.A Pop in Time.

Author's Note: Do not laugh; this is not supposed to be funny… :)

My mother maintained a stony faced silence throughout the entirety and finally retired with comments on my extreme need for punctuation.

Dedicated to King Caspian the Seafarer…who ought to know why.

Edited 8/12/11: A/N added at the end.

~o*o~

The snowflakes circled silently down, whirling through the frosty air. They seemed to start as faint gray specs against a white sky, only to slide down like dancers to settle in a peaceful blanket on the ice hard ground. The trees seemed to disappear behind the silent onslaught like naked skeletons stretching toward the lowering sky.

To the boy, who watched from the upstairs window of the cold grey castle, it was the first few exciting moments of winter. The piercing chill of December cold would not be half so hard to bear with the promise of snow…that wonderful, miraculous plaything that so inspired him. Caspian put his fingertips against the chilly glass and stared openmouthed, half imagining himself moving up instead of the snow coming down.

Something seemed to be moving through the whirling air.

~o*o~

High King Peter (the Magnificent) was drifting lazily down. In case of squalls, he was in full armor, with umbrella upraised overhead, carpet bag in hand and toes turned out to exactly ninety degrees (one degree less and he would have landed too hard and one degree more and he would be heading toward the moon like a rocket). He prided himself at his piloting skills as he landed gently on the front lawn of the castle.

High King Peter (the Magnificent) shook the layer of snow off his shoulders and groped around for his tail.

"Woops, wrong story," He muttered, "That was Tumnus' secret weapon."

He clanked up the front steps of the castle and rang the bell. A moment later the door flew open and a young boy stood staring at him (mouth still open). He was fair haired (so fair haired, in fact, that his hair nearly glowed with the same intensity as Rudolph's nose…only it wasn't red).

"Hello?" Caspian asked, staring at the fellow with the umbrella with awe.

"Hello," High King Peter (the Magnificent) said, contemplating on whether to bow or shake hands.

"Are you my new tutor?" Caspian asked.

"Yep, I'm Peter Poppins," High King Peter (the Magnificent) said, "Thought I'd pop in. That's the nice thing about popping in; you can always pop out again."

"Oh," Caspian said, "Are you going to save me from my evil Aunt Prunaprismia and my awful Uncle Miraz?"

"That was my intent," he leaned closer, "I'm not really your Tutor; I'm a top secret agent from the Chronicles of Narnia. They thought images of me with an umbrella would make good advertising. That's King Edmund (the Just) for you. But I thought, while I was here, I'd help you out."

"Oh, gee thanks!" Caspian said. "Can't I start by dying my hair black?"

"Can you put on a Spanish accent?" High King Peter (the Magnificent) asked worriedly, "Maybe we can pretend you're someone else and smuggle you to Harfang."

"That's the wrong story," Caspian pointed out.

"Well…" High King Peter (the Magnificent) said, closing his umbrella expertly. "By the way, this is my umbrella Rhindon; with it I popped the wolf."

"Wow," Caspian said, "It doesn't look like the sword in the movie."

"No," High King Peter (the Magnificent) agreed. "His feelings were so hurt by the other sword in the movie that he decided to become a parrot umbrella for a time."

High King Peter (the Magnificent) paused to whip his iPhone out of his pocket.

"Text from Susan," he said, "Quote: Don't stand out in the snow. Your armor will rust, then what will you be? Unquote." He stood for a moment thoughtfully, "I think the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz…Edmund! She's right, have you got those photographs yet?"

There was silence.

"I think the speaker system stopped working," High King Peter (the Magnificent) said sadly. They both were silent, sunk deep in thought.

Behind them, someone cleared his throat. They both looked around quickly to see a short, fat man with a very, very, very long white beard (trailing on the ground).

"Prince Caspian?" the short, fat man asked. "I am Doctor Cornelius, your new tutor."

"But," Prince Caspian glanced at Peter Poppins, then gasped. He was gone!

"But!" Prince Caspian exclaimed and his hair went a shade paler.

~o*o~

Years and ages after, when Caspian was quite grown up and his hair had deepened to a fine golden, and when he had all but forgotten Peter Poppins, he was sitting in a sunny corner with Rhindon, the High King's beautiful sword, across his knees. The dust motes danced in the sun shafts and Rhindon's hilt glowed nearly as golden as Caspian's hair. And as he sat there, it seemed to him that the hilt of Rhindon shifted almost like mist in the morning and for one moment, one fleeting moment, it seemed to appear as a parrot and the lid of the parrot's silvery eye dropped into a wink.

The End

Another A/N: Don't even try to understand this thing. This is what happens when one thinks about Narnia too much...all the different characters fall into a sort of stew and come out altogether wrong.

It is doubtless necessary to explain the occurrence of this story. In times of yore (three days ago), it was observed by Rose that King Caspian (the Seafarer), in one of his many writings (namely chapter 8 of Splendor) caused High King Peter (the Magnificent) to Liberate King Edmund (the Just) and his royal Self from a Foul Prison. It was further observed by Rose that the Key with which High King Peter (the Magnificent) facilitated this Release, appears from an Unknown Place.

On being questioned, King Caspian (the Seafarer) said, quoth he: "He snatched it off a guard. When they were roughing him and Edmund up. I suppose I should've said something about that.

"Although, heroes and sidekicks pull out keys and Objects Necessary to Escaping out of thin air all the time. So maybe it was just one of those occasions. :)."

After some consideration, Rose (and myself) found it Necessary to suggest the existence of a Magic Carpet Bag in the possession of High King Peter (the Magnificent). King Caspian (the Seafarer) furthered the idea with the addition of the Parrot Umbrella.

To make a long story short (perhaps we should just put it in a nutshell), the story wrote itself.

I sincerely hope that this Brief Explanation might Enlighten your minds on the Matter of this strange and admittedly unusual Work of Fiction.

~Psyche

Post Scriptum: It is also necessary to mention that the Caspian so brilliantly thought up by C. S. Lewis, was golden haired. This narrative is an addition to the Blond Caspian Rebellion. (Caspian in this story is admittedly very blond…and very young)

(Just in case you're curious, King Edmund (the Just) did get those pictures. They are available at www . cairparavel . na . gov...Okay, just kidding. :)