The second time around
The true story of the boy who never grew up is a mystery to most, but that's why I'm here. To tell the real story. Some say he was an orphan, stuck in an orphanage, alone and timid. Some say he ran away from his family when he was told to grow up. Some say he was the offspring of a mortal and a fairy. The truth? He was in fact, an orphan, but it didn't start that way.
It all started with a young girl who always dreamed of flying. She knew if she just believed, her dreams would come true. That girl, well, it's me. I had no clue what I would start, or where I would find myself, or this book for that matter. I will tell you from the beginning, but this book will never be complete. You see, the characters are real and alive, one never to die. He still soars over the endless oceans of Neverland. But, now I will tell you about the boy who stole my heart.
I was a child born wild, untamable and free-spirited. While most people in my culture ignored the beauties of life, I saw them as my only true friends. The sun, and rain, and snow, it didn't matter, I loved them all. But my favorite was the wind. It was invisible, but wild and free, like me. I loved all animals and would spend hours at a time, playing in the woods with my "friends". I named all the trees and animals I saw and even slept outside sometimes. But amidst my childhood glory I overheard my parents talking of what I was to be when I grew up. I refused to grow up, it would ruin the life I led. I loved the way I lived, so I knew I had to do something, soon. That night, I sat in my bed and stared out the open window, talking to myself and listening to music. I looked up to the sky and saw a shooting star. I laughed and thought, what if I wished on that star? I smiled, crawled up to the window and recited the childhood poem I had learned as soon as I could talk. "Star light, Star bright, First star I see tonight, Wish I may, Wish I might, Have this wish I wish tonight." I closed my eyes, tilting my face to the sky and wished for freedom. I wished I never had to grow up, and that I could fly away that very night. Opening my eyes, I looked up to the sky and smiled, then I curled up in my bed and fell asleep. What I didn't see was a boy step onto the windowsill, and smile at me. He whispered, "Soon." Then turned and flew off into the night sky. My dog, awakened by the sounds only a dog can hear, jumped up and started barking furiously at the window. I told her to be quiet, rolled over and fell asleep again.
Pan -
I flew up, up into the sky and spun for joy. I had never felt so alive, so free. Each time I fly, it's the same feeling, it never gets old. Neither do I, for that matter. I called out, yelling for pure joy as I flew through the tunnel of dimensions, bursting into Neverland and all of its splendor and glory. I circled the island a few times, then landed on top of the hideout. You have probably guessed my role in the story by now. Yes, I am the famous Peter Pan. I was on the lookout for a mother for my boys, the lost boys. Many people believe that the lost boys are orphans like me who are literally lost, but there story is more than it looks like on the surface. But that's a story for another time. This is the story of the first Lost Girl. The beauty I was visiting in the window. She may not know me yet, but after thousands of years of just boys, one misses having a female in one's life. So I have set out to find the perfect one. And I have found her.
It has been 100 years since Wendy had left and I was still sore about the loss. Some may think she was the first lost girl, but she knew right where she belonged, and that is why she left. She was never lost to begin with. I was sure she was the only one I could care for. But she obviously didn't feel the same way. Hook was right in the end. She shut me out. I had forgotten to call on her in a years' time. It was actually 10 years before I remembered my promise. Because, there is no time in Neverland, so how was I to know when to return? But when I did at last, the window was barred and locked. And when I knocked on the door, a very important looking gentleman answered. And when I inquired about Wendy, he told me she was his wife and did not know who he was. That broke my heart and I knew I had made a mistake. She was not the one for me. So I flew off into the night, never to return to the ever fading memories of that window and the lovely lady who resided in the large house. Through thousands of years, I managed to forget Wendy and the impact she made in my life.
Now I am here, looking again for someone to fill the void she left in my heart. And I have, my songbird. Just looking at her makes my whole world brighten. Literally. Every time I think about her, the sun shines brighter and the flowers grow in more vivid colors. So, I had to make sure everything was ready for her when she came. My plan was to bring her to Neverland and give her anything she wants, hoping she will stay. But I was still afraid it wouldn't be enough to keep her here. But when I was in doubt, I just told myself to believe. Soon, everything was ready and I was preparing to go and get the girl. In Neverland, the time equivalent of 30 minutes is about a day in the real world. So, when I set out to get her, it was nightfall in her world.
I crept up to the window sill and looked in. She was fast asleep, with teardrops on her pillow and eyelashes. I wondered what could have happened to make her cry. I jumped as she stirred in her sleep and began thrashing around wildly. Then she was still, but suddenly she shot up and pulled a gun out from under her pillow and pointed it in my general direction, even though I was hidden by the wall of the house. She sniffed and cautiously put the gun on the pillow scanning the room, then, curling up in a ball, she buried her face in her knees and started crying. When she had calmed down, she crawled up to the window and pulled back the curtains even more than they were, and opened the window, letting the chilly air into her small room. Then she put her gun on safety, and yawning and sniffing, she curled up and fell asleep with the gun in her small hands. Obviously, tonight was not the best night to talk to her. I turned to leave when I heard a shaky voice ask, "Who are you?" I spun around and to my surprise, I saw her sitting on her knees right inside the window, pointing a gun strait at my head. I raised my hands above my head and walked towards the window. She repeated her question. I looked up at her cute face and messy pigtails and decided she wouldn't hurt me. She was too small and fragile to have the guts to shoot me. I put my hands down and walked up to the window, intending to climb in. She backed up from her window and said, "Don't you dare come in, or I will shoot you." Of course I didn't believe her, so I started climbing in. I heard a loud noise and felt pain shoot up my arm, making me lose my grip on the wall. I fell with a thud onto the wet grass and clutched my arm. I couldn't believe she shot me in the shoulder. I have no clue why, but that made me like her even more. I was determined to take her to Neverland that night. I loved that fire in her eyes, the flame that would never burn out. I knew I would surely lose all hope of happiness if she ever got hurt. So I stood up and told her I wasn't here to hurt her, I just wanted to talk. She didn't trust me, I could tell, and she was stubborn, slamming her window shut and locking it, closing the curtains. I walked around to the other window and looked up, she slammed that one too. The only other window in the house that was open, was the window to her parent's room which was really high up. So I walked over to the foot of the house, out of her sight, and flew to the window, squeezing in without hitting my injured shoulder and landing on the floor softly. I looked in the bed and saw it was empty. I wondered what had happened, but I couldn't bother about it right now. I snuck out of the room and found my way into her room. She was asleep, one hand under her pillow facing away from me. I snuck up to the bed and quietly slid the gun out from under the pillow. She shifted and I flew back to the doorway, hiding the gun on a vine on my back. She stirred and sat up. Catching sight of me, her hand flew to her pillow. A confused look came over her face as she searched her bed for her gun. I leaned on the wall, watching her. She finally looked back at me. She probably guessed by the look on my face that I had it, because her face became as white as a sheet, and she backed up to the wall. I could see her shaking in the dark corner of her bed. She was obviously scared. I knew I had won, then she stopped shaking and I began to worry. What next? Then she whipped out four throwing knives and I scarcely had time to duck as they whizzed by me and stuck firmly into the wall behind me. I turned to face her and hoped she didn't have any more weapons hidden. She had a large knife in her hand and was curled up in the corner, tears on her face. I knew the best way to make her understand was to show her. I walked over to the bed and pulled out the gun. I unloaded it and scattered the bullets across the floor, then laid the empty gun on the bed, by her feet. She looked at the gun, then at me, sniffing. I knew she was scared but I didn't know what else to do. So I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her. She curled up ever tighter, hugging her knees like a shield, protecting her. After sitting like that for about twenty minutes, I asked, "Why were you crying?" She looked up with a confused look on her face and said, "Why do you care?" I shrugged and said, "Call it a feeling, or some distant memory, but I know you are hurting more than the average kid your age. Something happened, something very bad, and you are shutting everyone out. But you don't have to tell me anything right now. Last night, you wished to fly away, and never come back. To leave everything and live wild and free. Do you still want that?" "She looked even more scared than before. "How do you know about that?" I laughed and looked her in the eye and said, "That wish on a star, I am the answer to that wish. I was here last night and I heard you wish for freedom. I can give that to you. All you have to do is believe." She had the faintest look of hope in her eyes, but her instinct slammed all possibility and hope out the door. She quickly pushed me over on the bed, pushed the palm of her hand into my wound and held her knife to my throat saying, "I have no reason to trust you, I have no reason not to kill you." I smiled at her and said, "You only have one reason not to kill me." She snorted and said, "Oh yeah, and what could that be?" "You would always wonder what would have happened if you let me live and went with me. It would haunt you, and never let you rest." I said with confidence. "I can give you anything you could ever imagine. And you would never have to grow up." She looked at me for a long time and finally let me sit up. I stood up and walked to the window rubbing my shoulder and stepped up on the sill. I turned and watched her stand up and walk towards me, looking out the window. She finally looked up at me and asked, "How are we going to get there?" I jumped and pumped my fists in the air in excitement. She watched me with amusement in her big blue eyes. I looked down at her and remembered her question. "Um, well how do you want to go?" I asked. "Well…" she started. "What?" I coaxed. She said shyly, "I always wanted to fly but that is impossible, so the train I guess." I laughed so hard I almost fell out the window. "Flying it is. " I said. She looked at me with a hurt look on her face. She turned and walked back to her bed and started crying again. It made my heart hurt, so I walked over and sat beside her, trying to comfort her. But she pushed me away. "I was serious, you know." I said. But she wouldn't look at me. Finally I said, "Fine, I will jump out the window." She looked up and watched quietly as I walked over to the window and stepped up onto the sill. I looked down and was about to jump, when she said, "wait, stop." I turned and looked at her. "Why are you really here?" She asked. I smiled and turned back towards the open window and jumped. But right below the window, just out of sight, I stopped in midair and flew along the side of the house until I was above the window. I heard a squeak, and she rushed to the window and I saw a blonde head sticking out, looking at the ground. I silently flew right above her head and into the room without her knowing. I sat on her bed and cleared my throat. Her head shot around and she looked at me, first with astonishment, then joy, then curiosity. I smiled as she rushed over and asked, "How did you do that?" I smiled and said, "I flew." She looked at me with disbelief, but I could also see hope rising in her small face. She ran back to the window and looked out. Then she looked back at me. "Can you, well, teach me?" I laughed and said, "Sure. All you need is, faith, trust and pixie dust. It's easy. Just think happy thoughts and they lift you into the air." Her smile faded and she sat on her bed. I walked over and asked her, "Now will you tell me what happened?" She sniffed and nodded. I was making progress, she was beginning to trust me. "My great grandma died last night. And my parents were in such a rush to go see her, they forgot about me and just left me here." What was her name?" I asked. "Moira" she said.
It sounded familiar, so I said, "full name?" "Wendy Moira Angela Darling." I sat in shock for a few minutes. "Wendy? Dead?" I whispered. It was a hard blow. I had forgotten all about her. I stood up and walked to the window, looking at my star. I tried to hold back the tears, but they came anyway. I looked into the sky, watching as the moon rose, into the middle of the sky, replaying all the memories of us, listening to her stories, fighting pirates, talking to the mermaids, dancing in the moonlight to fairy music, her kiss as I was laying on the pirate ship, dying. I collapsed to the ground, my head spinning. I heard the girl get up and come over to my side. She helped me up and guided me to her bed. I sat down and stared at the floor in bitter tears. I was in total shock. I had forgotten all the grief at losing her to growing up, that I didn't realize, this is a part of never growing up. I looked at the girl, who was now looking very puzzled, but she also looked afraid. "I knew your great grandmother, once upon a time." I said. "She was a great swordsman." I couldn't believe Wendy was her great grandmother though. It was very hard to take. I stood up and was about to fly away, when I felt a hand on my arm. "Please take me with you." She said, looking me strait in the eyes. It felt like she was looking into my soul. I couldn't say no, so I picked her up and stepped onto the window sill. I stepped off and looked at her. Her eyes were closed and she was holding onto me for dear life. I smiled and flew up into the sky. When we were above the clouds, I told her to open her eyes. She did, and she gasped when she looked down. A huge smile was on her face. My adventures with Wendy were over for good, but I was about to start a whole new life with her great granddaughter.
I flew up into the clouds, supporting her in one arm, and letting my injured arm hang loosely in the air.