Where the Sidewalk Ends
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Kristen, my very own, customize as you wish character.
Chapter Two: Golden Crowns and Contact Lens
"Look, honey I just think they will help bring out your eyes and besides, those glasses aren't very flattering," her mother said as she ate a bowl of Cheerios and a green apple for breakfast.
Kristen's life was far from perfect. Her nose was slanted, her eyes were to wide set, her lips were too thin and she had black, square frame glasses that looked like they belonged on the face of an emo-goth-punk kid. Wasn't exactly royalty, but she wasn't exactly hopeless. Her teeth were ever so slightly crooked and she had her first orthodontist appointment in a few days in which she would get her braces on to correct her "Over, under and cross bite" according to her dentist.
"Mom I don't want contact lens. They will just hurt my eyes. You know how dry they are…the optometrist said something about scratching my coreano or something like that last time remember?" she whined as her mother pulled her almost empty bowl out of her hands and threw her apple core into the garbage. Her mother's curly, frizzy brown hair was slung into a low hanging braid that went down to her back and she was wearing sweats and a paint splattered t-shirt. And the kids at school wonder why I'm such an outcast, Kristen thought to herself as her mother pushed a small box towards her across the counter.
"Just try them, ok honey? Now get to school," her mother said dismissively as she pushed Kristen off of her chair and towards the door. A baby started crying in the background and her mother scampered off, leaving Kristen to her own devices.
Like always, Kristen was wearing her pleated skirt and white golf shirt and her black ballet flats. Her hair was pulled into a long French braid, which was rather messy, and her glasses, like always, were resting against the bump on her nose, propping the lens right infront of her eyes. Nerd. Dork. Geek. Bookworm, She thought to herself as she reflected her image in the hallway mirror. Everyday, before she left, she peaked into the mirror, hoping the reflection would not be as hopeless as it looks. But everyday, she was disappointed. Everyday, her image was just as hopeless and pathetic as it always was.
She started on down the sidewalk, beginning the short walk to school with her backpack trudging on her back. It was loaded full with University level high school courses for math, science, history and English. And her mother wondered why Kristen suffered from chronic back pain. ((A/N-Don't we all!)). The wind was warm and soothing, and the signs of spring were all around her. The trees were budding leaves, the tulips were already blooming and the grass was turning green again. But the concrete in which her feet walked on everyday remained the same. Solid, grey, and dirty. At least something never change, she said in her mind.
Her eyes remained focused on the sidewalk path she took to school everyday. 3 lefts, and right and she'll be there, and her school day would begin. Her browns searched the concrete, looking for any signs of difference. There was the gum, which she avoided to stop on everyday. There was the paw print in which she looked at every time she walked by. But as she looked for the large, black scuff mark on the first concrete slab after her second left turn, she found the concrete was rather clean and almost transparent. And as she took a step, expecting her foot to hit the ground as it always did, she found her foot falling all the way through, and before she could regain her balance, she fell forward, falling into the transparent slab of concrete with ease, disappearing from the world around her.
"Is she here yet?" Edmund whined, fixing the silver grown on top of her head for the fifty-second time. The four siblings were sitting in the Palace hall on their thrones, waiting anxiously (Well, 2 of them anyway) to hear news that their visitor had arrived. They were not sure where she would be arriving from, but Aslan had narrowed the possibilities into a few miles and so far, there had been no word of her arrival.
"This is so exciting!" Lucy exclaimed ecstatically, her childish, giggly voice exploding with excitement. Her eyes were full of adventure and joy as the possibilities of the new visitor danced in her head.
"Lucy now don't get your hopes up. We have no idea what this girl will look like. She could be 3 years old or 24 years old. Aslan didn't say, which makes me worry even more," Susan said, wringing her hands together, her pale blue eyes staring at the large, oak doors of the entrance into the hall. She tore her eyes off the doors for a second and looked to her siblings. On her left, Susan was bubbling with happiness at the anticipation of someone new coming to Narnia. On her right, Peter was sitting back in his chair, his head in his right hand, covering his eyes. Then beside Peter, Edmund was sitting there with no expression on his face, staring straight into space.
Right as Susan returned her eyes towards the doors, they swung open and a fury of people cascaded into the hall, hundreds if not thousands pouring into the huge, but empty hall. Peter and Edmund became attentive finally, as a friendly looking, but at the moment terrified, man with horse hooves instead of legs came walking towards them.
"Mr. Tumnus…" Peter started, his head towards the man but his eyes remained focused on the people now lining up excitedly against the hall walls.
"I know I know no visitors…but they were so scary and Aslan said it should be alright," the man replied, as he ran a hand through his curly, sandy brown hair nervously. At first sight, the man's head looked normal. But at close inspection, you could see two little horns coming out from the top of his forehead, coloured the same colour as his hair. He had big, sorrowful green eyes that were staring at King Peter, as if waiting for answer.
"I see. Well, it's not like we can send them out now," Peter said as his aquamarine eyes were brought to his sides to look at his siblings.
"Peter stop looking like someone's dying…this is suppose to be a happy time! We're getting a new Queen! I bet she'll be really pretty so many she can help you get over Isabel!" Lucy teased as she hopped off her throne, ran over to her older brother and jumped on his lap.
Peter couldn't help but laugh at Lucy's silliness. He was still in his sad, mopey mood because of Isabel and the thought of the new Queen being pretty never even crossed his mind.
"Maybe…but I doubt it Lu," he started as he readjusted the delicate, golden crown that was sitting atop her short, curly brown hair. "It's going to take a bit more then a pretty girl to get me over Isabel. You'll understand what I mean one day," he said as he hugged her and kissed the top of her head. The little girl giggled and hugged her brother back, her short arms only being able to reach around half of his chest. She hopped off of him and the level of noise in the now jam-packed hall grew to a new level as Aslan and several of soldiers came walking briskly forward. The four siblings sat up straighter and as Aslan was infront of them, they all got up and went to him as he beckoned.
"Is she here yet?" Lucy asked excitedly before the lion could say anything. Aslan turned his head towards her and blinked his golden brown eyes at her excited face.
"Yes. She is here," the lion said simply as Lucy squealed in excitement. Aslan brought his eyes to Peter who was staring at the floor. He brought his eyes to the lion and then turned around, returning to his seat. He didn't need this. He didn't need any of this. In a time in which he only needed to be alone, Aslan had made the orders to bring a new visitor in. Peter couldn't help but feel a bit of resentment towards the lion.
Aslan, sensing Peter's emotions, walked towards the King and sat down infront of him. Peter's eyes remained focused on the armrest of his throne. He didn't want to speak to Aslan right now.
"You will…understand with time" Aslan said with his soulful yet scratchy voice. Peter's eyes flickered upwards and nodded towards the lion respectfully. Of course he would understand in time. He just didn't want to.
Kristen hit the ground with a thud. Her head hit the soft, mossy ground face forward and she heard a crack, her glasses breaking in half as she felt her nose break. IT started to gush blood and she groaned in pain from the impact. Her whole body was aching in pain and she was to deliriously injured to care where she was. She rolled over and pinched her now broken nose, which in doing so caused it to hurt even more. A few minutes later, after she had returned back to normal (except for her nose) she sat up straight and looked around. What the hell? She thought to herself as she looked around. She was in the middle of a lush forest, trees all around her. The evergreens and maple trees created a canopy so only little rays of sunshine came down to hit the ground. The forest floor was mossy and moist and little plants were sprouting upwards. It was summer here also, since the trees were lush with leaves and it was rather humid. Had she fallen straight through the earth? Had she fulfilled the childhood dream of children everywhere and gone straight through the earth to China?
"Aye! She's landed over here!" she heard a deep, masculine voice yell. Before she could react, men that where half men half horses had surrounded her, a pleasant look on all of their faces. She looked around, well aware that blood was still pouring down her face from her nose. Ok maybe I blacked out. Maybe this isn't real, she thought as one of the half men helped her up. But by the touch of the man and the pain of her nose, it would be really weird if all of this wasn't real.
"Here's something for your nose" one of the men said as he handed her a cloth. The 5 horsemen were all still looking at her as she cautiously accepted the cloth and held it to her nose.
"Welcome Madame" one of them said as he bowed down to Kristen. The other 4 followed suit. They were all dressed in Medieval armour and had swords latched onto the sides of them. This was all starting to freak her out.
"Welcome? To where?" Kristen asked, her voice have muffled by the cloth. She could see surprisingly well, seeing as her glasses were broken, but as she tried to look deeper into the forest, everything went blurry and fuzzy. But as she remained focused on the things infront of her, she could see them fine.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! Welcome M'Dear, to Narnia"
((Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews and suggestions. Next Chapter up soon. R&R))