Baron 1

Marissa BaronJanuary 22, 2008

Sing muse, and through me tell the story of a girl's journey home. Tell the journey of a girl who wants to return to the world where children grow up and through that journey discovers the joys of being young and the pleasures of growing older. Tell the story of the girl who met youth in the boy who never grows up and still chose to age, and live. Tell the story of a girl who returned home. Tell of Mari and her journey through Neverland.

I begin our story in Neverland; the danger was over, Peter was her friend, and the lost boys were all tucked in bed after their glorious dinner, real instead of imaginary for the first time in a week. All the boys had taken their medicine and all were asleep, except for Peter Pan. Peter sat up in his bed, waiting for Mari to bring his medicine over.

Mari came over, sat on the edge of the bed, and handed Peter a cup containing the worst type of medicine imaginable. The medicine was opaque white in color; it looked a lot like milk, but it wasn't nearly so delightful. Peter frowned at it, tilting the cup from side to side, watching the medicine slosh back and forth.

"Must I drink my medicine, mother? It is such awful stuff!" Peter beseeched her, pleading to be relieved of this horrific task.

"Yes Peter. I am sorry, but you must always drink your medicine. All of the other boys have already had their medicine and fallen asleep. Surely it must now be your turn." Mari smiled at Peter, but he returned it with only a frown. Peter wasn't pleased with this answer.

"I am much braver and stronger than the other boys! Certainly I don't need to drink medicine!" Peter stubbornly gave the cup back to Mari.

"You say you are brave? Not nearly so much as all the rest, for they have all had the courage to drink their medicine, but I suppose you are just a coward," Mari sighed and stood up to walk away, but before she could move a step, Peter cried out.

"I am no coward! I will prove it! Give me the medicine!" Peter grabbed the medicine and drank it all at once, "Ha!"

"Good boy, Peter. Now give me a kiss and go to sleep," Mari leaned over so Peter could kiss her cheek, and so he did.

"Goodnight, mother," Peter said.

"Goodnight, Peter." Mari went over to her own bed and lay down, falling asleep quickly. She had taken her medicine first of them all.

Eric woke up feeling cold. He looked over his shoulder at his twin brother. Scott was hogging the blanket! Eric angrily grabbed the blanket and pulled, simultaneously pushing Scott off of the cot with his feet. Scott fell to the floor with a thump, and he woke up quite startled.

"Eric, that was rude!" Mari frowned at Peter's second-in-command, both hands on her hips.

"He had stolen the blankets, mother!" Eric complained.

"That is no reason to push him off the bed, dear. But no matter, it is a moot point, for it is time to get up anyways."

"Breakfast!" Scott loved breakfast. He told anyone that would listen that it was the most important meal of the day, "Will you tell us a story afterwards, mother?"

"Yes! A story would be fantastic! Please mother!?!" Eric joined his twin in excitement and pleading.

"Of course; after breakfast. Now go wake the other boys while I finish cooking. We're having pancakes this morning." Mari knew this information would excite them.

Baron 2

"Yay! I'll wake everyone up!" Eric had the biggest smile on his face. He jumped up and went to blow the horn that signaled it was morning.

"Scott, go set the table, dear," Mari instructed the other boy, and he jumped up quickly to obey.

Mari walked over to the kitchen and poked at the fire inside the stove. Figuring it should be hot enough, she went into the pantry to retrieve the pan. While walking back to the stove, the loud wake-up horn was suddenly blown. The pan clanged on the ground and Mari leaned over to pick it up.

There was a soft tinkling sound, just the sound a quiet, lovely, golden bell would make. It was the sound of fairy laughter. Mari stood up, pot in hand, to see Teaching Wings shaking laughter, mid-air.

Teach was beautiful if you could get her to stand still long enough to see her sparkling orange eyes, long strawberry-blond hair, flame red wings, and striking figure. She was gowned in the standard fairy outfit of a skeleton leaf. The leaf was cut low and to show off her figure to the best advantage. Teach was malicious. She was not always malicious, but at this moment she was all malicious. Fairies are small, about the length of a child's hand. Since fairies are so small, they only have enough room in them for one emotion at a time. That emotion can change.

As Mari glared at her, Teach became happy. Teach smiled sweetly, and Mari had to return it with a grin and a giggle.

"Morning, Teach. How'd you sleep?" Mari asked, still giggling. Teach returned the sentiment.

"Very well, thank you. How did you sleep?" Teach spoke fairy language which sounds like little soft bells. It is the loveliest of all languages. All fairies understand English, but very few children, and no adults, understand fairy language. There are two children I know of that understand fairies, Peter Pan and Mari Baron.

"I slept fine. The boys want a story after breakfast, any ideas on which I should tell them?" Mari had put the pan on the stove top and started to pour batter onto it. All of a sudden, Peter's crow was heard from directly behind. "Ah!" The spatula fell to the floor this time. Teaching Wings started laughing all over again, doing summersaults in the air.

"Morning, mother!" Peter said, he was floating half a foot off the ground, grinning.

"Peter! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Mari picked up the spatula and glared at Teaching Wings, who immediately stopped laughing, "Go make sure the boys are up, and tell them breakfast is ready, please."

"Of course, mother!" Peter flew off.

"Why don't you tell them the story of us meeting and you coming to Neverland? You've told them all about the mainland, I'm sure they'd love to hear about the journey you took to get here," Teach jumped right back into their previous conversation.

"That's a good idea. I've been saving that story. I'm sure they'd like to hear about the welcome the savages gave me," Mari frowned, remembering. Teach started giggling.

"They almost chopped your head off," She was full-out laughing now.

"Ha-ha. I'll tell that story to the boys, we can go down to the Mermaid's Lagoon; Marooners' Rock will be a good place to tell the story."

"Sarah and Brydie could even help with the telling," Teach suggested, "Oh, here are the boys." Mari turned around to see all eight boys charging in and taking their places at the table. Peter sat at the head; Mari would sit at the foot.

"Pancakes for breakfast, boys!" Mari walked over with a full plate of them.

Baron 3

"Yay!" the boys cheered, very proud that they had a mother to make them breakfast. Mari went around the table and gave each boy four pancakes. She gave to Peter, Eric, Scott, Adam, Zeke, Brian, Matt, and Stephen (pronounced "Steven") who was always missing adventures.

"You'll tell us a story after this, won't you mother? Eric said you will," Matt asked quietly. He was a shy boy, but probably the best after Peter with a bow and arrow.

"We'll go down to Marooners' Rock and I'll tell you how I came to Neverland. Sound good, Matt?" Mari asked kindly.

"Oh yes! Yes, of course!"

"Good, now eat your pancakes before they get cold." By this time everyone had been served, even Teach, and Mari sat down to eat her own pancakes.

Peter had finished eating. He flew out of his seat and to the sink, taking his plate and fork with him. He dumped them into the sink and crowed. "Off to the Lagoon we go boys!" Peter crowed again.

The rest of the boys jumped up to follow him. They scrambled out of their chairs, eager to be of service to Peter as needed. But the boys had completely forgotten about clearing their own dishes, except for Adam. Adam stood there looking guilty, shuffling his feet.

"Boys, plates, they go in the sink. And it's Brian and Zeke's turn to carry the sink and wash. You two can wash after the story." Mari said this as she got up and put her own dishes in the sink. The boys all followed her example while Peter tapped his foot, on the ground for once.

Now you may be wondering why the sink needs to be carried. This sink was not really a sink. It was just a big white bucket that Peter had brought home from an adventure at some point. They called it the sink because they always put dirty dishes in it, and they took turns carrying it down to the Lagoon to wash.

Brian and Zeke (both rather scrawny boys) each grabbed a side of the sink; all the boys were ready to go. "Off to the Lagoon!" Peter was in the air again as he cried this out and shot out of the house under the ground. Each person had their own entrance and exit in the form of a tree, which they had to fit. The sink even had its own tree. The boys shot up their trees (a tricky task until you got the hang of it), and Mari followed up her tree. Once outside, the boys set off to the Lagoon.

Coming to the Lagoon, the sink was set aside as the boys quickly sat in a circle on Marooners' Rock. Mari, Teach resting on her shoulder, walked around the boys and faced the water, "Sarah, Brydie, you're in this story. Won't you come up and listen?" Mari beseeched the water. Of course, she was really talking to the mermaids. They started to come up, out of the water; heads were popping up. There were six mermaids in total and Mari knew them all very well. There was Sarah, Brydie, Julie, Taylor, Emily, and Egypt. Peter flew up to come great them with Mari, but the other boys hung back. They knew that if they tried to swim forward the mermaids would all swim away.

"Hi girls!" Peter exclaimed and all the mermaids smiled at him.

"You're telling the boys about how you came here, am I right?" Brydie asked Mari.

"Yes, will you help with the telling?" Mari returned.

"We will cut in when we, if we, have something to say," Brydie looked around to make sure the other mermaids were in agreement. They were nodding their heads, agreeing.

"Very well," Mari turned back to the boys and Peter flew back to his place in the circle, "I suppose I start my story," Mari sat down. Teach stayed on her shoulder, excitedly flapping her wings.

Baron 4

"My story starts on the mainland, where all of you were born. I was walking home from school. School is a place where children on the mainland go everyday, to learn things. I was walking home and I heard a quiet sound, like bells. It was the sound of a fairy speaking, and I understood the words. Teaching Wings came out of the bushes, and I almost fainted. She told me about Neverland, about the pirates, the savages, the mermaids, the other fairies, and about you boys. She told me you had no mother, and upon hearing this I began to cry-"

"I offered to bring you here to be their mother for a bit," Teach interrupted.

"Yes, you did, and I agreed. Learning to fly was difficult, but I did it. I kept thinking about how happy the lost boys would be to have a mother. Teach kept shaking fairy dust all over me, so eventually we were off. We found the island quickly once we got to the ocean; I think it was looking for us. The journey took about 30 hours.

"I was hungry and very tired when we arrived. It was dark. I saw campfires and knew they meant people. I didn't know they were the savages' camp fires, and Teach was asleep, tucked into my sleeve. She couldn't warn me. I flew down to the camp; it was right off the beach. Once I landed, the savages grabbed me and tied me up. I was too tired to fight them off; I even fell asleep after I was tied up. Fortunately, they didn't see Teach; she slept through the whole thing.

"When I woke up it was still dark and the savages were still asleep. I shook my arm a little (which was hard since I was tied up) and it woke Teach up. She flew out of my sleeve, her light coming on, and took a good look at the situation.

"'They're gonna kill me come dawn, aren't they?' I asked her, worried.

"'Yep. The mermaids could convince the pirates to attack if they wanted to, but we would need to bribe them. They won't want mainland money,' Teach explained to me.

"'You said they were vain; take the black hair ties off my wrist and give them to the mermaids as gifts. Then tell them I beg of their help. Tell them I wish to be a friend.' Teach grabbed the hair ties and flew off."

Sarah began to speak now, telling the part of the story Mari was absent for.

"Teaching Wings came to us and told us the trouble Mari was in. She told us the hair ties were a gift and put one of them in Taylor's hair. We thought they were a truly lovely gift. Next, Teach asked us if we would lend a hand in rescuing the giver of this gift. We were undecided, but Emily thought we should. In the end, Emily convinced us, and we swam to the ship named the Jolly Roger.

"We sang, and we soon had the attention of all the crew. There was Eurymachos, with gold piercings from head to toe, Poseidon, the best sailor to ever be, Hermes, who was strangely friendly in his killings, and the darkest, most evil of them all, Captain Jon Parker, or Cap'n P. as his crew called him.

"We sang the location of the savages and the pirates quickly set sail. We didn't return to the Lagoon, however. We were curious as to the outcome of this, so we followed the pirates to the savage camp." Mari took back over telling the story.

"The pirates attacked and I tried to hop away (I had to hop since my feet were tied), but the pirates spotted me. They grabbed me and dragged me back to the Jolly Roger. Once I was on the boat, tied up again, Teach found me. She blinked at me a couple of times, as if not sure I could have gotten captured again. At that moment the ship started rocking back and forth. The mermaids had split into two groups and were pushing the ship back and forth. In the confusion this caused, I was able to jump into the water. Brydie and Sarah gave me a rife on their backs to the Lagoon.

"When we reached the Lagoon, I asked them why they had helped me so much. Much more than a couple of hair ties had been worth. They told me that a job started must always be a job finished. They said they had committed to rescuing me and saw it through. I thanked them.

Baron 5

"That was when you boys came along, begging Peter to tell you a story. I heard Peter say that mothers tell stories. That was when you saw me. All eight of you came up to me, begging me to be your mother. Teach was laughing at that point.

"'I suppose I could be your mother, for a bit at least, I finally gave in. You all thanked me very kindly. Teach and I came back to the home under the ground with you after I said goodbye to the mermaids. In conclusion to this story, I have been your mother for the past three years." Mari looked around at the boys; she was saddened by what she was going to say next.

"I now have an announcement. I'm going home," Mari said with tears in her eyes. The boys looked stunned, the mermaids said nothing (being mermaids, they probably already knew).

"You are our mother, you can't leave," Peter seemed sure.

"I can and will, Peter. Also, I want all of you boys to come with me. I want you to meet my mother," Mari smiled now. She was hopeful at least one of the boys would come with her.

"I would like to come, mother," Eric shyly looked up from the ground.

"Me too, mother," Scott whispered.

"And also me!" The rest of the boys, except Peter, said in sync. This caused some giggling, but once it was done with everyone looked at Peter. Peter was looking down, but he looked up to speak.

"A girl named Wendy once asked me to join her in leaving Neverland. I won't do it, but you all go, if you wish."

"Alright, if you are sure Peter, we will leave right away. Peter, are you sure?" Mari asked, frowning.

"Yes, goodbye," Peter looked around him at all the sad faces.

"Boys, say goodbye to Peter," Mari instructed, tears in her eyes.

"We will accompany you to the mainland," Taylor said, "We wouldn't wasn't anything to bad to happen."

"Thank you," Mari smiled at her, "Peter, come here and give me a hug and a kiss, and promise me you will keep taking your medicine every night," Mari smiled at Peter while talking. Peter ran over to her and they embraced, both crying a bit (although Peter would never admit it).

"Teach, fairy dust please," Mari requested of her little friend. Teach flew around all of their heads, shaking off fairy dust. It was understood by all that Teaching Wings would stay with Mari wherever she went. As the boys began to think about how their new home would be, they rose off the ground. Peter stood still, waving, as the group flew and swam away. Peter watched them until they were out of sight before turning around and forgetting about them completely.

When the boys, the fairy, and Mari reached the mainland, they said farewell to the mermaids and continued on to Mari's home. Mari's mother and father were overjoyed to see their daughter, and they welcomed the lost boys like sons. Mari's father almost fainted when he say Teach.

"A real fairy!" he proclaimed.

That evening, once the boys had been tucked into bed, Mari sat talking to her mother.

"You're home," the elder said to her daughter. Mari just smiled, so glad to be back where she belonged but already missing Neverland.

"Well, I suppose I can always visit," she thought as she closed her eyes. She felt perfectly at ease.