With murmurs of great excitement from his siblings, Peter pushed aside the door of a large above-ground compound and the four children filed inside. Silently wandering through the labyrinth of hallways, they gazed with great reverence and joy at the familiar old wall hangings and stone drawings that they could have sworn they’d forgotten.
“Here it is,” the High King murmured, finally coming to a second door. He took a deep breath before turning the knob.
Swirls of dust greeted the ancient tetrarchs as they entered their old treasure chamber, but they hardly realized it for the joy they felt in their hearts. Wiping sparkling tears from her face, Lucy shook free of her stupor first and quickly weaved through the tables, chairs, and beds that had been stored in the once pristine chamber. Pulling aside the thick green drapes she allowed a little sunlight to penetrate through the dirt and cobweb crusted windows.
“Looks like someone turned it into a storage room,” Edmund muttered, sounding miffed before his keen eyes came to rest on an old painting he’d done during the Golden Age.
It was a quaint setting – otherworldly to a Narnian’s point-of-view – of a young boy playing baseball in a New England field by the sea. The young king ran his finger across the edge, making a line in the dust that covered his old artwork, before moving on to investigate what else the room held.
“Look at this!” Susan exclaimed joyfully holding up a small earthenware vase with fanciful talking beasts painted on it. Her face glowed with fond memories, “Corin gave this to me for my last birthday! Or-or the last one I had here. Oh, I’m so happy that it’s made it all this time!”
“Oh, do come and let’s get our gifts from Father Christmas!” Lucy bounced over to her chest, quickly opening it to rummage through and find her cordial and dagger. Thankfully, they too were untouched.
Susan and Peter quickly joined her while Edmund retreated back to his old painting.
“I say,” he suddenly shouted, “What’s happening to my old painting?”
“It’s changing!” Peter gasped, as the others ran up.
“It’s coming to life!” Susan screamed.
“Look out!” Edmund grabbed his sisters by the elbow to pull them away as his brother shielded them with his body, “Don’t let it suck you in!”
As they watched, the painting changed. No longer was it a quaint little glimpse of New England life. Now it showed an elderly couple stranded in the crow’s nest of a tall ship in a storm, hanging onto each other in terror.
Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the danger passed and the painting went back to being Edmund’s beautiful artwork. The Pevensies slowly got up and started breathing normally again.
“Whoa,” Edmund whistled softly, “I didn’t expect that to happen!”
“I-I-I think we better stay away from it now.” Susan scooted farther back then got to her feet, “I-I’ve got to see if I can find my old Horn anyways.” Her eyebrows furrowed with concern, “My bow and arrows were on the top, but…”
“Oh!” Lucy gasped, her face registering deep sorrow as she scrambled to her feet, “Do let me help!”
“I think the girls have a point, old chap.” Peter remarked turning to his brother, “I’m awfully sorry about your painting though. I used to like it.”
“So, did I…” Edmund grumbled, as the boys got up and moved to follow the girls.
Suddenly they froze and, almost unwillingly, turned back when they heard more screaming coming from the old artwork. Their eyes bulged with horror at the new sight and they quickly blocked the girls from getting any closer.
Now, instead of the quaint New England scene, the canvas showed a crowd of people standing on the deck of RMS Titanic, screaming for the departed lifeboats to return as the ship went down.
Then I woke up.