A Second Chance

Chapter 4

Once Susan was home all she felt would calm her was to read old letters from her family. She wasn't sure why this, of all things, would calm her, but it did. She opened the drawer in her desk where she kept all the letters. She pulled out one Edmund had written to her when he and Lucy had just arrived in Cambridge.

Dear Susan,
You're so lucky you get to stay with Mum and Dad in America. I'm having the worst of times here. First off I have to share a room with Eustace. Yeah there's not much of explanation needed there. Second, Aunt Alberta spoils Eustace terribly but still makes Lu and I do chores and run errands. "You two need to do your share of work around here. After all you are part of the family right now." She says. Also, Lucy's been acting strange lately. She keeps gazing in the mirror and is always tucking back her hair. I just don't understand girls. Anyhow, how are things going there? What has Peter been up to? I haven't heard from him lately, although he's never really been into writing and such. Send my love to Mum. I know she loves when I sign my letters with X's and O's but I'm just not that type. Tell her I love her anyway though.
Your miserable brother,
K. Edmund. J.

Susan laughed even through the tears. Her brother was always quite humorous, even if he was trying to be serious. Next was Lucy's letter. One she had written a few months later after their claimed adventure to Narnia.

Dear Susan,
The most amazing turn of events happened since you last wrote! In my room in Cambridge there is a painting. It is simply beautiful! There is boat that sits on magnificent rolling waves. They look like they're actually moving! I had just read your last letter when we were dragged through the canvas into the ocean. All three of us! Edmund, Eustace, and I. We were taken aboard a ship, the captain was King Caspian. We had quite an adventure! Many frights and many near tragedies such as Eustace becoming a dragon and Edmund nearly being decapitated by a sea serpent! I have something to admit to you though. I found a book, The Book of Incantations. I took a page from it with the spell that would "make me the beauty I've always wanted to be". That beauty was you, Su. That night I became you. You were in America with Peter and Edmund. You didn't have a younger sister named Lucy, and, because of that, none of you ever knew Narnia. It was horrible! Aslan came and spoke to me. He told me not to run from who and am and to not doubt my value. I miss you Susan, the real Susan. The one who wasn't so caught up in parties and makeup, and still had the imagination of the Gentle Queen of Narnia.
I must go now, Edmund is calling me because we're going dancing with Eustace, Aunt Alberta, and Uncle Harold! It will be much fun! But, of course, it won't be like the balls we danced at in Narnia.
Love you dearly,
Q. Lucy. V.

(Credit for the letter, though I did edit it a bit, goes to @_queenlucy_ on Instagram, or @queen_lu_lu_lucy here on Wattpad)

The most recent letter from Peter, since she had lived with him in America, was the one he had sent her on her eighteenth birthday. He had graduated high school and was doing college studies elsewhere while the other three were still attending the boarding school. She remembered sitting sitting on her bed reading the letter and dearly missing him.

Dear Susan,
Sorry this letter probably didn't arrive on time. I've been quite busy with studies and haven't found much time to write to you all. Anyhow, happy birthday Su! I hope hope Edmund and Lucy remembered to tell you that their present was also from me (I sent some money to help pay for it), and I hope you liked it. Have you thought at all about next year? Where you will go for schooling and such? I hope you decide to join me in taking studies from Professor Kirke. I really miss you, Susan. It's been so very dull here, nothing like our first visit. Every so often I like to walk into the spare room and take a peek in the wardrobe. Though I never find anything, I can still feel the magic. Remember how you and I used to have those long slow rides through the forest during the Golden Age? We would talk about anything and everything! I wish we still did that. I remember how close we got in those years. I will never love any one of my siblings more than the others but I think you and I have always been the closest. I feel like we understand each other best. Maybe because we're close in age and the oldest. Maybe Ed and Lu feel the same way about each other, I don't know. I love you Su, and I miss you. I can't wait till I can see you, all of you, again. Though it has been quite fascinating having professor Kirke as my professor I do wish I could be with all of you! I love you all very much and hope to see you soon. Give my love to Edmund and Lucy and tell them I'll try to write more often.
With love, your brother,
K. Peter. M.

Susan found herself second guessing her feelings every time she read these letters. If Narnia had been just a childish game would her siblings really still be talking about it in their letters years later? And would Lucy and Edmund have made up a whole other story while in Cambridge? And what about Eustace? He had always been logical, just like her, how would they have managed to pull him into their imaginative stories? But every time these thoughts and feelings crept into her mind she would push them away, but every time it got harder and harder to ignore them.