❝and if you're gone tomorrow, what was ours still will be.❞
There has been rarely a moment where tragedy has not riddled Lydia Nowack's life. The invasion of Poland, her homeland, killed her maternal grandparents. The very first night of the Blitz...
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☾ ☽
An apple orchard was the first thing Lydia saw when they reached the top of the cliffs. She reached up to pick one, remarking to Lucy that she was starving. Lucy concurred and grabbed one for herself. Then, all five split up to explore the ruins.
Lydia found herself overlooking what used to be a balcony. It had a gorgeous view of the water, and you could practically see for miles and miles. She loved it; it'd be a very long time since she'd seen this much color. Growing up, she'd seen a lot of neutral colors, and really only saw green when she visited her uncle Digory (which was even less than she saw her grandmother).
As she took a bite of the apple, she thought of her mother, who considered herself a bit of a painter and would have killed to paint this view. Absentmindedly, she reached up to touch the locket around her neck.
"Are you all right?"
Lydia nearly jumped at the sound of the voice behind her. She quickly caught the apple before it fell on the ground and sighed, turning around to see Edmund.
"I didn't mean to startle you," Edmund began.
"It's fine," Lydia responded. "I was just a little distracted."
"Lost in your thoughts?" Edmund inquired, stepping forward to look at the view. "I know how you feel."
Lydia gave him a small smile. "It's just... before the air raids, I never really saw my grandmother much. But she knew I loved fairytales, and every time we visited her she always told me about Narnia. She was so in awe of the place that I wanted to see it so badly. But I thought it was just that—a fairytale. So, it's a little..."
"Surreal?" Edmund suggested.
She nodded. "Surreal, yes. It's a little surreal being here now. Still, I can't help but think this is all a dream."
Edmund looked at her and smiled. "I'm sorry, I can't help but notice your accent. It's faint, but I can still hear it."
Lydia laughed lightly. "I lived in Poland until I was six. That's a Polish accent you're hearing. It's faded a bit since I've lived in England."
Lucy, standing a few feet away from them, wondered aloud, "I wonder who lived here."
Susan began to step towards her, but her foot kicked something. She bent to pick it up, furrowing her eyebrows at the gold chess piece in her hands. "I think we did."
Her siblings walked towards her; Edmund saw the piece in her hand and said, "Hey, that's mine. From my chess set."
