Almost everyone knows the story of Peter Pan and Never-never Land. They know of the pirates and Indians and fairies who live there. They have all heard of the tales of adventures of Wendy, Michael, and John. But what they have not heard is what happened after Peter Pan left, because the life did not disappear with him. The life is still there.

With Peter Pan gone, his gang, the lost boys, lived on. Tinkerbell continued to gather handfuls of rosy-cheeked boys from around the world to come and live with them. That was the way things were... until Tinkerbell made a horrible mistake.

It was a mid-summer night. The noise and smog of the city had finally succumbed to the lullaby of nighttime and its shimmering city lights. The air was warm and heavy. Small, wispy clouds dotted the velvet sky, lit by tiny pinpoints of starlight and the luminous glow of the not-quite-full moon. A tiny light hovered over an open window of a New York apartment building. It darted inside, where a child lay sleeping. "Sleep little boy,

in my arms you're safe,

I will carry you away,

to a much better place,

We will ride on the wind,

to a land of true being,

Second Star to the right,

and straight on 'till morning."

The child was lifted into the air, and floated away with the light. They flew silently and unnoticed into the morning. Four boys sat against a large elm tree. They were barefoot and dressed in well-worn clothes with their breeches rolled up to their knees. The biggest one sat chewing thoughtfully on a juicy green apple.

"Tucker, d'you think Tink's back yet? She has been gone for a long time now."

"I don't know, Jon." Tucker answered between bites, "she can be gone for days at a time. She could be between my toes right now for all I know."

Their conversation paused as the lazy summer sun drenched the boys with warmth. Tucker chewed on his apple some more, savoring the sour flavor. "Look!" the smallest boy shouted. "There she is! Up in the sky!" They all rose to their feet. "Tink's back! Tink's back!" Jon shouted. All of the boys strained to see her, the faint light coming nearer and nearer. Finally, she landed on a tree branch and hopped down to earth, laughing cheerily with her bell-like voice. The boys gathered around ecstatically, not just because Tinkerbell was back, but also because she was bringing a brand new child for them to meet. All of the boys clustered around. The boy had shoulder-length, tumbling dark chestnut curls and his strong nose was dotted with light, almost invisible freckles. Tucker whispered, "Shhhh! He's still sleeping." With Tinkerbell flying behind, Tucker carried the boy back to the old maple tree. Jon pushed a knot on the trunk and a hidden door creaked open. They carried the boy down the spiral staircase into the tree, laid him on the soft feather mattress, covered him with a worn patchwork quilt, and crept out silently. Erin knew that she had to be dreaming. Sharon wasn't screeching at her to get up, and she was laying on something marvelously warm and soft. She didn't want to wake up; she didn't want to let the dream go. She kept her eyes firmly closed and pinched her arm. "Ouch!" she mumbled. She groped around the soft bed, hoping to find some assurance that it was real, that it was true, that she wasn't in apartment number 8-C in New York, New York. Erin finally screwed up the courage to open her eyes. It wasn't New York, at least. She was staring at a dirt ceiling with a root snaking through it. She looked right and left. The sunlight streaming through the windows set high in the wall was brighter, clearer than in New York. Then she noticed something else: it was completely devoid of the honking, squealing-tires, growling-engines tune that was New York traffic. The songs of birds and rustle of the wind in trees seemed not at all out of place here, though. Have I seen this place before? Or is it just one of my imaginings? Erin wondered to herself. She cocked her head and listened to voices coming from the next room. "He's been sleeping ever since Tink got back!" "Can't wait to show him the island!" "D'you think he'll be hungry?" "Be quiet there," chided a strange voice. It sounded like the chiming of bells, yet somehow Erin could clearly understand what it was saying. "Once he wakes up, we'll give him some breakfast. Then you can show him around the island." "Aw, Tinkerbell, I'm sure that first he'll want to see all of Never-never Land first thing!" Now Erin knew, even though she could clearly see a bruise forming where she had pinched herself, that she must be dreaming. Never-never Land. . . That was where Peter Pan, from the stories, had lived. She remembered reading the book Peter Pan. It had seemed like such an idyllic existence.having nothing to do except whatever she wanted, being able to go where she wanted to go and say what she wanted to say. In Never-never Land there would be no obligations and no sadness and no Sharon. Hadn't she been wishing, idlely hoping, just last evening that she could be part Never-Never Land's beautiful dream, be part of a life that was far away from Sharon and the misery of apartment 8-C? Even if it was only a dream, hadn't her wish been granted? But the people in the next room had to be referring to someone else, and that someone else was obviously a boy. Erin cautiously rose to her feet, glancing around at her surroundings. Her mattress was stuffed with some kind of feathers. But the bed was even softer that Sharon's was, and Sharon's was made out of pure goose's feathers. The walls were the most intriguing things, though. They were all completely made of dirt. Erin figured that the room had been dug out of the ground and. and. well, what did she care? It was all a dream, anyhow, and any minute she would have to go make breakfast for Sharon and her daughter, Shannon. In the corner, there was a washstand that was roughly carved out of wood. On it rested a bowl of cool, perfectly clear water. Erin splashed some water on her face and looked in at her reflection in the bowl, sighing. She wished so badly that it was real, that the lost boys would really show her and the boy that they were talking about around the island. Would there be Indians or mermaids or pirates to thwart? Erin splashed her hand in the water to dissolve the image of her face that was almost too real to be just a dream. On the washstand, a set of clothes was waiting for her. Erin held up her new apparel and examined it. The shirt was leaf-green, with buttons made of tiny sticks up the front. Throwing her pajama top to the dirt floor, Erin slipped it over her head. It fit her perfectly, and it was soft and cool. The breeches were cut so they would fall just above the knees. She pulled them on and tied the green drawstring.they were softer than anything she had worn in New York. She bent over to stroke them.Probably leather, she decided. They were a soft brown color and allowed plenty of freedom to run around. Erin smiled as she looked down at herself. Whoever made the outfit certainly did not

make it for a girl in New York. She looked back down into the bowl of water, which had settled down into a smooth, reflective surface again. Sighing, Erin wondered if the girl whose reflection she was gazing at would ever have enough courage to face the lost boys. She didn't know why, but Erin was very worried about facing the boys of the island. What if they didn't like her? What if they paid her no attention? She did not know what she would do if they ignored her. Erin absolutely could not stand to be ignored. She got enough of it at home, when Sharon pretended to be completely oblivious when Erin asked for anything, but if you were ignored in a dream, well, that totally unacceptable. Erin ran her fingers through her dark brown hair and sighed, again. Why was she shy of fictional characters, characters that would be gone as soon as she woke up? She took one more look at the lightly freckled face staring at her from the bowl of water. It seemed like her reflection was trying to reassure her. Erin took a deep breath and pushed through the curtains covering a round hole in the wall. On the other side, she found eleven rustic boys staring at her.