ignite me / p. pevensie

prologue

With bright eyes, Rowyn captured a small butterfly between her palms. "Dad!" She shouted out with happiness lacing her tone.

From the sliding door of their large wooden house, a tall black-haired man came into view as he rushed out towards his daughter. "Are you hurt? Are you okay?" He questioned, cupping her small cheeks in his palms.

She nodded quickly and motioned her head towards her palm. "Look . . ." She said, carefully opening her palms. Her smile widened as the orange and black butterfly stretched its wings in her hand.

Sam smiled down at her hand. "Ro, it's beautiful." She chuckled as the butterfly flew to her honey-brown hair. Rowyn watched with a smile as the butterfly soon flew away in the direction of the now setting sun. "Come on, it's time for bed."

The six-year-old stifled a groan of displeasure. "But it's not that dark." She said. "And Casper's in there!" Her hand pointed towards her room once they were inside the warm house.

"First, you need a bath—you're covered in dirt—and second, Casper isn't real, you know that." He led her into her room and she peeked around nervously.

She crossed her arms and grabbed some pajamas from her closet. "He is! You've seen the books fall off my shelf." Her palms dampened at the thought of him doing something tonight.

Sam hushed the young girl and gave her a quick bath. Rowyn remained quiet the entire time while Sam put shampoo into her hair and washed it out with a cup of water. Her young mind was too preoccupied with the intense imagination of her mind. She thought about her dreams, about the stories Sam told her about a magical world that was held within a wardrobe—a world she urged to see with her own eyes.

"Goodnight, Ro." Sam kissed her forehead once he tucked her into bed after she put on her pajamas.

She smiled at him and cuddled into her plush lion that she refused to sleep without. "I love you." Her voice was coated in sleepiness.

He walked to her door and flicked off the light switch. "I love you too." And then he left her to sleep.

....

Ro was awoken to another book falling off her shelf, jerking her out of her sleep. "Casper!" She whisper-shouted since Sam was most likely asleep after finishing some work. "Stop it! You're gonna get me in trouble! Daddy both say you aren't real."

Another book fell.

She turned on her light switch and hopped out of bed.

One more book fell. This time it was harder.

"Please, stop. You're scaring me." She told him, her dampened palms gripping the book that fell. It was always the same five books that fell each time. Once they all had fallen, she placed them back and went to sit on her bed while she yawned and gripped her lion to her chest. "Can you please let me sleep?" A cold breeze brushed her hand and she knew the answer. With a small smile, she thanked the ghost and got back into bed.