Chapter 2: The Wood in the Back of the Wardrobe
Of course, the next morning it was raining.
"I wish we could go outside," I said, looking out the window at the pouring rain.
"But we can't," Edmund said sullenly from the floor.
"Thanks for reiterating that, Ed," Peter said. He and Susan were playing a dictionary game on the sofa. I was not participating.
"Gast-ro-vascular. Gastrovascular," Susan said.
"Is it Latin?" Peter asked tiredly.
"Is it Latin for worst game ever invented?" Edmund said cheekily. Susan glared at him and slammed the book shut.
"We could play hide-and-seek," Lucy suggested.
"But we're already having so much fun," Peter said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and went back to looking out the window.
"C'mon, Peter, please," Lucy said, shaking her brother's arm. "Please?"
Apparently Peter was not immune to his sister's puppy-dog eyes. "One... two... three..." he began to count. I whirled around in astonishment as Edmund protested, Susan got up reluctantly, and Lucy ran off in excitement to hide. Then I realized we were actually playing hide-and-seek, and so I also ran off to find a place to hide. I knew all the best hiding places in the house, and so I was sure I would win.
Then, just as I was hiding behind a secret panel in the wall, Lucy burst into the hallway shouting, "I'm back! It's all right! I'm back!"
"Back from where?" I asked, coming out from my hiding spot.
Ed was hiding behind a drapery on the other side of the wall and poked his head out, looking annoyed. "Shut up, Lu, Pete's coming!
Just then Peter came around the corner. "You know, I don't think you quite get the point of hide-and-seek," he said.
Susan came running in. "Does this mean I win?"
"I'm not sure Lucy gets the idea of the game," Peter began.
"Haven't you all been wondering where I was?" Lucy asked, confused. "I've been gone for hours."
"Hours?" I asked, blinking rapidly in confusion.
"Where?" Peter asked.
"The wood behind the wardrobe, it's called Narnia," Lucy said, taking Peter by the hand and dragging him out of the room. I followed closely behind with Susan and Edmund. Lucy led us to a spare room with nothing in it but a wardrobe. It was a remarkably bare room, but for some reason, when I looked at the wardrobe, chills ran up and down my spine. However, when we looked in the back of the wardrobe, all that was there was merely a wooden back.
"There's nothing there, Lu," Peter said.
"Are you sure you weren't just imagining it?" Susan said.
"It really was there," Lucy said hesitantly.
"Well I believe you," Ed said.
We all looked at him in surprise. "You do?" Lucy asked incredulously.
"Yeah. Didn't I tell you about the football field in the bathroom cupboard?" Ed joked.
"Now will you just shut it?" Peter said angrily.
"Who put you in charge?" Edmund retorted sharply. "You think you're Dad, but you're not!" With that he ran out of the room.
"Nicely handled," Susan said sarcastically, and she too walked out of the room.
"But it really was there," Lucy said, a bit sadly.
"We don't all have your imaginations, Lucy," and Peter also left, leaving Lucy and I standing in front of the wardrobe.
I felt a bit dizzy after what had just happened. "Well then," was all I could say.
"Do you believe me?" Lucy asked.
"I - I don't know," I said. "I want to belive you, Lucy, I really truly do. However it's such an unlikely thing to happen. Woods don't just appear in the backs of wardrobes."
"I know," Lucy said. "I wouldn't lie about this, though."
"I know you wouldn't," I said. "It's a very difficult story to believe, however. I really want to believe you, but my mind is telling me otherwise."
"I suppose I understand," Lucy sighed.
I felt badly for Lucy, so to cheer her up, I asked, "I don't suppose you would telling me all about what happened in the wood in the back of the wardrobe, would you?"
Lucy's face brightened. "Of course! It started when I went into the wardrobe to hide..."
Sorry this is a shorter chapter! The real action will be coming soon, however, I promise! ~the authoress