Am I.....Beautiful?

Surprise Trip to Narnia

Edmund and Lucy Pevensie were in a predicament. While their older siblings, Peter and Susan, were in America with their parents, the two younger children were stuck back in England with their odious cousin, Eustace. Eustace was the sort of boy to pride himself on being intelligent and logical, and he treated his cousins's stories of their adventures in Narnia with scorn.

One unfortunate day, Edmund and Lucy had discovered the horrible news that they must stay with Eustace even longer than they had thought. Quite disappointed, they went up to Lucy's room to complain to each other, when a painting of a ship that appeared far off into the distance caught their eye. Lucy had just mentioned that the ship looked quite Narnian when Eustace barged into her room.

"Don't you ever knock?" Edmund asked, glaring at his cousin.

"It's my house," he replied. Lucy ignored this exchange, still staring at the painting.

"Ed, look! It would seem that the water is moving." Lucy said in wonderment. Edmund took his eyes off his cousin and looked back at the painting.

"It certainly does look that way, Lu. If only we could be there and not here." He said wistfully.

"That would be nice. We get treated like royalty there." Lucy grinned. Edmund and her exchanged secret looks, both grinning and thinking about being a High King and Queen and the power they'd have over Eustace.

"I see you've moved to full on delusions now. You should get that checked by a doctor." Eustace scoffed. Edmund made a fierce retort, causing them to start a full blown argument, both oblivious to the fact that real water had started dripping out of the painting. The water had reached just past their ankles before they noticed it.

"Look what you've done now!" Eustace shouted at Edmund. "Mum and dad will be real pleased with you."

"It's not Ed, it's the painting!" Lucy cried. There appeared to be no more time for talking as the water started to rise more and more rapidly. Eustace half ran, half flailed his legs as he took the painting off the wall, trying in vain to get the water to stop. Before they knew it, when they were finally able to pop their heads back up, they saw nothing around them except for the vast sea. That is, until they found a rather large ship heading their way a little too quickly for comfort.

"Man overboard!" The children heard someone shout, accompanied by loud splashes nearby.

"Swim away, as fast as you can!" Edmund warned them, trying his hardest to do just that. Despite their best efforts, they soon found themselves being pulled toward the ship. Lucy struggled to get away before she noticed that she was in the arms of none other than King Caspian, a valuable (and quite handsome) friend she and her siblings had made during their last adventure in Narnia.

"Caspian? Are we.... We can't possibly be in Narnia!" Lucy exclaimed, looking confused and blushing slightly. Caspian just smiled at her as they were raised onto the ship, a very happy Edmund and a very confused and angry looking Eustace close behind.

"Welcome aboard the Dawn Treader!" Caspian greeted Edmund and Lucy, embracing them both and sending some of the crew to get them blankets. After happily accepting this turn of events, Edmund and Lucy smiled at the familiar creatures of Narnia, there being men, a few fauns and even a Minotaur in Caspian's crew. Unfortunately for Eustace, he had been almost forgotten amidst the joyful reunion of his cousins and their beloved Narnia. That is, before he opened his large mouth and immediately made a bad impression on the entire crew as he spouted off about fantasy lands and kidnapping. Edmund and Lucy stood nearby, shaking their heads and groaning at their impossible cousin.

"For a second, I had actually thought that Peter and Susan were here with us, instead of him." Edmund muttered to Lucy, causing her to giggle quietly, covering her mouth with her hand. Reepicheep scrambled over to them, taking off his feather and bowing low.

"Reepicheep! It's so good to see you again!" Lucy grinned.

"Talking to mice now, are we?" Eustace jeered.

"The pleasure is mine, your highnesses. Ah, who is this fellow?" Reepicheep asked upon noticing Eustace.

"The rodent talks!" Eustace exclaimed in horror.

"It's getting him to be quiet that's the trick." Caspian walked up to them and said, smiling. "Although, he asked a decent question, for once. Who are you?"

"He's our cousin, whom we were forced to stay with." Edmund interjected, before Eustace could say anything. Eustace huffed in annoyance, stubbornly refusing to believe that any of this could possibly be real.

"Well, then, welcome aboard, Eustace. I sincerely hope you enjoy your stay." Caspian said with a mocking smile. Lucy, Edmund and Reepicheep all laughed, thoroughly enjoying making Eustace look like a fool.