"B-b-but…where are going?" Wendy stuttered.
"To never land!" Peter shouted.
"Neverland!" Wendy sighed dreamily.
Katy watched the animation from afar as she peered out from the inside of her bedroom closet. The door had been left ajar when she had fled from her spot in front of the television and she was much too frightened to reach out and close it all the way. A single movement and her cover would be blown. Just two feet from the closet door stood Katy's center of hate and rage. No longer was he the man she knew and loved as a child. He had died right along side his wife, her mother.
The thought of her deceased mother brought grief to her already terrible situation. She hurt, inside and out. The bruises on her arms were symbols of the scars that marked and marred her fragile heart. Years of abuse had ensued soon after her mother's death. Her father had lost all hope in life and sought to drown his sorrow to the bottom of a bottle and forcing poor Katy to raise and teach herself.
Katy's lip quivered as the shadow of her father traveled across the room. Once again he had gone off the deep end and gotten himself drunk as a skunk. His work uniform was disheveled and his usually gelled hair was tussled this way and that. His eyes were glossy and blood shot. With a bottle in his hand he tore through his daughter's room , knocking toys from their shelves and ripping the pop-teen posters from the wall. His odor was foul and holding her breath was all she could do to keep from retching. Make him go away. Make him go away! Please God make him go away….
"Kaaaaty!" He slurred. "You little brat…."
She kept her eyes shut, jumping out of her skin as the sound of glass hitting the wooden floor filled her ears. Her heart clenched painfully in her chest. If anything her father had destroyed the snow globe her mother had given her at birth. It was one of the very few tokens she had left of her and she had treasured it so dearly.
A single tear grazed her cheek.
"Where are you? Kaaaaaaty!"
She held her breath and counted back from fifty. He'll go away eventually. Just stay quiet and you wont be found. 50, 49, 48, 47.…
"The second star to the right,
shines in the night, for you.
To tell you that the dreams you have planned
really can come true…."
The music from the television drowned out all other sound. She inwardly sang along to it.
"Kaaaty…Kaaaaty! You little bitch where the fuck are you?"
The second star on the right…. Go away, go away!
"I'm going to count to three. If you don't get your ass out here I'm going...I'm going to fucking beat your ass!" Glassy eyes scanned the supposed empty room. They landed on the only part of the room that he had not touched. The closet. He sluggishly sauntered towards it.
…Shines in the night…. Please don't find me!
She watched helplessly as the shadow of her father soon covered the stream of light that filtered through the door. Her face paled.
Sure enough the door flew open and Katy's tears fell.
In a flash of yellow light, she could barely make out the shadow of a hand that reached out for her. Expecting her father, she flinched and scurried back, only to find it not possible. The shadowed hand had taken hostage of hers. As her sight began to settle she began to make out a pair of long skinny legs, tan cloth shoes and a little green hat decorated with a red feather.
She looked up and for the first time in years, smiled.
Put a smile on your heart,
There's no better time to start.
Think of all the joy you'll find,
when you leave this world behind
and bid your fears goodbye.
"Alright Katy, here we go! Off to Neverland!"