Panning For Gold
By Selena the Bean
Dreams and Prunes
Note: I do not own Peter Pan!!!
It was one of those nights when everything felt different. The wind came in odd gusts and tore through the suburban neighborhood in every direction, whisking red and brown and golden leaves down the sidewalk. The stars seemed to shine more brightly than usual , and the ravens which were always perched on the tin mailboxes were strangely quiet. The air itself even tasted different in a way that was hard to describe; it was both crisp and heavy, fresh and light, and its sweet breath felt wild and untamed. The whole earth felt of magic.
Oblivious to her surroundings, Elva Tibbult slept in a tight cocoon of sheets with a crease in her brow and a frown on her lips. She was dreaming again, but this one was different than the average jumbled mess of ideas concocted by her sleeping mind. This one felt real.
She was behind a collection of boulders on what seemed to be a beach, and was watching a group of barbaric-looking adolescent boys who were all enraptured by the strong words of a taller person standing on top of an upturned row boat. His back was to the water and the moon, the single form of illumination, so she could only distinguish a little of his appearance.
The outline of his form showed that he was slender, tall, not overly muscular but obviously athletic. He looked to be in his upper teens, around her age. She could tell by his stance on top of the boat, legs apart and arms arrogantly folded across his narrow chest, that he was in charge. She could also tell, by the commanding tone in his voice, he liked that fact very much.
"We HAVE to find it," he was insisting forcefully. "Do you want this to continue? All that we tried to leave behind in coming here is catching up to us. I don't want to turn into some old prune… I can't believe that lying bastard! We both promised on coming here that we wouldn't touch it and upset the balance of things…" A heavy breeze rustled the palm leaves above her and his voice was drowned out.
Her dream-self was very confused. What didn't he want to continue? What balance? And what did he mean by "becoming an old prune"? She couldn't fathom what that had to do with anything. It was bound to happen eventually, she thought, whether he wanted it to or not. He might as well accept it.
Elva was then thrown into another scene.
The process was much like what Elva thought being inside a tornado would feel like. She was in a whirlwind of sound and color and voices until everything stopped as suddenly as it had started.
She was kneeling with her head bowed inside a room with worn wooden flooring; she knew this because her eyes were seemingly glued to the ground. She felt herself sway along with her surroundings and realized that she must be on a ship. Judging by the room's size, she guessed that she was in the captain's cabin.
"Aye Captain," the words flew out of her mouth, though they were certainly not hers. They were in a deep, gruff voice that reminded her of sandpaper somehow; rough and raspy. She was glad that her voice did not really sound like that.
After attempting to stand from her low (and rather uncomfortable) position, she concluded that she had absolutely no control over the body she was in. "Aye Captain," her mouth uttered again in a resigned tone. "I will do as you say. But wouldn't it be more prudent just to give it back to Pan? Is it really worth all the trouble it will cause us? " Pan? Who's Pan? She thought that was a rather silly name. Under normal circumstances, she would have laughed.
The Captain grimaced. "Don't say his name," he muttered dangerously. "And no, it would not be more prudent," he spat, "to return the damn trinket." The Captain's voice sounded too young to be so venomous. "I, who have waited and waited for my chance at vengeance, am not going to return what I have stolen, what matters most to Him. I will dispose of it. Make him suffer the fate he had attempted to leave behind."
Author's Note: Sorry if any of that was confusing…. It will all make sense eventually. :P This is a work in progress so please review!