, she knew, would not solve any problem. Today just seemed so overwhelming. No wonder she tried to escape from the house so many times. Her family had gone crazy—or else, she had.
The noise of an oncoming train caught her attention. Eustace’s. Susan tried to gather herself and look presentable. Her three siblings stood on the platform, craning their heads around to see the train. Susan supposed she should get up and join them, but she didn’t want to. She could greet Eustace just as well from her spot when he arrived.
The train’s noise got louder and louder as it approached the station. Something seemed wrong. Susan glanced up and heard the screeching of brakes. Brakes? What for? Something was wrong! Susan stood up and ran toward the platform. She never got there.
A terrible thud, and suddenly her siblings were no longer standing in front of her; just a huge, de-railed train. Susan gasped in horror. It can’t be happening…it isn’t happening…Her stunned body fell into a heap on the ground as she fainted.
I'm working on it right now, when I find a good point I'll post more.
