Narnia, Chapter I
Beauty and the Chronicles of Narnia, the Other
Chapter I
* And So, It Begins *
Because I am a fairy godmother, and not often visible to my charges (there are exceptions to this, of course, as you shall see), I am privileged to be a “fly on the wall,” so to speak. Present, but not to be seen. From my special vantage point, and due to my special abilities, I can observe and sense what is going on with each one of my peeps, and ascertain how all of their interactions with each other, and the environment, help them to evolve. Throughout their lifetime they gradually came to understand their place in the world. Everyone on earth goes through this process, each one with their own set of circumstances and all at their own rate of progress. One cannot judge another, since we’re all in the same boat, it is said.
I have been “assigned” to this particular soul pod, and am rather new at it, but very excited to be involved. But please pardon if I don’t always get it right in my observations and what those observations might entail. I am, after all, of the fairy kingdom, and we in this realm sometimes find ourselves romanticizing our humans. Our intentions are honorable, however, and the longer we observe our wards, the closer we become in being able to identify with their struggles. Naturally, compassion develops. As I stated, we actually do not have most of these difficulties in our land and find many of them to be curious in nature. But, as my time continued watching my family here on the earth plane, I developed more human qualities myself, and began to understand why things are so difficult for them. You see, I am evolving as well, and have lessons of my own to learn.
But now, let us get on with the story, this adventure, and let us begin from the beginning, with their arrival at the land and their new home. After traveling five and a half hours from the place they had lived for the past three years, where the boy baby had been born, and where Beauty had gone to kindergarten and first grade, they finally landed.
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It was already late in the day when they slowly made their way down the gravel road called Rockstad Tower Road, which headed into the forest. It had turned off of Longview Road which was off of County Hwy N which was off of Hwy 63. I admit to being completely befuddled with directions as I simply fly in a straight line from point A to point B, and cannot imagine how confusing and time-consuming it must be to have to follow a road map, which is what they had to do. I cannot comprehend the many twists and turns. They drove from Appleton through places called Stevens Point, Mosinee, Evergreen, Rib Mountain, Wausau, Brokaw, Merrill, Otis, Irma, Gilbert, Tomahawk, Tripoli, Prentice, Phillips, Lugerville, Park Falls, Butternut, Glidden, Clam Lake, Cable, and finally, almost to Drummond, where their new home awaited. Well actually, there was, as yet, no actual dwelling in the normal sense of the word. Just trees. So, as they slept that first night at the bottom of the hill from where the truck was parked, the forest itself provided the shelter.
The ground was their floor, the trees their walls, and the sky overhead their ceiling. Sounds of the night creatures everywhere around them were barely noticed as exhaustion took over, and they all were soon fast asleep on a mattress of pine needles.
Meanwhile, the Forest, not being used to human beings, was confused. All the creatures they knew were the four-legged ones and the flying ones. These four stood upright on only two legs! And those two short ones! Who were these living things? Obviously they were some kind of unknown species they had not seen before and could not have possibly imagined. So, the humans were as unknowing about the Forest as the Forest was as unknowing about the humans. They all had much to learn. As did I!
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As dawn made its presence known, and as light gradually filtered through the mostly leafless trees, for it was still early spring, the humans gradually came back to conscious awareness. Beauty was the first to awaken. She stared wondrously up at the sky, marveling to herself at this unusual perspective of seeing the world upside-down. The tops of the trees towered high above and the early sky was turning a a lovely shade of cerulean. As she watched the blue deepen, a large-spanned black bird was flying high in the sky and its shadow briefly crossed her face. This is my new life, she mused. I’m not in Appleton any more. The memories of her past life in town became a dream to which she rarely returned, and certainly did not miss. This is somehow more real, she thought.
As you may already have guessed, Beauty was not your ordinary little girl. Although most children are naturally inquisitive about life and learning all the things they need to in order to navigate their way, some children have extra special gifts they were born with which people wonder about. They simply are different. Now, other people’s opinions are something that everyone has to learn to deal with, especially if one is out of the norm. It is sometimes hard to listen to the promptings of your own heart when you are too much aware of what other people may be thinking about you. Like what you are doing and what choices you are making. One can easily feel judged. If too impacted, it is hard to truly be oneself. And being your own unique self, to be like no other on this earth, is the most important thing.
Much contributes to this uniqueness. Outwardly, the color of your skin and hair and eyes are easy categories to see. Are you a boy or a girl or somewhere in-between? Do you like pasta or raspberries? How do you walk and talk? What are your attitudes, preferences, and how do you handle conflict, and how do you experience joy, and what is your favorite pastime? Everything in your world contributes to the you that is You. Is kindness towards others your usual state, or are you often grumpy and unhappy? I have learned that all humans experience at one time or another every single emotion that exists. If they have developed wisdom, those experiences help them relate to each other, and help them if they can. But sometimes, at different stages of growth, they can get stuck in a negative cycle. That can make one sad for too long. Balance eventually get stabilized if one is a healthy human, I have noticed.
But, I digress. Back again to that first morning.
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Beauty’s heart was signing. And she was reminded of the words to an old hymn she had heard one time, a long time ago…
Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the signing, praise for the morning
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
Sweet the rains new fall, sunlit from Heaven
Like the first dewfall on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where His feet pass
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God’s recreation of the new day
Morning has broken like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning,
Praise for them springing fresh from the world
(Words by Eleanor Farjeon, 1931)
And so, as each of the other family members awoke, stretching now from stiffness and cold after laying for so long on the earth, they also were taken with the freshness and strangeness of their surroundings. It was indeed a new day, a new life, and their enthusiasm to get on with it was an exciting moment indeed.