(Edited)
.Truth and Lies.
~Tuesday Prince~
I am shaken awake way too early in the morning. I groan and flip over, ignoring the shaking feeling and try to go back to sleep. Again, the feeling comes and my eyes pop open. A small light comes from a candle that is being held by Lucy standing next to my bed. I scrunch my face, trying to get used to the sudden light, and wonder why Lucy is standing at my bedside so early or late at night.
"Come on, Tuesday," she whispers. "You said the next time I wanted to go I should bring you. Now's your chance!"
I moan and sit up. "It's night, Luce. Why not wait until morning?"
"Because I can't sleep!" she insists.
I laugh slightly and swing my legs from my bed. She has a fair point. As a person who knows what it's like when I can't sleep, I feel her itching pain. I grab my boots from my closet and slip them on quietly, grabbing a candle of my own and lighting it from Lucy's. She leads me into the hall and down towards the spare room. Just as we enter, I hear the flushing of a toilet and glance back. Edmund comes out of the bathroom and looks at me. I quickly hide inside the room and just hope that he really didn't see me and only look at me. Lucy pops open the wardrobe door and crawls inside, careful not to light the coats on fire. When she doesn't come back, I excitedly follow her. Can this be it?
I reach out among the coats, searching for the back of the wardrobe, but there is none. Not this time. I continue on until my hand reaches something sharp and prickly. I pull my hand back, but press forward. I reach a light and that's when I stand. It's just like my dream, the woods all around, covered in snow, but this time, it doesn't melt. This time, it's eternal just as Aslan had told me.
"What do you think?" Lucy asks, startling me.
I had almost forgotten she was there. Still, I smile. "It's just as I remembered it. Though I doubt the snow will grow on me."
Lucy grins. "Mr. Tumnus said it has been winter for over a hundred years."
I nod. "Yes, the white witch took over Narnia and as long as she is in power, that's the way it will be forever."
Lucy's look darkens for a moment, but I wrap an arm around her shoulders, walking past the lamppost.
"But enough about the darker part of things. What do you say we meet this Mr. Tumnus of yours?"
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Lucy knocks on the small door in front of us. "Mr. Tumnus!" she calls. "Mr. Tumnus, I'm back!" The door quickly swings open, and a man sticks his head out, but not a man. A fawn. He is shorter, just a couple more inches taller than Lucy herself. He has two small horns popping out of his head and a nice fuzzy beard on his chin. He has no legs, but those of a goat, with hooves instead of feet. He looks between Lucy and I, worry in his eyes.
"I told you already," he says urgently, "the witch has spies everywhere. What are you doing here?"
Instead of matching his worry, Lucy smiles wide. "I brought a friend, Mr. Tumnus. She said she's been to Narnia before."
I shake my head with a small laugh. "I didn't say that I have been to Narnia, I said I was familiar with it, and I am, but I must tell you everything inside. If the trees hear, we may be in deep danger."
Mr Tumnus lets us inside quickly and I tell Lucy everything. Everything from the beginning to the end. The only part I miss is my last dream. The last dream I ever had. The one with Aslan. That one Lucy didn't need to know about, but that's alright because she's fascinated as it is, loving my entire tale. Mr. Tumnus is the same way and I know that as he sends us on our way, making us promise to visit him again, he has a lot to think about. Lucy and I walk back to the lamppost, laughing and talking quietly among each other.
"Edmund?" Lucy says suddenly.
I look up and indeed, there he is, looking off into the distance almost longingly. When he hears his name, he turns to us in surprise.
"Oh Edmund! You got in too! Isn't it wonderful?"
Lucy hugs her brother tight, but he shies away, looking pale, and almost sick.
"Where have you two been?" he asks.
"With Mr. Tumnus," I answer.
"He's fine!" Lucy continues on. "The White Witch hasn't found out anything about him meeting me."
I know she probably shouldn't have told him that. He looks as though he had just met the woman himself.
"The White Witch?" he wonders.
"She calls herself the Queen of Narnia, but she really isn't. Are you all right? You look awful."
Edmund thinks for a moment before forcing a shiver and covering his arms with his hands, rubbing up and down. "Well, what'd you expect!" he exclaims. "I mean, it's freezing. How do we get out of here?"
Lucy and I show him the way out, but I find something off about him. He looks not completely there. There's something longing about the way he looks over his shoulder. I don't know what's going on with him, but whatever it is, I don't trust it.
"I'm going to wake them up," Lucy decides.
That brings my attention back to the present. I shake my head urgently. "You can't. They'll think you're mad."
Lucy shakes her head as well. "Not with you two. They'll believe me now that you two know."
I chuckle. Peter and Susan are practically adults. They won't believe a single word I say. "Fine, you can tell them," I say, "but I'm going back to bed."
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
I don't go back to sleep. Instead, I listen to what's happening in the other room. I've almost drifted off when I hear crying. I immediately get out of bed and fling the door open, just in time to see Lucy run by my room, Peter and Susan following close behind her. I tried to warn her. I rush out of my own room and turn the corner. Lucy hugs the Professor who seems to have just come out of his office, wearing a red dressing gown and fluffy slippers. He looks down in surprise at the child as she buries her face in his chest. Mrs. Macready's door slams open and she stalks out in a dressing gown of her own.
"You children are one shenanigan shy of sleeping in the stable!" she whisper shouts. "Professor. I'm sorry. I told them you were not to be disturbed."
"It's alright, Mrs. Macready," he promises kindly. "I'm sure there's an explanation. But first of all, I think this one is in need of a little hot chocolate."
"Yes Professor. Come along, dear."
Lucy takes the woman's hand and walks away, taking one last glance over her shoulder and meeting my eyes. Her eyes are red and puffy from crying and the ball of guilt in my stomach is back. I should have said something. The Professor turns back to us.
"I don't know what instigations you three had in this, but I think we need to have a little chat. Please, come take a step into my office." We do so, and the Professor snaps the door closed behind us. He moves to take a seat behind his desk which is clear of papers and is quite organized. I wonder what he does all day. The Professor quickly picks up a pipe and puts in in his mouth, taking a couple puffs. "You seem to have upset the delicate internal balance of my housekeeper."
Susan sighs. "It's our sister, sir. Lucy," she tells him.
"The weeping girl," he points out.
"Yes, sir. She's upset."
"Hence the weeping."
"She thinks she's found a magical land. In the upstairs wardrobe."
The Professor almost chokes on his pipe. He looks up, meeting the girl's eyes to see if she's telling the truth. "What did you say?" he asks.
"She's said she found Narnia, Professor," I tell him. His eyes move to me and he stares into the depths of my soul. I can't help but smile.
"And have you ... have you seen this Narnia?" he wonders.
I almost nod.
"Lucy says she has," Susan says, "but Edmund claimed they were pretending." That little lying cheat.
"And he's usually the more truthful one, is he?" Peter and Susan share a look.
"No," Peter says steadily. "This would be the first time."
"Well, if she's not mad and she's not lying, then logically we must assume she's telling the truth."
"You're saying that we should just believe her?" Susan asks in unbelief.
"She's your sister, isn't she? You're her family! You might just try acting like one!"
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
"Have you really been to the wood inside the wardrobe?" Peter asks me after the Professor dismissed us back you our rooms.
I look up at him. Even though we're almost the same age, he's much taller than I am and it makes me smile. "I suppose you're going to have to find out for yourself," I tell him. "I'm not to decide for you what's real or not." I can tell I've left him with questions.
*~~~~~*~~~~~*
Word Count : 1,600