Beyond The Lamppost

Longing For Love

Edmund's worst fear was logical, under his circumstances. Nobody would think any less of him if they knew what he'd been through. But there was more to his fear than he let on. It was deeper than one might think.

Presumably, his worst fear, was The White Witch. Anyone who knew the story of King Edmund the Just could guess this. But that wasn't the only thing Edmund feared. He feared becoming the person who fell to temptation. The person who betrayed his family, the person who was selfish and unkind. Edmund never wanted to be that person again, but he knew that boy was still there, deep, deep, deep down. He also knew he had changed completely, and was not that person anymore, he just hoped he never would be again.

Edmund was a good child growing up. He loved playing outside and going to the park. He loved reading books by the fire with a cup of tea. But he loved chocolate more than all of this.

He did well in school, he studied hard, always made good grades and passed exams. He was smart. Which unfortunately meant he got bullied.

Edmund was quiet and reserved in school, he had very few friends. This, along with being book smart, made him an easy target for the bullies. He would ignore them and walk away, no matter how badly their words hurt him. But this became harder over time.

Soon enough the boys resorted to violence, and they would hurt Edmund. They would knock him down, and throw his books. They would tease him and make fun of him all the time.

He kept this to himself for a long time, until one day there was a particularly bad fight...and Peter found him.

"Pevensie!"

Edmund squeezed his eyes shut, but kept walking. Sometimes ignoring them worked.

"Hey, we're talking to you!"

The young boy gasped when he felt a large rock hit the back of his head.

Other times, ignoring them made it worse.

Edmund slowly turned around, sighing when the group of boys walked up to him.

"Did you do your maths homework?" One boy, called Charles asked. Edmund had the most trouble with him.

"I'm uh...nearly finished. I just have about five problems l-left." Edmund replied nervously, staring at the ground.

"Good. Because you're going to do ours too." Charles said.

Edmund's head shot up. "What?" He asked.

"We just don't have the time." Another boy, called Henry said. "Plus it's really hard."

"You obviously understand it." Said Charles. "You're always answering the teacher's questions. So you get to do ours."

Edmund swallowed hard and licked his lips. "But-but that would be...cheating."

"So?" Said a third boy, Paul.

"We cheat all the time. It's no big deal." Charles told him.

Edmund's eyes widened slightly. "It's wrong!" He said.

"Wrong things are more fun." Charles said. He took his homework out of his bag, and his friends gave theirs to him. "Here."

Edmund stared at the papers the boy held out towards him. He took a shaky deep breath before speaking. "N-no." He said quietly. "I can't."

"What?!" Charles said, looking angry.

"I'm sorry, but I-I can't." Edmund told him. "Cheating is wrong and I won't do it."

"You won't do our homework for us?" Paul asked.