Bring Back the Music (Return to Narnia)

Chapter 4

If Susan had been confused about strange things happening a few days ago, now she was befuddled. Last night she had had a dream. Or something like a dream.

Susan had been floating. She thought of being afraid, as it seemed she could fall at any second with nothing supporting her through the air, but found that she couldn't. Why, it's almost as if I'm flying on a giant animal! she thought. Susan reached down and felt long, warm fur. It's almost like...like a huge cat!

She sailed over mountains until she reached a sea. Still flying, Susan looked down. Mermaids dived in and out of the water, and every few minutes, she would see an island. Some islands had people, others were nothing but fields and hills of goats. The sky was a brilliant blue that set off the turquoise of the warm sea. Susan passed a whole collection of islands, one in particular with big cities and ports. The sky began to darken, becoming cloudy and sad.

Finally, Susan saw land approaching in the distance. A castle sat on the very edge by the beach. It didn't look friendly though. More like an evil witch's castle. Who lives there? Susan wondered as she began to drift down. This land looks so sad.

Susan's invisible mount seemed to have decided that she had reached her destination. It landed gently, in a wood that seemed somehow familiar to Susan. But it's different than I remember it, she thought. The trees are older, and the paths are overgrown. Where have I seen this wood before? And why aren't the birds singing? This was odd, for Susan could see at least ten birds watching her from the trees. She now stood in a clearing, with three cottages standing, and ivy covering the edges of the clearing. The whole place had a worried, almost waiting feeling.

Does anyone live here? Where am I? she wondered. She couldn't see anyone, but perhaps someone lived in the cottages. Maybe they will tell me where I am.

"Hello?" Susan said. She walked up to one of the cottages and knocked. Nobody answered, but one of the other doors opened and a girl came out. She was probably around Susan's own age, but her skin had a greenish tint and her hair reminded Susan of branches blowing in the wind. A dryad, Susan realized. Where have I seen a dryad before?

The girl knocked on the door of the third cottage, the one farthest away from Susan. Another girl came out, this one barely grown up, although she walked with dignity. They exchanged a few words, which Susan couldn't hear, and then the dryad came back toward Susan and stopped at the stream by her cottage. The younger girl followed. Both of them looked worried, and their faces seemed already tired, although Susan guessed it was late morning. She walked closer, hoping to find out where she was, and why the two girls looked so worried.

"Hello," Susan said again as she reached the stream. "Could you tell me where I am? I'm... lost, I think."

Neither girl even looked at her, but only continued their conversation. Can't they see me? she wondered. The younger girl seemed to be telling a story, one that saddened both her and her companion.

"I don't know why she stopped writing me," the girl continued. "I talked about Cair Paravel in my last letter. Susan never answered it. Now, she's gone. I will never see her again."

She looks familiar, Susan thought. Where have I seen that girl before? And she said my name...She looks like...like... Suddenly something clicked. "Lucy?"

"Lucy!" Susan cried. She ran the last ten paces to the stream and reached out to prod her little sister's shoulder, but she felt nothing. Lucy still seemed not to hear her. She kept talking to her friend at the stream. "Why can't you hear me? Lucy!" Susan was distraught.

Suddenly, the scene muddled. Lucy and the dryad were fading. "Lucy!" Susan shouted. "Come back! I- I need you!" Tears flowed freely down Susan's face. "No!" But the two girls by the stream grew farther away. Their voices were fading.

"...doesn't even believe Narnia exists..."

"...if she were here... she could bring back the music."

Susan was far away now, as if one of the rain clouds had come and wrapped her inside it. The stream and the cottages disappeared, and everything was dark...

Susan sat up suddenly in bed. Her face was wet with tears she hadn't noticed she was crying. It was still the middle of the night. "What- what happened?" she said into the dark.

No one answered.