Disclaimer: I don't own Narnia, because then I wouldn't be writing fanfiction (duh)
Written for the NFFR summer colour challenge
'But the third was the grey, gravelly surface of a platform in a country station, and a seat with luggage round it, where they were all sitting as if they were never moved from it.'
– C.S Lewis, Prince Caspian
..........
There's always been something different between our world and Narnia.
It's something intangible. When I try to put my finger on it, it always seems to be able to just slip away, mocking me.
Pete and Lucy claim it's because Aslan's there. In Narnia, I mean. But Aslan's told us that He's in this world, too. We just haven't found Him yet. Though I do wonder why Aslan made Narnia so bright and beautiful and interesting and yet make England so gloomy and boring, and grey.
You know, I think the main difference between Narnia and England is the colours. Narnia's full of bright colours; it makes her seem happy and inviting. It makes her seem like home. As for England, though, it's grey, grey, grey all the time.
I told Lucy about this, and she says I should be happy because I'm seeing things in shades of grey rather than just a flat grey. I personally believe that there's no difference at all between them. But Lucy's always been a little odd (in a good way), even back in Narnia, when she was grown up.
I've written a list of complaints about England, because grey really isn't my colour, and I really have nothing else to do.
……….
1. The Weather
It's been raining again.
It always rains in England. And even if there's no rain, there's always those massive dark grey clouds that cover up the sun, making it really cold. And that's why I'm here, writing this pointless list. And even though I've never been the outdoorsy-type boy (that's Peter), I've never quite enjoyed the rain, either.
Pete's always been the one to enjoy playing sports outside while I'm quite happy to stay in the library all day, reading books. You can say that I'm kind of geeky like that. I don't mind. But I think it's kind of depressing when you're looking out the window and see the blasted grey clouds and rain when you could (and should) see the nice and warm sunshine after being cooped up in a room all day. It kind of dampens your spirits when it's raining, you know?
It's the complete opposite of Narnia, where it is nearly always sunny, even if it's in the middle of winter and there's a thick layer of snow about a foot high from the ground.
2. The English people
In England, it always seems as if we're hurrying to get absolutely nowhere, or wait for nothing to happen. Like, for example, you need to board trains to get to school, and you wait for the train to come. Then, when you're on the train, you tell the train to hurry so you can get to school faster. Once at school, you wait for the term to end so that you can go home.
Not that I'm blaming anyone for doing this, because I do it, too. Frequently. Actually, some part of me is just waiting for Aslan to take us back to Narnia, even though He'd said we'd never be coming back.
In England, everyone's 'out for themselves'. No one cares about anyone else but themselves. I bet you, if you faint right in front of someone in England, that someone would just keep on walking!
Everyone has to blend in to be able to 'belong' to society here. People that don't fit in (namely Pete, Lucy and I, because Susan doesn't really count anymore) are casted out, looked down upon(Bet that they don't know we're Kings and Queens. Well, Queen). I reckon that everyone here in England, if they were colours, they would all be shades of grey, but we'd be bright colours, like gold, or crimson. I guess that's because people are afraid of difference, afraid of the unknown.
3. How England's changed Susan
Susan doesn't really care about Narnia anymore. Claims that it's all a childhood game, and that we should all really grow up (completely disregarding the fact that we had already grown up once, in Narnia). She also says that we shouldn't lead 'little' Lucy on like that. Imagine, she says, how hurt 'little' Lucy would be when she finds out that Narnia's not real and that her brothers had been lying to her. Her words sting Pete and I, because we don't really know her. Not anymore. Nowadays, she only cares about nylons and lipsticks.
She wasn't always like this, though. She used to be beautiful – on the inside and on the outside. But now, she's only beautiful on the outside, an empty hell of her former self (though it's a really fake kind of beautiful, with all that makeup she lathers on her face everyday). I like to think it's England that's done this to her. I can barely recognise. She's certainly never done any of this in Narnia. Take my beloved sister, and turn her into a self-destructive monster.
She also thinks we're embarrassing. Her so called 'friends' think we're freaks (which we are, in a way). But whenever we bump into her on the streets, or in a mall or something, she just pretends that we don't exist, and goes off in the opposite direction. We ignore her (We've learned to keep our distance since the time she told us to stop following her around everywhere). It gets really awkward at dinnertime, where we're always glaring at Susan, and she's glaring back, while our parents wonder what happened to make us act this way.
Some days, though, I see a bit of colour come out from the grey that is the new Susan Pevensie. We all do, and we enjoy it while it lasts, which isn't very long. A few hours, tops. It's really rare, too.
And it only happens on really sunny days (this means almost never). Kind of like the days we used to enjoy, back in Narnia.
4. Things like Concrete and Steel
Seriously. Who, by the Lion's mane, would like to see these atrocious grey things everywhere? And why are these used to build absolutely everything, from sidewalks to lamp posts? There isn't even a flash of green, or anything natural (except humans and the occasional dog), for that matter, in sight.
I suppose it goes with everything else. Like the people. And especially the weather.
I think my intense dislike (for lack of a better word) of the colour grey comes from when we came back from Narnia after defeating the Telmarines. The first thing I saw of England was the grey surface of a train platform, and after Narnia and our adventures, grey's really, really boring. Especially that shade of grey in the platform.
Back in Narnia, everything was so much better. I know for a fact that Cair Paravel is made out of marble – and it's a really nice shade of white. Aslan, even the White Witch was better than this! (Trust me; it pains me to even think this, but...) At least she was creative, you know, carving her castle out if ice.
……….
The rain must've stopped, because I can't hear the rain pounding against the roof anymore.
I'm pretty, no; scratch that, very surprised when I open the window curtains. The clouds are moving off into the distance, revealing a beautiful sunset. It's oddly similar to the ones I've seen, back in Narnia, but different, because this is England, after all. At least there isn't any of the 'English grey' that I've come to expect to see.
You know, maybe England isn't as different from Narnia as I think it is. Maybe I'm just homesick and thinking that England is bad, just because it's not Narnia. Yes, in England it did rain a lot, but then, it also did in Archenland, and I've never thought of her as grey and gloomy. Hey, maybe people in Narnia acted differently because I was a King, and if I were a commoner, then I would see a different side to them.
Though I reckon that maybe, just maybe, Pete and Lucy are right about the Narnia vs. England thing. It's because Aslan's there, in Narnia. I know that He is here, too, but we haven't found Him yet. Maybe, if we find Him, the world would seem better, like seeing everything in full colour rather than seeing in the black, white and greys like I am right now. It's too bad I don't know where to start.
I suppose England's better than Narnia in some ways. Like, in England, we have toilets. I can remember that, back in Narnia, Pete and I would often have to dig holes to do our…business…whilst on campaigns and other stuff like that. I still shudder at the thought (and at the horrid memories, though it was funny how, one time, Pete nearly tripped into his own, um, disposable toilet).
Yes, I suppose England isn't so bad, after all.
I would appreciate reviews...