The Word

Prologue

Mary watched enviously as her mother carefully traced the tube of lipstick across her mouth. Her once naturally pink lips became concealed underneath the modern nude color. Pressing her lips together, the woman stood up and began to head towards the door.

Mary immediately jumped up from her mother's bed to follow her out. "Mum, is it okay if I go visit Elizabeth?"

The woman shook her head as she fumbled with her pearl earrings. "No, I don't want you leaving the house while I'm gone. Something could happen."

The girl heaved a dramatic sigh. "But you're just going to the store! Nothing bad will happen!"

"Mary, I said no."

With a pout the girl stomped off towards her bedroom. The woman winced as she heard the door slam.

Susan gave a quick glance at her daughter's door, contemplating whether or not she should scold her for her behavior, before deciding it would be better if she just left. As Susan started the car she wondered if perhaps she was being a bit overprotective. That had always been Edmund's biggest complaint. It would be impossible to count how many times he had called her a wet blanket or a spoilsport. But then thoughts of Edmund always brought up thoughts of what happened to Edmund. 'No,' Susan thought as she drove down the street. 'There is no such thing as being too overprotective.'

Even though she was secure in the knowledge that her daughter was safe at home where nothing bad could get to her, Susan felt irrepressively anxious and depressed. She wanted to run home, scoop Mary into her arms, and call John and beg him to come home early. But she was just being silly. The world couldn't come to a stop just to soothe away her fears. Susan continued to mentally berate herself as she drove into the store parking lot.

Susan frowned when she opened the door and saw that the entire lot was littered with puddles from the recent storm. There was no getting around it; she was going to get her new shoes wet. Carefully Susan stepped into what she thought was a relatively shallow puddle. To her horror the puddle turned out to be quite deep and her leg up to the middle of her calf became completely submerged in the muddy rain water. As Susan tried to get her bearing she realized that she was continuing to sink. The water was now up around her waist and she was going under fast. Desperately Susan tried to grab hold of the car door, but she slipped, unable to get a firm hold. She fell into the watery depths.

Susan twisted, trying to find her way out of the water. Then she noticed a light and swam towards it, erupting from the puddle fully dry. Blinking rapidly, Susan pulled herself up onto the grassy bank and looked around. She was in the middle of a forest that was littered with large puddles like the one she had just crawled out of. Despite the fact that she had just previously been in standing in the middle of a rather mundane store parking lot, Susan didn't feel frightened at all. How could she with the sun shining through and the peaceful stillness of the forest? She just felt so overwhelmed with a sense of tranquility and lethary. Susan supposed that she should attempt to find her way back home before John and Mary started to worry, and yet the only thing Susan did was sit down and lean back against one of the forest's solid trees. As her eyelids fluttered closed a distant echo arose from the depths of her mind-

Narnia.