There was once a girl who lived in a veranda. She had lived in the veranda for as long as she could remember. She did have a vague recollection of being lost in space at some point, but her memory was rather obscure. She didn't know who the veranda belonged to or who lived in the house in which the veranda belonged. It didn't matter, the veranda was hers. It looked out into a little cozy garden, (if you can call a garden cozy) where she go exploring and foraging from time to time.
She was always accompanied on these adventures by her many faithful friends and sidekicks: the cats. IThey were more of a family infact. She was the matriarch of the veranda. At the end of the day when the family returned with whatever spoils they managed to hunt or forage, she would divide it all up for everyone.
And so they lived in happy companionship for many years till one day, the matriarch woke up to find that she was no longer in a her veranda. It was a new place, quite unlike anything she had ever seen before! The floor was marble, and the walls were richly painted and the lamps were made of intricately patterned colourful glass.
It must be a palace! she decided.
Excited, she began to explore. She opened every door, looked in every broom cupboard and followed every staircase till she found a little room tucked away in a forbidden corner of the palace. In that room was another little girl, seated with her legs crossed on a comfortable looking couch, holding a curious object. The matriarch advanced hesitantly. The girl remained perched, unmoving but breathing till she discovered the matriarch leaning in so close that she yelped. Both girls fell back startled. Then both got up and stood at a distance and regarded each other with a tinge of wary. The palace girl was small and skinny with a bush for hair, and she wore enormous spectacles. The matriarch on the other hand, had wanton unrefinement about her, unbefitting any person in a palace.
"What is that?" the matriarch asked the girl, pointing at the curious object that she beheld.
"It's a book of course!" said the girl.
"A book? What does it do?"
"It tells you stories!" said the girl aghast.
"How? I couldn't hear anything?" the matriarch demanded suspiciously.
"You don't hear it, silly! You read it!"
"And how do you do that?" bespoke an incredulous matriarch.
With an authoritative huff, the palace girl declared, "Sit down. Let me show you."
When the girl was satisfied with the progress the matriarch had made, she got up and smoothed down her skirt and declared, "Well I'm off then. I shall need to see you tomorrow once again, to continue our lessons. Shall we meet here?"
Baffled, the matriarch looked at the younger girl. "There's more?"
"Of course there's more silly! There is loads more! Why I expect it will take us at least a month to have you read properly."
"A month? Can I live here then?"
"Here? Don't you a place to live?"
"No."
"What about your Mummy? Or your Daddy?"
The matriarch shook her head, quite unperturbed at not having any of the luxuries the girl mentioned.
"Well then, I suppose you'd better make yourself comfortable here. No one ever comes here anyway."
Months passed. The matriarch had settled into the little room full of books. Whenever she got hungry she would make a trip to the kitchen and scrounge out food enough to keep her going. No one ever saw her. The palace was always empty. It also didn't have any cats. And funnily enough a very tiny thing that could be passed for a garden. Ever since the small girl had declared her fit to embark on literary journeys unaccompanied, it was all she had been doing. The girl had given her
Little Women and
Robin Hood to begin with, but thereafter, she had a room full of books at her disposal. The girl would come and visit her everyday. They would read and tell each other stories and play made up games as little children are wont to do. Thus they forged a bond of fastidious friendship which was to last forever more. Even when, one day when they were much older, the small bespectacled girl went to the little room in the corner of the palace to find it empty.
For the matriarch, found herself once again, in unfamiliar terrain. Harsh halogen lights meant to illuminate, instead managed to blind her. There was a roar like nothing she had heard before: a thousand voices screaming in unison. As her eyes adjusted, she discovered that she was standing in a mammoth, monster of a room which indeed had thousands of people screaming. The centre of it had two boys, one a scrawny looking thing, and the other perfectly poised with rather oddly fashioned hair and clothes. They stared intently at a depression in the ground and gesticulated violently every so often.
It soon dawned on her that it was game they were playing, with two dangerous looking tops that spun and clashed with titanic force and at times seemed to be emitting fire. The boys were competing. The crowd was cheering them on. This was a stadium.
Soon the scrawny boy let out a terrible cry of defeat. The oddly dressed boy turned quietly with a small smirk on his lips, and walked away. The matriarch was left with a queer lurching in her tummy. She did not feel very matriarch-ly anymore. Only like a frivolous little girl.
The enigmatic charisma of the boy was refreshingly new to her rather limited existence. It was something that she felt the need to explore at once! There were places to be explored, books to be explored, but she never knew that people could be explored too! A secret delight crept up her as she watched his effortless gravity, despite the fact that he was possibly the most weirdly exotic thing that anyone could have seen.
The minutes melted into hours before the lights were shut and everyone went home.
The besotted girl then deemed it time to have a look around. She wandered vaguely in the direction where she saw the participants go after they finished each match. Towards to end of the corridor, to her joy, she saw the swift flick of an impossibly long scarf. She ran after him and yelled for him to wait. He turned to see a rather ordinary looking girl in mismatched clothing, panting to catch her breath. Except she didn't seem to notice exactly how mismatched her clothing was. He humored her with a bemused smile.
Still panting, the girl insisted on stating the obvious, "You aren't like everybody else."
He nodded ever so slightly.
"I like it."
The amusement was clearly growing.
"You're not one to talk very much are you?"
A slight shake of the head.
"Do you want to be friends?"
"Sure." said the boy simply, to which the girl beamed.
And they walked off together into the darkness silently.
When at last there was light, it grew terribly cold. There was snow. And there was a lamp post. And four other children. The boy was no longer with her. She, however had become quite old. Nearly a young woman. The other children didn't seem to notice her. There were two boys and two girls. One of each as old as her and the other two much smaller. The little girl was first to spot her.
"Who are you?" she asked incredulously.
"Lucy!" scolded the older boy and turning to me said, "I'm terribly sorry, my sister is just excited. My name is Peter. This is Susan....." the older girl nodded with a smile, "...and Edmund...." the sullen looking younger boy glared unpleasantly, "....and Lucy. My brothers and sisters."
The girl told them her name. Soon a story was relayed to her by all of them by which she came to understand that they had discovered a new world.
The magic of this world fascinated her! There were many adventures to be had, and she was not disappointed. It was the happiest she could ever remember being. There was talk of a lion, who they were required to find so they could defeat the evil witch who had colonized the land wrongfully. When she was defeated they children were made kings and queens by the lion, thought the girl herself was content to have more adventures. She travelled to the corners of this world and found the magical lands surrounding it. She discovered the mysteries they held and it brought within her a profound serenity as she marvelled at the ineffable wonders.
And one day when she was much, much older, already an adult, she returned to the palace of the kings and queens, Cair Paravel, to find Peter anxiously awaiting her return. She knew of course, the he would be waiting, and she did not make him wait any longer.
As all the arrangements were being made, the Kings and Queens went to hunt the white stag in the forest. It was rumoured that the stag could not be caught so naturally, an attempt needed to be made. The stag escaped them, but they had a good time all the same. They lounged about the forest for a picnic and feasted on enchanting delicacies unknown to our world.
Amidst the merriment Lucy spotted a lamp post and ran towards it. The rest called after her and when she did not answer, reluctantly got up and followed one by one. The forest grew thick until at one point it was pitch black. The leaves grew softer until at one point it was like the forest was made of fur....
Quite abruptly then, the girl stumbled into a large grey city. Astoundingly enough, she was a young woman again. It was like she hadn't aged since the day she set foot in the other world.
Everything around her was confusion. She was standing on a pavement trying to comprehend the situation when a very tall man wearing a very large black overcoat and a scarf, wrapped fashionably about his neck, bumped into her.
"So sorry." he said absently.
He was accompanied by a rather stocky, shorter man who walked with a slight limp. He was dressed more ordinarily in a simple jacket and trousers.
At a second glance the tall man declared, "You don't belong here. Come with me, girl." and took her by the hand.
Briskly, but not unkindly, she was dragged across the incomprehensible bustle. The stocky man gave her a reassuring pat on the back and smiled knowingly.
There was a police box. It was blue.
A door was opened. She was put in. The door was shut.
The madman of the box took her in. And it is with him that she stayed till she grew old. It is with him that she stays till this day. For the madman took her across the stars and showed her impossible things.
What he also showed her was why she could never really get old. He was a madman with a box after all.
