Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Peter Pan. Don't be ridiculous.
"And she reached out her finger to take the spindle from the older woman, with no knowledge of the curse meant to destroy her. She reached—and reached—and, to the woman's great horror, pricked her finger on the spindle and fell to the ground, seemingly dead!"
Wendy was just getting into the best part of her story when she heard a small gasp from the direction of the window. At least, that's what she thought she heard. John and Michael were both sitting at her feet still, enraptured. But when she glanced up at the open window, she could have sworn that she saw a flash of light disappear from beside the window pane, and the curtains moved ever so slightly, although there had been no wind that night.
Nana must have heard something, too, for she stared in the direction of the entrance to the unknown world and growled ever so slightly.
The girl broke off from her tale abruptly and hurried over to the window, searching the ground and the roof for any sign of a someone who could have made that gasp.
But she saw nothing. She then searched the heavens, although surely someone hiding among the stars would be preposterous. Well, she didn't think what she was thinking in those exact words, but that was the idea. What she was really thinking was that she must have been hearing things, because surely no one would be listening at her window as she told fairy tales to her brothers—right?
By this time, John and Michael were right behind her, plying her with questions about what happened to make her stop talking, and, for heaven's sake, what happened to Sleeping Beauty?
She walked slowly back to the middle of the nursery, a boy at each side. After a long pause, she began once more to enthrall her younger siblings with the adventures of a land far, far away, speaking almost meditatively at first, then growing louder, stronger, faster, and more like she would normally tell a story.
If she had allowed one more glance up to the window, however, she would have noticed the presence of a boy, somewhere in between twelve and fourteen, hidden just behind the side of the window, yet still well within earshot. You see, he wanted to know what happened to Sleeping Beauty, too. And despite the earlier scare where his automatic reaction to her tale had almost given him away, she wasn't done talking, and he wasn't done listening. Just a little bit longer, and the lady would be done for the night. The boys would hate him for being gone so long, but the new story would put them to rights again. He grinned up at the ball of light above him, and she made a face in return. Yep, they were all going to enjoy the storytelling once he got back.
So…I hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think!