Disclaimer: Susan, Narnia, etc. do not belong to me. I do not know who they do belong to now (C.S. Lewis being dead), but that is not a good reason to sue me.
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Susan woke up from an afternoon nap with a dreadful feeling she'd forgotten something. That was becoming more and more common as she grew older, but this time it was different, worse. She didn't feel as if she'd forgotten to buy milk, but as if she'd forgotten her own name. She sat up and tried vainly to remember.
Had she fed the cat? Susan had bought a cat to keep her company after her husband died. Her children had tried to convince her to get a dog, but having a cat just felt right... Yes, she'd fed Fluffy.
Had she left the front door unlocked again? That was embarrassing. She had left the door open once last summer, and went to the store. Her neighbor had been worried when she didn't answer the door, and walked right into the house. Of course it was the day she'd left the house cleaning for "later"... She was sure she'd locked the door.
She thought of other things she sometimes forgot. Had she invited someone over? Had she forgotten to pay a bill? A grandchild's birthday? Overdue library books? A hair-styling appointment? Nothing fit. She got out of bed and put her shoes on.
Suddenly, she heard a voice. She must have left the door open after all. "Susan," she heard, but it seemed to come from the closet. Why would anyone be in her closet? She opened the closet door and revealed...
Nothing. Nothing out of the ordinary, at least. There were clothes on hangers, three or four pairs of shoes, and, on the top shelf, an antique jewelry box.
Susan had no particular reason to open that jewelry box. She was looking for an intruder, not a lost earring. She told herself so, but she opened it anyway. There was a lot of old jewelry in it. Thinking she'd imagined the voice, she sat down on the bed with the box.
Here was a pin Susan remembered her mother wearing. That was a long, long time ago... Here was her engagement ring... Here was the necklace she'd given Lucy. Susan remembered how she had gotten this necklace back, and a lump formed in her throat. She began to think of her little sister, and the make-believe games she never lived to outgrow. Not that she was sure to outgrow them, anyway. Old Professor Kirke and Miss Plummer had been just as bad. Old Professor Kirke? Susan herself was nearly as old now. She felt that she was about to cry, and carefully placed the necklace back in the box. There was a handkerchief in the box, wrapped around something. Susan lifted it out and unwrapped it. There was a small, nondescript box with a lot of tape on it.
Susan had no more reason to open this than the jewelry box. She had never been the most curious person, but she just had to open that box. She took a pair of nail scissors from her dresser drawer. They weren't needed. The tape was old and cracked, and it fell off almost without being touched. The lid came open.
There were the rings. They must be the rings that Professor Kirke had talked about... There was no such thing as magic. These were some kind of costume jewelry. All the ridiculous things he had told her, and Peter, Edmund, and Lucy came flooding into her memory. It was impossible, but... Surely it couldn't hurt to try?
Susan took one of the rings out of the box and held it in her palm. Nothing happened. She could not have explained exactly why she felt so disappointed. "Don't be silly," she told herself, "What did you expect to happen? It's only a ring." She wrapped the green ring in the handkerchief and put it into her pocket. Then she picked up a yellow ring.
A Girl Scout rang the doorbell, trying to sell cookies. There was no answer, because the house was empty.