[debut] let it sing me home
Once, not quite as long ago as one might think, there was a young man studying for exams. It was the summer of 1945, and the war was ending. Peter had spent a long day out at the park, reading under the shade of the largest oak tree he could find, twirling a leaf in his fingers. From time to time Professor Kirke let him read out at the park instead of hearing his recitations or testing him at the cottage, and the fresh air did him a world of good. Since he was reading Shakespeare's sonnets, sitting under an oak tree in the summer sunshine had seemed appropriate. After all, there was only so much time he could spend cooped up there with the Professor. He loved the old man, and he was learning more this summer than he had in years of school, but there were times when there was nothing for it but to spend a day with his toes in the grass, the birds for company. So like Narnia, and yet so different. The air felt thicker, but if he just stared out over the field and felt the bark of the tree behind him, then maybe, for a moment, it wasn't so much like England and maybe, just maybe, another place entirely.
He'd been reading all afternoon, and the sun was beginning to set. He turned his face to the sky, the bright light warming his face as he squinted his eyes up at the pink and orange clouds. He dusted his feet off, pulling his socks and shoes back on and pushing his book into his carryall. It was moments like this where he felt a pang of loneliness. The problem with having three siblings is when they weren't around, it felt like he was missing a limb. He had to study for exams with the professor, Ed and Lu were with their dumb cousin Eustace for the summer, and Susan was with Mother and Father in America. Scattered. At least Ed and Lucy are together. He straightened up, slinging his bag over his shoulder and staring off for a moment, imagining their faces, their smiles. It was mid July, and they were halfway through their time apart. His exams weren't until September, so he still had work to do, but he would get to see them again soon, he hoped. He smiled crookedly to himself, missing them. Only a few months more to go. His hand drifted to his pocket, and to the soft stone that Ed had given him, the one he'd found in his bag when they'd last returned from Narnia.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a formidable figure at the treeline, the shadow of a mane... "Aslan?" The question was instinctual, a name he hadn't uttered in months, maybe years, but something that still came to his lips so readily. He furrowed his brow, turning his head toward the phantom image. Of course, there was nothing there, and certainly not a lion. He breathed out carefully, his shoulders dropping as he shook his head and turned to head home to Professor Kirke. He gripped the strap of his carryall, turning past the trunk of the giant oak, only to find himself very much not in Finchley.
His feet sunk into the sand and he blinked slowly as he faced a clear blue ocean, the waves rolling in just a few yards from where he stood. He took a shaky breath, turning slowly toward land, eyes scanning up to the treeline and over the horizon, shellshocked. This wasn't Narnia; the air wasn't right, and he knew he wasn't returning any time soon. He stared at the beach ahead of him, completely overcome. He fell to his knees, his eyes glazed over with wonder. "Aslan's Mane," He breathed. "Where am I?"
[locked to Susan]
He'd been reading all afternoon, and the sun was beginning to set. He turned his face to the sky, the bright light warming his face as he squinted his eyes up at the pink and orange clouds. He dusted his feet off, pulling his socks and shoes back on and pushing his book into his carryall. It was moments like this where he felt a pang of loneliness. The problem with having three siblings is when they weren't around, it felt like he was missing a limb. He had to study for exams with the professor, Ed and Lu were with their dumb cousin Eustace for the summer, and Susan was with Mother and Father in America. Scattered. At least Ed and Lucy are together. He straightened up, slinging his bag over his shoulder and staring off for a moment, imagining their faces, their smiles. It was mid July, and they were halfway through their time apart. His exams weren't until September, so he still had work to do, but he would get to see them again soon, he hoped. He smiled crookedly to himself, missing them. Only a few months more to go. His hand drifted to his pocket, and to the soft stone that Ed had given him, the one he'd found in his bag when they'd last returned from Narnia.
Then, from the corner of his eye, he thought he saw a formidable figure at the treeline, the shadow of a mane... "Aslan?" The question was instinctual, a name he hadn't uttered in months, maybe years, but something that still came to his lips so readily. He furrowed his brow, turning his head toward the phantom image. Of course, there was nothing there, and certainly not a lion. He breathed out carefully, his shoulders dropping as he shook his head and turned to head home to Professor Kirke. He gripped the strap of his carryall, turning past the trunk of the giant oak, only to find himself very much not in Finchley.
His feet sunk into the sand and he blinked slowly as he faced a clear blue ocean, the waves rolling in just a few yards from where he stood. He took a shaky breath, turning slowly toward land, eyes scanning up to the treeline and over the horizon, shellshocked. This wasn't Narnia; the air wasn't right, and he knew he wasn't returning any time soon. He stared at the beach ahead of him, completely overcome. He fell to his knees, his eyes glazed over with wonder. "Aslan's Mane," He breathed. "Where am I?"
[locked to Susan]