Ch. 1 The Preface

It is June 1941 in London, England.

A loud siren awakens twenty-year-old Elizabeth Pevensie from her slumber. She opens her eyes, revealing a green color. She sits up and looks at her surroundings. Her pale blonde hair falls onto her shoulders.

" Lizzie!" A younger feminine voice shouted, grabbing Elizabeth's attention.

" Lucy!" Elizabeth gets out of bed, puts on her pale blue slippers, and runs towards the door.

She opens the door and looks forward, seeing her eight-year-old youngest sister, Lucy Pevensie.

Tears welled up in Lucy's deep blue eyes. She looks at her eldest sister with a scared gaze.

" I'm scared!" She begins to cry.

Elizabeth picks up her youngest sister and holds her close. She heard footsteps running to her right and turned to see her younger siblings, fourteen-year-old Peter Pevensie, twelve-year-old Susan Pevensie, and ten-year-old Edmund Pevensie.

" What's going on?" Peter asked, looking concerned.

" Children! To the bomb shelter!" The five Pevensie siblings heard their mother, forty-year-old Helen Pevensie nee Scrubb, shout.

" You heard Mother! Go! Go! Go!" Elizabeth firmly speaks, motioning her younger siblings to the stairs while holding her youngest sister tightly.

Peter runs down the stairs with Susan and Edmund following behind him. Elizabeth looked into her bedroom and out the window, seeing military plane bombers dropping bombs on her hometown.

Her eyebrows rose, and her eyes widened, looking shocked and horrified. She gently touched her youngest sister's head, covering her from seeing the horrors of War. She looked away, ran down the stairs, and saw her younger brother roughly grabbing her youngest brother, who was lying on the ground, holding something against his chest.

" Peter! Edmund! What are you two doing? Let's go," She looks at her two brothers worryingly.

" Edmund is stalling us," Peter responded.

" I don't want to leave Dad behind!" Edmund cried out while hugging a portrait of their Father, forty-year-old Abraham Pevensie, dressed in his military uniform.

" Elizabeth! Peter! Edmund! Lucy! Get in!" Helen shouts from inside the Bomb shelter, holding Susan close while looking at her children worryingly.

" Come on, you two!" Elizabeth runs out of the house with her youngest sister in her embrace.

Lucy hugs her eldest sister tightly, scared for her and her family's life.

" Come on!" Peter shoves his younger brother out of the house and escorts his siblings to the Bomb shelter.

Elizabeth enters the Bomb shelter and puts her youngest sister down. She turns to look at her mother and younger sister.

" Are you two alright?" Elizabeth asked, looking concerned.

" We are fine," Helen reassured, brushing Susan's dark brown hair with her fingers to calm her down.

Edmund enters the Bomb shelter with Peter closing and locking the door behind him.

" What were you thinking?" Peter firmly shouts while looking at his younger brother, disappointed.

Edmund sat on the bed, hugging the portrait tightly. He didn't look at his older brother.

" You could have gotten us killed!" Peter shouted.

" Peter!" Elizabeth shouts, cutting her younger brother off, putting her hand on his shoulder, and motioning her head to their youngest sister, who is looking at them, scared and with tears falling from her eyes.

Peter stops when he sees Lucy crying.

" Everyone sit down on the beds," Helen points to the three beds where they will sleep—one for Peter and Edmund, one for Helen and Susan, and one for Lucy and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth watched her four younger siblings sit on one of the beds. She stood beside her mother and stared at her family worryingly since she didn't know what would happen next.

" I know we are in a tense situation. But, we shouldn't be hard on one another," Helen looks at her four young children.

" Elizabeth," Helen looks at her eldest daughter.

Elizabeth looks at her mother.

" You will be responsible for looking after your younger siblings. I will ship you and the children off to your father's acquaintance. His name is Professor Kirke, and he lives in the countryside," Helen explains.

Elizabeth looked at her mother in disbelief and worried since it would be her first time looking after her younger siblings alone without her mother's help.

" Peter," Helen looks at her eldest son.

Peter looks at his mother.

" You will be helping Elizabeth look after your siblings," Helen said.

" And please, do not make your older sister's life harder by you and Edmund arguing whenever you two disagree," She firmly says.

Peter nodded, not saying anything.

" Susan. Edmund. Lucy. You three must listen to whatever Elizabeth and Peter tell you. If they want you three to sleep at 8 PM, then you three sleep at that time," Helen looks at her three youngest.

Edmund wanted to complain, but Susan elbowed him since she was annoyed by the tense situation and wanted her day to be peaceful.

" I want you five to look out for one another," Helen looks at her children lovingly.

" Your father and I love you all so much. We will communicate with you all via correspondence. Professor Kirke knows you will all live with him if the War worsens. Now group hug!" She held her arms out to her children.

Elizabeth and her younger siblings hugged their mother.

" We love you, Mum!" The five children spoke.

Tears welled up in Helen's eyes, trying her best not to cry since she wanted to be strong for her children.

" Now. Let's all try to get some sleep since we have a long day ahead of us," She lets go of her children.

Elizabeth helps her mother put her younger siblings to sleep by reading or singing a lullaby.

" Elizabeth," Helen softly speaks, causing her eldest daughter to look at her.

The two women stood near the beds and the bookshelf.

The only sounds they hear are the soft snores of the four children and the echoing of the bombs exploding, relieved that the Bomb shelter is keeping them safe.

" My beautiful Miracle," Helen gently brush her eldest daughter's pale blonde hair.

Elizabeth stared at her mother with mixed emotions.

She remembered her parents telling her that she had difficulty being born. They thought she was stillborn. However, the doctors were somehow able to revive her.

" Mum. I am scared. What if-What if I can't take care of them," She murmured, looking worried.

" Sweetheart. Look at me," Helen says.

Elizabeth's green eyes intently stared at her mother's blue eyes.

" I want you to believe deep in your heart that you can achieve anything you want. That you will never lose; you either win or learn. I can't promise to be here for the rest of your life. But I can promise to love you for the rest of mine," Helen looks at her eldest daughter lovingly.

Tears started to fall from Elizabeth's eyes, getting emotional.

Helen gently laid her forehead against her eldest daughter's. She lovingly brushed her nose against the younger female's nose.

" You will always have our heart," She whispered.

Elizabeth stared at her mother.

She knew that she meant hers and her father's.

" We will be with you every step of the way. To guide you when it comes to being there for your younger siblings. To let you know that it is okay to discipline them regarding their safety. And to constantly remind you to be yourself and have a youthful life despite having maternal responsibility," Helen lovingly kissed her eldest daughter's forehead.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and hugged her mother tightly, savoring the hug since she didn't know when it would be the last time she would get held by her mother.

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