Aslan Believed We Could: A Narnian Adventure

Prologue

England, 1949

"I expect by the next snowfall in Narnia, all will have forgotten about me." Melody Kirke had a habit of breathing her thoughts aloud as she wrote them, sometimes not even realizing she was doing it.

"Not all, my dear." Professor Kirke had a sort of warmth in his voice, one that always brought Melody great comfort. In fact, had it been anyone else at all that had interrupted her, she might have been startled; even irritated.

"Not all." The Professor continued, " Not Aslan. And certainly not you."

"I suppose you're right, Father. It's just that...time is a funny thing Over There. I was gone for years, Father. Years. Yet I came home and you hadn't been without me for more than five minutes."

"Good thing, too. It's all I could bear." Professor Kirke gently rested his hand on Melody's and smiled warmly at her. He then softly chuckled as he got up and started towards the door. "Well, I'll let you have some time alone with your thoughts now. I must encourage you to let them reside somewhere other than your mind alone. So that these memories will be alive always, so that they will not be forgotten."
"But Father, what good will it do? You wrote yours down for me to read. Who will read mine? No one here would believe them, no one other than you. And as I've said, Over There I'll be forgotten."

"Ah" said Professor Kirke, turning once again towards his daughter. He walked over to the table where she was sitting and put a comforting arm around her. "You will remember them. That will do you much good. Remember them, learn from them, cherish them. They are worth more than you think."

"I reckon you're right. You usually are." Melody gave a faint smile. "It's just so painful being the only one who remembers. It's awfully lonely, Father."

"Well you and I once knew a girl in a situation very like yours. A girl who saw worlds where everyone else saw nothing. No one believed her and yet..."

"And now she's–"
"Please, don't torment yourself, dear Melody. In your heart you know exactly where she is. You know, most believe that nothing, er, no one lasts forever. Quite the contrary! Nothing, no one, is ever truly gone."
"No one is ever truly gone." Melody whispered as her eyes lit up. And she found herself whispering this quite often in the days that followed.