((Hey guys! Jane here, and I've got a new obsession! The Chronicles of Narnia! I just recently saw the movie and I fell in love with it all over again. Although I'm not uber Catholic, I still appreciate it as a great piece of literature! I was just reading the other day about my school district's banned books and this series was on it. I think book-banning is totally outrageous. It's like book-burning without the fire. Enough with my ranting and on to the story!))
Chapter ½: Behind every closed door…
Behind every closed door is an opportunity or adventure just waiting to be discovered.
Anyone or anything can be behind a closed door. One just has to be willing to open it and see for his or herself. Anything can be behind a closed door. The boogieman. The dog waiting to come inside. A friendly neighbor over for afternoon tea. An average, ordinary bathroom. Or even a closet full of clothes.
The only thing you have to remember is to follow your feet and doors will open where there were no doors before…
Chapter 1: Just the Beginning
"Leonardo Da Vinci ees one of ze most famoos paintairs of 'iz age," the tour guide said in a thick French accent. She walked backwards as the rest of the 10th grade class from Rosemont High School followed. They gazed astoundingly at all the paintings in the East Wing of the renowned museum The Louvre in Paris, France.
An attractive girl of about 16 years trailed behind the rest, tuning out the world on her headphones. Green Day pulsated through the ear buds of the iPod and drowned out the tour guides presentation. It wasn't that Natalie Brice was busy being a rude teenager, she probably knew about more about these paintings and their creators than the tour guide herself.
She tucked her hands in her hoodie pocket and gazed at one of her favorite pieces. She stopped in her tracks and moved towards it, letting her class disappear into the next gallery.
Natalie walked up close to the painting, with a small smile on her lips. "Madonna of the Rocks," she said, pulling an ear bud out of her ear. This Da Vinci painting wasn't what it looked like. It was originally painted with a much darker symbolism than today's version. The Catholic Church ordered Da Vinci to change the painting to fit their requirements.
Of course, Da Vinci didn't want to be killed, so he changed it. But the fact that his view on the Catholic religion was fascinating to Natalie.
She moved away from the painting and to the next. It was 'The Last Supper'; another one of Da Vinci's most famous.
There was a bench in front of the painting and Natalie took a seat. She could hear her classmates and teachers talking in the separate gallery, but instead she put her ear buds back in. She rested her elbows on her knees and cradled her chin as she closed her eyes and listened to her music.
Hopefully no one would forget about her.
And no one did forget about her.
Peering around the corner, a young man by the name of Chris Regal smiled at Natalie's figure, sitting on the bench alone. He was a handsome boy of about 16 as well. Chris and Natalie were in the same class together at Rosemont High in Manchester.
Although the two had no idea how the other felt, they both had a crush on each other for quite a while.
Chris's father, Jeff Maxwell, was the curator for the very celebrated museum that the high school was visiting. Although Chris grew up in England, his father would hardly ever come home. He was too busy with business at the museum to take time out of his demanding schedule to take a holiday with his family.
Finally, four years previous, Chris's father left his mother for good.
He had felt a great disliking to his father ever since he had left. Chris knew that work shouldn't control one's life, but never dared to tell his father likewise.
Taking a deep sigh, Chris approached Natalie.
He could hear the distant muffle of the song as he drew closer. Bending over, he crept his head ever so closer over Natalie's shoulder, almost as if listening to the music as well.
"You'll go deaf if you listen to any more of that music," he said, grinning.
Natalie shot up like a rocket into the sky and pulled out her ear buds. "I didn't mean to day dream! I was only sitting and admi—" Natalie realized who it was. "Chris! Cheese and rice, you nearly gave me a heart attack! Won't you be like a normal person and call me by my name instead of scaring the bloody crap out of me?"
Natalie playfully hit him in the arm and put her iPod away.
"How long were you standing there?" she asked.
"Not really long at all. Just wanted to make sure you weren't kidnapped or anything," he said, shrugging.
"I see,…" said Natalie, feeling awkward. There was a long pause when no one said anything. But Natalie soon drew the attention back to the paintings.
"Da Vinci… brilliant guy, eh?" she asked, walking down the gallery and Chris followed.
He agreed and then there was silence once more.
Before long, the two found themselves standing in front of an enormous mosaic. It was large enough to take up the entire wall.
It was Jacques-Louis David's painting titled 'Napoleon's Coronation.' It portrayed Napoleon, standing on an alter with a crown in his hands. Napoleon was so spiteful that he apparently pushed the Pope out of the way, grabbed the crown and named himself Emperor of France.
Natalie smirked up at the painting, "Slimey git… His head was probably too big to fit in that thing."
Chris laughed and pretty soon Natalie laughed as well. Eventually, the two were laughing about nothing at all.
"Chris m'boy!" said a booming voice from behind them.
They both stopped laughing and turned around. Standing before them was a handsome man with dark black hair. His build was muscular and his height towered over Natalie who felt some sort of dislike radiating Chris as the man drew nearer.
'Who is this man? How does he know Chris?' Thought Natalie.
"And you must be—" the man said, curiously to her.
"Oh. Um… Natalie. Natalie Brice."
"Well, Ms. Brice, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Jeff Maxwell, curator to the museum," he said proudly as he shook her hand firmly.
Now, if you read carefully at the beginning of this chapter, you might remember who this guy might be. But if you don't… you've got the attention span of Ralph Wiggum from The Simpsons. For shame!
'Bloody kneecaps! The curator!... He doesn't sound French nor British. Is he American?' Natalie thought, as she smiled at the man.
"Chris! Why don't you show Ms. Brice around the museum?" he said, jovially.
"Isn't that what our class is here for on our school field trip?" Chris replied.
"How do you know each other?" asked Natalie.
"Well, I didn't expect you to keep me a secret from Ms. Brice! I would have thought that conversation would come up sooner or later," Mr. Maxwell said, messing up Chris's hair as he gave him a noogie.
Chris scowled and turned away.
"I am Chris's father," Mr. Maxwell said, ignoring his son.
Natalie's eyes grew wide with curiosity and stared at Chris. "You never told me your father was the curator to the museum!"
"Must've slipped my mind," he mumbled in reply.
"Right!" he said, beaming at the two. "Well, then. I suggest you two find your classmates! The Louvre is mighty big and you wouldn't want to get lost now."
The three walked back through the galleries, Chris hanging in the back of the group while Natalie was being kindly interrogated by his father.
She wanted to slip away for a bit and ask Chris what was bothering him. But Mr. Maxwell held her so close to his hip in verbose ramblings, she couldn't leave. She politely nodded and agreed with whatever he said.
To Natalie's relief, they caught up with the rest of the class. Mrs. Powell, the teacher, turned around and shrieked, "There you two are! We thought you had gotten lost!"
"Don't worry, Mrs. Powell," Mr. Maxwell said, outstretching his arms. Natalie backed away and stood next to Chris as they rejoined the class. "I found them safe and sound."
'I thought he forgot about my class field trip…' Chris thought, looking anywhere but at his father.
"Class, this is Mr. Maxwell, the curator for the museum. It's such a surprise for him to visit with us today!" Mrs. Powell introduced, beaming.
While the class asked Mr. Maxwell questions about the paintings, Natalie mumbled to Chris, "What's with you and your dad?"
"We're not exactly on the best of speaking terms," Chris replied, growing red in the ears.
Natalie stared at him, a feeling of compassion towards him. She'd never known how dreadful it would be to have separated parents.
"Natalie! Where did you go?" came a voice from next to her.
She turned and saw two of her other best friends, Brianna Benjamin and James Abbott.
Brianna was tall, skinny, and wore glasses. She usually wore an eclectic array of clothing that gave her a kind of artsy style and she was always smiling. Her black hair was tied up in a knot with a clip.
She is the president of the school's Art Club and a vegetarian.
James was tall and built like an athlete like Natalie, but refused to play a team sport. He found them "too overrated" and "unworthy of his time." Natalie would always tease him about his stubbornness but he'd playfully tease her just the same about being a "bloody foot fairy." In other words, a soccer player. (Natalie was captain of her high school team.)
Most girls drooled over him and his bad boy façade but he really liked Brianna the most. Adding to his popularity, he was also the drummer for a local garage band and played often at school pep rallies and local cafes.
Although most think that he looks like a punk rocker, he's really a nice guy. One just has to be willing to get to know him.
And that's just what Natalie and Chris did.
"Were the two lovebirds captivated in a passionate display of love?" James said, draping his arms over the two.
"Wh-What! No! HAHAH! NOT AT ALL!" Natalie said, loudly.
Brianna rushed over and clamped her hand over Natalie's mouth. "Shh…"
Chris used his index and middle finger and pressed firmly on James's forehead. He pushed it backward and James smiled deviously.
"Don't say that," Chris said, turning the other way.
"Aww… Chrisy-poo! Has ickle-Jamie-kins gotten on your nerves?" James mocked.
Chris had to smile at this and completely forgot why he had been angry only a few minutes before. But that memory had been brought back to him at that very moment.
"Come to think of it, Mrs. Powell. I was wondering if I could steal Ms. Brice and Chris for a few minutes. I'd like to give them a personal tour," Mr. Maxwell said. The rest of the class had wandered away and ventured further into the gallery.
Chris looked somewhat annoyed at this and his father added, "And your other two friends may come as well. I have a special surprise for you."
'Yippie,' Chris thought, scowling.
"Ooh! A personal tour! That would be fantastic!" Brianna said, her grin shining.
Natalie half-smiled, knowing how Chris would feel about it, and agreed as well.
James nodded resolutely and rested his arm over Brianna's shoulder.
"Right!" said Mr. Maxwell, gently shoving the foursome back the way that Natalie and Chris had come earlier. Before Mrs. Powell could protest, they disappeared from view.
'I wonder where he's taking them,' Mrs. Powell thought, but soon enough her attention was drawn back to the class.
Now we must part from our world for a moment and journey to the mystical place known as Narnia.
On a pavilion seated atop a great hill looking over a large valley in a picturesque sunrise was a lone lion with a great, shaggy mane. His kind and yet fierce eyes traced the clouds approaching from the east. Their orange and reddish tinge warned of oncoming and ominous events.
"Sir," said a large, male centaur as he walked up quietly behind him. "Is there something wrong?"
The great lion turned his head and said, in barely a whisper, "It is time once again for the Sons and Daughters of Adam and Eve to voyage to our land. The enemy is on the move."
((Yay! This is gonna be fun! Alright, I give credit to my friend Chris for the plot and one of the characters. And for everyone who's read all of the books, don't worry. I know what I'm doing. I know how it ends and I've got this all figured out. Hope to see you all in chapter 2!))