The sun soaked into Lily's warm skin. She lay back on the deck chair, stretching out and pulled her sun-glasses over her eyes, shutting out most of the light, tinting her family around her green. It was a perfect day here in the clearing - hot, and clear, without a single cloud, just as it always was - though back home in the real world it was raining.
Lily sat up, propped herself up on her elbows, and looked over at her family, who were lined up in deck-chairs next to her.
Her dad had fallen asleep stretched out on his deck chair, and Harriet was putting on sun-cream. Sarah was reading a fashion magazine, sipping apple juice. Lucy turned to look at Lily, and grinned. Both Lily and Lucy's hair had been stained a deeper orange than before with the sun, and their freckles were darker, and they were now almost full-on gingers.
They matched the orange leaves and twigs of the forest floor, the colour of Harriet's macaroni cheese, the golden colour of a sun belonging to a parallel world.
At least here they were guaranteed good weather for family holidays. They had been staying here for three days so far, sunbathing on the deck-chairs, paddling in the now-returned rock pool from the first memory, exploring the woods, sleeping in a tent, nipping into the real world to get food and anything they might have forgotten to pack. It looked like the look, don't touch rule wasn't here anymore. It had gone, along with Lily's memories.
Because there weren't any memories in the clearing for Lily now. It looked like her addiction had used them all up. She could remember everything. And it didn't make her sad now. It made her very, very happy.
Maybe Lily had once swore never to go back inside the Cupboard - but, it was like she'd spat at Lucy many months ago - a magic Cupboard had its uses.
THE END
YOU ARE READING
Cupboard Narnia
FantasyLily is always moving house. She had been since she was six, and her parents split her, her Mum marrying a TV chef called Harriet. Lily hasn't seen her twin, Lucy, or her father for years. Everything is as normal as it ever is around her - until she...
