Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The now family of three left Susan's lovely home when it had gotten dark. When they arrived home, Phillis put the children to bed, kissing them both goodnight and wishing them the best of dreams. Then, she changed into one of Edmund's shirts and sat downstairs with the fire lit. She just lay on the sofa, her eyes shut tightly, wishing it were all the worst nightmare. She was scared to go to bed for he wasn't going to be there to hug her close and tell her how much he loved her.
When she finally did venture upstairs and into bed, she wept into her pillow. The empty space beside her filled her heart with such an awful ache she thought she might endure a heart attack any minute. Only hours before she'd been smiling at her husband, cuddling her two little angels. She felt empty. Just empty. It had gotten to a point where she had no tears left and all her sadness had washed away and been replaced by emptiness.
It was early the next morning that she was awoken by Enoch. He'd clambered onto his mother and father's bed and shook his mother awake. "What is it, darling?" she asked, rubbing the little sleep from her bloodshot eyes. "I had a dream," he whispered. "Daddy was there." He'd stumbled over his words slightly, but Phillis could understand him perfectly. "Yeah? What did he say?" she smiled up at him. "That I must keep you happy until you and Daddy see each other again," he said. Phillis sighed, hugging her boy. It would be nice to see him again. To see his smile or feel his lips on hers once more. Even Rum seemed particularly out of it in the following days.
With the children fed, Enoch was playing with a giggling Enid. By playing, he was just pulling silly faces at her - like Edmund had done to him. Phillis stood outside, in the garden. She admired the cloudy sky. She just wanted this decade over and out of her life forever. She clutched her book tightly in her hands. And, do you know what she did? She burned it. Every last page, every last word, every last letter. Burnt. Phillis had done it with tears in her eyes, but she'd done it nonetheless. She wanted to break her typewriters too, but she quickly decided against it.
That evening, Phillis poured herself a glass of wine, turned on the wireless and listened to Enoch tell her stories of his brilliant imagination. Enid was cuddled up in Phillis' lap, her big eyes open. They were bare, though. Not full of life like they usually were. The fire in them had been put out. A song came on the wireless and it certainly snapped Phillis out of her thoughts. "Enoch, you hear this song? Daddy and I danced together to this at our wedding," she told him. He didn't mind being interrupted. He knew how much his mother was hurting, despite being nearly two years old. "Do you want to dance?" Phillis asked. "Dance?" repeated Enoch. "Come on, your sister can join us too," Phillis smiled down at her son. She stood from the sofa and cradled Enid in her arms. She helped Enoch up to stand on the coffee table so he was almost the same height as her. They swayed along to the sweet voice of Vera Lynn slowly. "Listen to the lyrics, Enoch," Phillis whispered.
We'll meet again. Don't know when Don't know where But I know we'll meet again Some sunny day
"Do you think we'll see daddy again?" asked Enoch. Phillis stroked his head, swaying along gently with him. "Perhaps. Always look out for the sunny days, okay?" she said, staring at the licking flames of the fireplace. "I prefer the stars," he whispered. "Did I ever tell you about the time your father and I became Kings and Queens?" Enoch shook his head, desperately wanting to know more. "Yes, we became Kings and Queens of a magical land called Narnia."
