"The house he had lived in before, where we had been evacuated to, had been destroyed and he had lost most of his fortune so he had to downsize to a cottage. I had only been there once or twice but it was fun, homely. You see where he had lived before was where the four of us not only made friends with him but also found a special, secret place near his home."

"There the four of us had so much fun, we had adventures and all sorts. It was our place and it was unique to us. Well that's what we thought but it turns out the professor and his best friend also knew of this place. Anyway it was a place where we were kings and queens and we could do good and help people." A tear came to her eye as she remembered the first time the four of them entered Narnia.

"After a while we had to leave and of course we were sad but we knew we were going to go back to that place." Before he could open his mouth Susan continued with her story.

"After a year we found a way back to our secret place and we loved being back there. The adventures started all over again. We could help and be useful. We were happy. Then the time came again to leave again and me and Peter discovered that, it was to be the last time we would be going there and of course we were upset."

"It was up to Edmund and Lucy to be the heroes of that place now. Our cousin and one of his classmates also had a chance to go there too. The family was involved, it was good. But by then I had started to distant myself for different reasons..." Susan then trailed off into her thoughts and memories of times when everything seemed perfect. 'If only it could have lasted' Letting a stray tear roll down her cheek.

"What happened to you then, that changed you?" Susan snapped out of her train of thought and continued the story plus he was curious to know more and slightly confused why she was telling him this but he let it pass. "After we were told we weren't to go back and that we had to leave everything behind I was heartbroken. As time went on the pain never went away sometimes it even got worse."

"I tried so hard to move on and live my life while still believing but my faith faltered as the pain never seemed to go away. Eventually I had, had enough and I had to do something, plus as the others kept acting as children I was expected to be the 'adult' of the family. I never really could understand how the others just 'got on' with life after everything that had happened to us."

She felt inquisitive eyes on her and continued again, "I took the role of adult seriously and saw it as away of escape from the hurt. I started wearing make-up and seeing boys and going to parties. The others disapproved and tried to dissuade me but I was having none of it. I couldn't take the pain and I thought no-one would have understood either."

"I took it too far and completely distanced myself from the family, they thought I was mad. The four of us had a big falling out over what I was doing. They tried everything saying I would never be allowed back to that place if I carried on the way I was and that I would forget all the good times that we shared and I knew they were right but I couldn't bring myself to stop because I didn't want to hurt again. So again I ran away from my problems."

Susan choked back a sob and regained her posture. "Please continue." So she did, even though it broke her heart. "We fought and argued more and more but I only wanted the pain to stop. Plus now a new, fresh pain had appeared and I knew it was because of the fighting so I stopped seeing them all together. Soon after I went to see them to try and fix things and it only resulted in another argument and that was the last time I saw them alive." She was sobbing freely now feeling guilty, hurt and heartbroken.

After she had calmed down a silence came over them again. This one lasting a little longer than the last. "But you remember everything don't you? That's how come your able to tell me all this?" Susan looked at him for a moment before answering. "I kept everything in a diary, a journal almost and I wrote down every detail there was to put down. In my spare time I would read it to remind myself of the 'good old days' and to try and regain some faith in that place when I was alone and thinking of everyone who I had lost." The mood dropped again and Susan carried on before she got too depressed or too deep into her thoughts.

"You see this place that I'm talking about is magical to me and the others and in my 'rebellious' stage I brushed it off as a fairytale or a youthful fantasy and I tried to ignore it even existed. I did that because I couldn't understand how someone could let someone be pushed away from a place they considered a second home and not do anything about. The person in charge of this place at the time was angry at what was happening there and decided to test and judge everyone's loyalty and I didn't pull through. I failed and besides I had stopped believing in the place at the time." Susan spoke matter-of-factly.

"I was so stupid back then, in a hurry to grow up I've never felt so ridiculous in my life. Although, I will never forget it because it was when I was happiest and the best times of my life happened there also. Now I am trying to see if there is anything I can do to redeem myself. I just miss them so much and the cottage is the first place I know where to start looking." Susan looked out of the window and gave a small smile.

"The sun's coming out." The guy sitting opposite her looked at her and smiled, "Yeah it is." But then his smile faltered. "You said 'redeem yourself', what does that mean?" She turned and looked at him with confusion "I want to try and see if I can regain the trust of the rulers of that place and be able to see my family if only for one last time before I go." Chuckling at his confusion, "Don't ask."

Again silence filled the air and it was a peaceful silence. Susan was deep in thought and the guy was just trying to make sense of what she had told him so far.

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I know it's not the best story in the world.