Chapter 3: Saturday In the Park
It was Saturday morning, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the flowers were blooming colorfully. It was the perfect day to have a picnic, which was exactly what Jill and her family were doing. They had unfolded their picnic blanket in the shade and set up for an afternoon of fun.
Despite Mrs. Pole and Jill's attempts to make the day as fun as possible it seemed there was no cheering Lily up. Jill suspected she knew what was wrong. Lily had mentioned the night before that they had not been on a picnic since their father had left. Although Lily had said it as if she were enthusiastic about the trip, Jill was sure her little sister had been putting on an act. Lily had been closest to their father. Before the divorce Lily had followed him around everywhere and he had called her his little princess.
Suddenly Jill got an idea of how to cheer her little sister up. "Come on Lily, let's go to the old tire swing." she said grabbing her little sister's hand before running to a large, old oak tree. On one of the branches was a swing made with an old tire and some rope. Jill remembered helping her sister make the swing years ago. When their parents had been fighting they would run out of the house and to the park and spend ours swinging on it together until they forgot about whatever argument their parents had gotten into that time. Jill had outgrown the old swing now, but still, it was something that belonged to just the two of them.
Lily sat on the swing and Jill gave her a push sending her high into the clear blue sky, and as Jill had predicted Lily forgot her troubles and giggled as the swing to her higher and higher. Jill suddenly found herself missing the days when she was Lily's age and the simplest things could make her happy.
Jill was pulled out of her musings when she heard her mother calling her name. Jill left Lily swinging merrily and returned to the site of their picnic.
Jill was surprised to see none other than Eustace Scrubb standing there with his parents. Jill thought it was odd how they kept on meeting each other in random places. Then she berated herself 'The dentist's office and the park are hardly 'random places'.' She thought to herself. 'It's not as if us running into each other is fate or anything, like those ridiculous romance novels. It is not as if there is anything slightly romantic about my relationship with Eustace. The two of us are just friends. Close friends'
"Look Jill it's the Scrubbs." Mrs. Pole said. "Don't you and Eustace go to the same school?" Mrs. Pole asked Jill.
"Yes." Jill said pithily.
"Funny us all meeting here." Mrs. Scrubb. "So, what are your views on smoking?" she asked Jill's mum, in a way that made it clear to Jill and Eustace that the adults would be talking for a long time and they would just have to go of and entertain themselves.
"If I didn't know any better I would say you were following me." Jill teased Eustace as they walked away from their parents who were deep in conversation that did not involve their children. Adults usually did not talk to children and other adults at the same time. It was as if when they talked to children they would switch gears, until another adult came along, because other adults were really who they wanted to be talking to, and then the child should just have the sense to shut it and stay out grown up's business.
"As if I don't have more important things to do." Eustace joked. "Actually Alberta dragged me out here. She is absolutely obsessed with us getting fresh air, that's why the windows in our house are always open."
"Eustace!" Lily called excitedly when she saw him before running up to him and giving him a big hug.
Jill couldn't help but laugh at Eustace's surprised expression. "She grows attached to people easily." she told him.
"I'm afraid Harold and Alberta are going to have your mother tied up for awhile." Eustace said apologetically to Jill. "They can talk forever, those two. They just love to get peoples opinions about vegetarianism and non-smoking, or they love tell other people about their own opinions I should say."
"Who are Harold and Alberta?" Lily asked her brow furrowed in confusion.
"They're his parents Lily." Jill explained gently.
"Well then why do you call them by their names?" Lily asked. "Shouldn't you call them mum or dad? Or mother and father? Or even mama and papa? No one I know calls their parents by their names."
"Not everyone does the same thing Lily." Jill said gently, but in a firm way so that Lily knew she was asking to many questions.
Jill had deciphered enough of her conversations with Eustace to make out that he was no especially close to his parents, but that was all she could figure out and she thought she might be able to find out more over time.
Jill was half right. Eustace had gotten along with his parents well enough at first, but that was way back when he had never even been to Narnia and had, had quite an unattractive personality. Ever since he had changed his parents had not been so fond of him and thought him to be tiresome and rebellious.
"They're going to be talking forever." Lily whined looking over at her mother and Mrs. and Mr. Scrubb. "I'm bored." She said pouting.
"We can play a game." Eustace suggested.
"What kind of game?" Lily asked curiously.
"A make believe game." he told her.
Lily instantly brightened up. She had always had an overactive imagination. She spent hours upon hours in her room reenacting fairytales like Cinderella and Snow White with her dolls. She especially enjoyed it when she could actually convince Jill to play with her. Jill had never played with dolls herself when she was a child, seeing absolutely no point to it.
"I don't really-" Jill started to say.
"Like Cinderella?" Lily asked Eustace.
"Kind of, but this is our own story." Eustace said. "It takes place in a magical world, with unicorns and dragons...right Jill?"
"...Oh, oh yeah." Jill said deciding to go along since it pleased Lily so much. "And talking animals and giants."
"It sounds lovely." Lily said dreamily.
"It is." Eustace assured her. "Now in our country we have a problem." He told Lily.
"How can there be a problem in such a perfect land?" Lily asked innocently.
"Well it would be a rather boring land if everything in it was perfect wouldn't it?" Eustace asked her.
Lily thought for a minute of two. "I guess so." She said after awhile.
Eustace continued. "The problem is that the princess has been captured, and now the two heroes need to rescue her. How about you being the princess Lily?"
"No."
"Why not?" Eustace asked. He had been pretty sure that little girls liked pretending to be princesses.
"I want to be one of the heroes." Lily said.
"Alright." Eustace said. "Then Jill will be the princess."
"What?" Jill asked. So far she had been standing back watching her sister and Eustace create their little game, she had never been one for playing make believe.
"You- be- the- prin- cess." Eustace repeated slowly as if Jill was stupid.
"Well why don't you be the princess Scrubb?" Jill retorted a bit irritated.
Lily laughed. "Eustace in a dress." She giggled out.
"Alright what do I have to do?" Jill said giving in.
"Just sit over there by that tree and act captured." Eustace ordered.
Jill sighed, went by the tree Eustace had pointed out and sat down. "Help…help." She said in monotone voice.
"Jill you've been captured. You have to be more scared than that." Lily said.
"Yes, scared like giants want to eat you or you're being attacked by a serpent." Eustace said looking at her pointedly.
Jill sighed again, knowing that they weren't going to relent. "Help! Help!" she called a little more frantically.
"Oh no, we have to save her." Eustace said dramatically to Lily.
"Yes, but we have to fight that…huge…five headed…dog." Lily said after thinking for a bit.
Eustace chuckled. "A five headed dog? All right, than, we need our swords." He said drawing out an imaginary sword.
"Right!" Lily agreed enthusiastically copying Eustace's act to get a fake sword. Lily pretended to slash the imaginary monster, but then fell down to her knees. "Oh no, I killed the monster, but it bit me before it died!" she cried. "Go on and save the princess without me." She said before falling from her knees and laying face down on the grass dramatically.
"Right." Eustace agreed before going over to Jill.
"Now that you've saved her you gotta kiss her." Lily told Eustace from where she laid "dead".
Jill tried not to blush. "He doesn't have to kiss me Lily." She told her sister.
"Yes he does." Lily said. "Every time the hero rescues the princess she kisses him as a reward." Lily said in a matter-of-fact voice.
"Alright, alright." Jill said and before she knew what she was really doing she quickly gave Eustace a peck on the cheek.
"Are you happy now?" she asked Lily trying to act cross and hoping her face wasn't as red as a tomato.
"Yes I am." Lily said.
"That one looks like a tree." Eustace said pointing at a fluffy white cloud.
The game of make believe had ended a while ago and now Lily was sound asleep under the shade of the oak tree that held the tire swing. Jill and Eustace, for lack of anything better to do, were lying down in the soft, green grass and looking at the clouds. Luckily Eustace had not made a big deal out of the kiss, brushing it off as "part of the game".
"That one looks like a five headed dog." Jill said pointing at another cloud.
Eustace laughed. "Did you ever believe in any of that stuff when we you were Lily's age?" he asked Jill.
"Well no. I didn't really have much time to play make believe when I was young." Jill admitted. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that she could trust Eustace with her most personal secrets. "My Mum and Dad were always fighting, so I was pretty in touch with reality."
"Oh." Eustace said.
"And what about you?" Jill asked him.
"What about me?" Eustace asked.
"Did you ever believe in all that magical stuff when you were a kid?"
Eustace laughed again. "You know I never had much of an imagination before I went to Narnia Jill."
"Right, I forgot." Jill said.
The two settled into a comfortable silence as they just lay there, gazing at the sky.
"Eustace it's time to go!" Mrs. Scrubb's voice called, breaking into their dreamy state.
Jill and Eustace stood up. "Well, I guess it's time for me to go." Eustace said awkwardly. "…Bye."
"Bye." Jill said.
Eustace left to meet up with his parents so they could go home.
Jill looked up at the sky. It was starting to get dark and she knew that she would be going home soon too.
Sure enough Mrs. Pole called to her at that moment. "Jill it's time to go home, and wake up your sister!"
Jill went to wake up Lily. She had not been excited about spending her day at the park, but for some reason once Eustace had shown up she had not wanted the day to end.
And after months the third chapter is finally up. I hope this chapter isn't as bad as I think it is. Please review.
Kat Rules
