Disclaimer: Narnia belongs to me, and Elvis is still alive, and look! There's something on your shirt... You get my point.
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Susan was underwater. She had been a wonderful swimmer when she was young, but she didn't think she could swim far now... Thank Heavens, she wouldn't have to. She had reached the surface, and the pool was only ten feet across. Susan climbed out of the water and looked around.
As far as she could see there was nothing but grass, trees and small pools. The trees were very close together, and she couldn't see the sky. All the pools were exactly alike, but there was a strip of bare soil next to the pool Susan had just come out of. It looked as if someone had marked it, so they could find this one pool out of the dozens, maybe hundreds, of other pools.
Susan tried to remember exactly what she was doing here. It was wonderfully quiet. Maybe she could finish her afternoon nap...
She sat down with her back against a tree and shut her eyes. She didn't remember what she wanted to do, but it could wait.
Something warm and hairy brushed against her hand. She opened her eyes and looked at it. It was only a guinea pig, and it had a ring tied to it. The ring was yellow and very shiny. Susan stared at the guinea pig for a while, until she noticed that its ring was exactly like hers. Where did it get a ring like that? Where did she get a ring like that? Why was there a guinea pig here at all? She sat up straight and tried to remember. She remembered trying on the yellow ring in her bedroom and finding herself here. She remembered that Professor Kirke had told a very tall tale about magic rings. She remembered why she was here.
"Uncle Andrew's guinea pig!" Susan exclaimed, "I can't believe it's still here! Well, I must get up. How much time have I wasted?"
She stood up and walked around a bit, being careful not to stray too far from the marked pool. She came to a dip in the ground and nearly fell down. That was strange. The ground was level for as far as the eye could see, except for this little grassy hollow. Susan thought for a while, and remembered what Professor Kirke had said about Charn. Charn had been detroyed, and its pool dried up. Why, it might have been this very place. She walked back towards her own pool.
When Susan came to the pool, she saw that there was a second dry pool, just on the other side. Some other world no longer existed. Doubt crept into her mind. What if it were Narnia? What if she couldn't get back there? Hadn't she been told she wouldn't?
She could delay no longer. She took off the yellow ring and put it into her pocket. Then she found the green ring and put it on. She would search every pool if necessary.
Susan walked to the edge of the nearest pool and jumped in.
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animegirl-mika: Thanks so much for reviewing. As you can see, she went to the forest full of mini-lakes. Actually, I probably don't really need a beta-reader, but everyone needs a "source of inspiration." (I looked up "muse" in an online dictionary.) Of course, that's what you're being anyway, by reviewing.