TERENCE AND TUMNUS 100 CHALLENGE
Presenting story nine. This is one of my personal favorites! I got an especial kick out of writing this.
Terence © unicorn-skydancer08
Tumnus and Narnia © C.S. Lewis and Disney/Walden Media
All rights reserved.
Any copying or reproduction of these stories in any way whatsoever without expressed permission is prohibited. Your honesty is sincerely appreciated.
STORY NINE:
SWIMMING WITH THE FISHES
It was a fiercely hot, sweltering day. Tumnus and Terence were sprawled out together on the ground beneath a towering tree, listening to the monotonous drone of the insects and the thin rustle of the leaves in the slow-moving air. Tumnus, who was nestled comfortably against Terence's silken flank, was just on the verge of drifting off into a nap when the young unicorn spoke to him: "You know, Tumnus, I could really use a good swim right about now. What do you say we head for the lake and go for a little dip?"
This jolted the young faun awake at once. "What?" he gasped, bolting to an upright position.
"Sure, why not?" said Terence, as he ascended to all fours and started walking. "The lake's just over there, and the water should cool us down in no time. Come on, Tumnus! Last one in the water is a yellow-bellied guppy!"
He then sprinted toward the lake, which was indeed just a few yards away from their resting spot, but Tumnus stayed put. When Terence realized that the faun wasn't following him, he promptly slid to a halt and looked back.
"What are you waiting for, Tumnus?" he questioned. "Let's go!"
Tumnus hesitated. "Uh, maybe you should just go on ahead without me, Terence," he said at length, as he climbed to his own hooves. "I'm perfectly content right here."
"Aw, come on!" Terence insisted.
Tumnus shook his head adamantly. "No, really, Terence, I'd better not."
"What's the matter?" asked the unicorn. "You're not scared of the water, are you?"
He could tell from the look that crossed Tumnus's face that he had just scored with that one.
"Oh, Tumnus," he said, shaking his head in disbelief as he trotted back to his companion and stood before him, "surely you're not serious!"
But Tumnus was dead serious. "It's true," he confessed, lowering his eyes to his hooves. "I have always been terrified of water, ever since I was very young."
"Why?" Terence asked bewilderedly. "Just what is it about the water that gets to you?"
Tumnus looked up at Terence once more, his eyes wide and shining with fear. "Though water may appear safe from a distance," the faun said, his tone low and urgent, "it's really a death trap in disguise. It's like a ravenous monster, anxious to take you down and devour you. Once you're in it, you're lucky to get out alive."
Terence rolled his eyes. "Oh, puh-lease…that is the silliest thing I have ever heard of, and you're a silly old faun. Now, come on!" The unicorn turned and headed once more for the lake, whisking his long tail as he did, so that it brushed lightly against Tumnus's face.
"I may be a silly old faun," said Tumnus defensively as he trailed along in the unicorn's wake, "but at least I'm alive, and not swimming with the fishes, if you know what I mean."
Terence shook his head, his mane flowing over his neck and shoulders like molten moonlight. What a scaredy-faun, he thought to himself. Something will have to be done about this.
As they neared the lake, Terence slowed his pace and allowed Tumnus to go ahead of him.
Tumnus tentatively approached the cool blue water, then stopped altogether at the edge of the bank, gazing down apprehensively at the death pit that lay below his hooves. He could see weeds tranquilly swaying to and fro below the surface, and he could also see a few fish flitting about here and there. The water looked harmless enough, but Tumnus knew that a lot of things that were attractive to the eye resulted in the end of one's earthly existence.
Tumnus felt his heart begin to beat faster, and he swallowed hard.
While he had his back turned, Terence silently moved closer to the faun and bumped him gently with his snout, causing the faun to stumble forward. "Whoa!" Tumnus cried out as he felt himself lose his balance, and then he toppled headfirst into the water and disappeared.
After remaining underwater for a few brief moments, Tumnus broke through the surface, drenched to the skin and gasping noisily for breath, and then he began making a show of splashing around and fighting to keep his head above water.
"Terence!" he wailed desperately to the unicorn. "Save me!"
Terence stayed right where he was, looking down at the struggling faun with amusement.
"Tumnus," he said simply, "stand up."
When Tumnus realized he could touch the bottom with his hooves, he quit floundering about and now stood quite still in the water, the water covering him only up to his neck.
"There, you see?" Terence proclaimed. "You're in the water, and you're still alive."
Tumnus blushed, and he gave out a nervous chuckle. "Er, right," he said sheepishly.
Terence backed a few steps, then all at once came rushing forward and launched himself high into the air, performing a magnificent leap right over Tumnus's head. Tumnus screamed out loud, but luckily Terence passed over him completely before he landed in the water. Water splashed everywhere, and Tumnus promptly shielded his face with his forearms.
When he looked up again a minute later, he saw Terence standing right in front of him, the water reaching up to the unicorn's withers, his silvery mane plastered down against his head and neck. Terence sucked in a mouthful of water and playfully squirted it in Tumnus's face, making the faun sputter.
"You see, Tumnus?" said Terence again. "The water's not going to hurt you."
"Well, in the shallow end, I suppose it's all right," Tumnus admitted.
Provided that he could touch the bottom and still keep his head above the surface at the same time, it really wasn't so awful. And the water did feel pleasantly cool to his skin. As long as he didn't have to go all the way under, he would be okay.
The faun and the unicorn spent the next two minutes or so lazing around in the shallow end, and Tumnus was just getting accustomed to the water and actually beginning to enjoy himself when Terence said, "Now that that's settled, what do you say we strike out a little farther?"
"What?!?!?!?" exclaimed Tumnus, horrorstruck. "Oh, Terence, no!" He shook his head vehemently and repeated, "No, no, no, no, no, no, and no! No way!"
"Aw, come on, Tumnus," Terence cajoled.
"No, never in a million years!" said the adamant faun. "There is no way you're hauling me all the way out there, just to have me sink like a rock and drown!"
"You won't drown, Tumnus," Terence declared firmly.
"I most certainly will," Tumnus interjected. "I'm way too young to have my life end at the bottom of a lake. There are so many things that I haven't yet gotten to do."
"Come on, Tumnus," his friend repeated, "you can't go around living your whole life in constant fear. If you're going to conquer your fear, you must learn to face it dead-on."
Tumnus's face turned pale, and he gulped.
This unicorn is trying to kill me! he thought to himself.
Terence made the faun hold onto his neck, and then he promptly propelled the two of them further out into the lake. In no time, Tumnus felt the bottom disappear beneath his hooves altogether, and he had no other choice but to hang on. The weeds soon disappeared from sight, and the water grew progressively darker as it got deeper.
"Oh, I don't like this," Tumnus moaned, clinging to Terence's neck for dear life, "I really don't like this—"
"Relax, Tumnus," Terence assured him as they glided smoothly through the water.
But Tumnus couldn't relax. The further they went, the more panicky the faun got. Tumnus shut his eyes and tightened his grip on the unicorn's neck, unable to hold back a little whimper.
Terence continued to stroke and kick, until finally he stopped. He continued to paddle with his hooves every now and again, keeping himself and his companion afloat. "This should be far enough," he proclaimed, and Tumnus looked back and saw that they were at least a hundred feet away from the shoreline.
Looking down, it was impossible to tell exactly how deep the water went. Tumnus's heart beat a mile a second against his ribcage, and he felt nauseous. "Terence, please," he said fervently, "I'm begging you, take me back!"
"I'll take you back," Terence promised him, "once you and the water become better acquainted with one another."
"Terence, I can't do this!"
"How do you know you can't do it, unless you take a shot at it?" the unicorn countered. "Now, take some time to calm down and pull yourself together, and when you're ready, let go of me and start swimming. I think that once you get the hang of it, you'll find the experience quite enjoyable."
"Oh, yeah? What if I drown in two seconds?"
"Just do it. And if you really do start to drown, I'll rescue you."
"Do you swear?" said Tumnus, looking the unicorn very gravely in the eyes.
"Sure, cross my heart."
Tumnus hesitated for about a full minute before finally answering, "Well, okay."
Somehow, he found the courage to release his hold on the unicorn.
Immediately he sank completely below the water, and at first he panicked—but then he started moving his legs and arms around in a certain way and managed to propel himself back to the surface. He emerged with a loud, gasping breath, then glanced around and suddenly realized this wasn't as terrible as he had previously assumed.
He wasn't dead, and the water around him was perfectly friendly and tranquil; it was like swimming in one great big bathtub.
Soon, Tumnus felt brave enough to hold his breath and immerse his face entirely in the water. Below the surface, he could see that the lake really wasn't that deep, and it was filled with all sorts of interesting plants and fish. It was as if he were flying over an entirely new world.
As Tumnus launched himself through the water with his arms and hooves, he could feel his fear dissolving and his heart growing considerably lighter.
Terence was right—this wasn't a big deal.
In fact, once he got the hang of it, this actually turned out to be perfectly glorious!
Tumnus soon got so caught up in swimming and diving and exploring the amazing underwater sights that he completely forgot about being afraid, and he was no longer so anxious to get back to the shore.
Terence presently joined the faun in exploring the wonders of the aquatic world, and it was well over two hours before the two of them finally returned to the bank and hauled themselves out of the water, exhausted and soaked to the bone, yet high-spirited at the same time. They flopped down next to each other on the soft grass and lay side by side for a time, breathing in deeply, the water on their hair and bodies glistening in the sunlight.
"There, now," said Terence good-naturedly, "that wasn't so bad, was it?"
"That was splendid!" Tumnus answered radiantly. "We should do this again sometime!"
"See, what did I tell you? You had nothing to worry about!"
"I knew it would be all right the whole time, Terence," the faun proclaimed proudly. "Never doubted you for a second there."
"Oh, yeah, sure," said the unicorn casually, "sure…whatever you say, Tumnus."
