Chapter One: The Consequences of Growing Up

Dawn broke over London, and, as she had been far too many times that week, Susan was awake to witness it. Not that she actually saw the sunrise; she was far too busy, with her nose buried in one of her schoolbooks.

"And so, the trigeminal nerve controls the--you're up early," she said, to her roommate, as her train of thought was interrupted.

"I couldn't help it," Karen grumbled. "Someone woke me up."

"Was I too loud?" Susan asked, shamefaced. "I'm sorry. I'll be quieter if you want to go back to sleep."

"Have you been up all night?" Karen asked, instead.

"What time is it?" Susan asked.

"Nearly eight-thirty," Karen told her, grumpily.

"Then, yes, I've been up all night," Susan replied.

"If you keep going like this," Karen told her, "you're going to burn yourself out."

"I have to keep studying like this," Susan said, "if I want to keep up with the rest. It was hard enough getting accepted to University, with the way my grades from secondary school were. It's going to be even harder to prove that I deserve to be there just as much as they do. And harder still to get into medical school."

"Susan, you're only eighteen," Karen said. "You don't need to have your whole life mapped out in stone."

"You sound like the rest of my family," Susan grumbled. "I know what I want to do, and I'm doing it. Why is that such a bad thing?"

"Because you're letting life pass you by!" Karen exclaimed. "What happened to the girl who used to go to all those parties with me?"

"She grew up," Susan said.

And she had. Just as she had given up silly, childish games and imaginary worlds for parties and the attentionof young men, so she'd given up the parties for more mundane pursuits. She was an adult, after all, and being an adult meant making certain sacrifices and giving up pleasures.

"Now, if you don't mind," Susan said, crossly, when Karen continued to hover at her shoulder.

Returning her attention back to her books, Susan didn't notice Karen banging around the small apartment they shared. She didn't see the irritated looks directed her way, or hear the door slam when Karen left for the day. The only thing that grabbed her attention was the ringing phone.

Grabbing the phone, Susan glanced down at her watch.

'I've been studying for over three hours!' she realized. 'No wonder I'm so tired.'

"Hello?" she asked.

"Su, I'm glad I caught you."

Susan smiled at the welcome sound of her brother's voice.

"Edmund, to what do I owe the honor of this call?" she asked, expecting to hear some mock-gallant response in kind, like he was prone to do.

"It's Narnia, Su," Edmund said, somberly. "We're needed."

"I don't have time for games, Edmund," Susan said, coldly, wishing someone besides her would grow up. "Why did you really call?"

"That's why I called," Edmund said. "Narnia's in trouble."

"I'm really too busy for this sort of thing," Susan cut him off, abruptly. "If all you want to do is talk about your silly world, then I have to go. I love you, Edmund. Tell Peter and Lucy I love them, too."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line.

"I love you too, Su," Edmund said, at last. "And I'll give Peter and Lu your love. Good-bye, Susan."

As she hung up the phone, Susan couldn't help but wonder at the note of finality in those last words. Then, she shrugged it off, and went back to her studying. A couple hours later, she decided to go out and stretch her legs, maybe get lunch in the park.

One thing led to another, and she soon found herself with a group of friends from school. They coaxed and cajoled, and soon convinced her to go shopping with them. And so it was very late when Susan returned to the apartment.

Karen was already back, sitting in the kitchen eating a sandwich.

"You got a telegram, today," she said, gesturing to the table where they kept their mail.

"I'll look at it later," Susan said. "Wait until you hear about the afternoon I had."

She became so involved with talking about her shopping trip, and then with studying, later, that she forgot all about the telegram sitting on the table. It wasn't until the next morning, when she was making herself breakfast, that she remembered.

'Might as well look at it now, before I forget it again,' she thought.

Ms Susan Pevensie,

This afternoon, at approximately twelve-forty-five, there was a train accident at London Railway. Members of your family were involved-

The telegram fell from her nerveless fingers as those words began to play themselves over and over in her mind.

"No," she whispered. "No, it's not possible."

"It's not true!" she screamed, a second later, and Karen came sprinting into the room.

"Susan, what's wrong?" she cried. "Why are you shouting?"

"The telegram," Susan said, unable to do anything more than weep, now.

Karen plucked it from the floor and quickly read it, her face going pale.

"Oh, Su, I'm so sorry," she said.

"I've lost them," Susan whispered, sobbing brokenly. "They're all gone."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Karen asked, finally, at a loss for anything comforting to say.

Susan looked up at her, through red-rimmed, tear stained eyes, and she elaborated.

"They said that you're needed to identify the bodies," she said. "Didn't you read that?"

Wordlessly, Susan snatched the telegram away and scanned the rest of the document. It did, indeed, say that she would be needed to identify her family's bodies before they were released to her And the sooner the better.

"I need to do this alone," Susan said, at last.

"At least let me drive you," Karen insisted.

Susan could only nod, so Karen grabbed both their coats, and steered her out the door.

Author's Note: I know there's not much action, here, but this was more of an 'establishing Susan' chapter.