The Neverland I Know
Most Stories start "once upon a time". Well mine doesn't, it starts "once upon a where". See the important thing about Neverland is that it doesn't matter how much time passes, things are always the same. Captain Hook will always be a "codfish", Tinkerbell will always be jealous but sweet, and the lost boys will still be, well, "lost", but happy. And of course Peter Pan will always be the dashing, debonair, young hero. Yet, some things do change, but for the better of course. All it takes is faith and trust! OH! And something I forgot. Dust…yup, just a little bit of pixie dust.
Once upon a where, there was a young boy about the age of 14. How he got to Neverland remains a mystery. But never-the-less he got there all the same. Tinkerbell and he became fast and best friends. You see Peter could leave Neverland anytime he wanted. But, as everyone knows he's the boy that doesn't want to grow up. He traveled through the world and found a few others that didn't want to grow up either. They became known as the lost boys. Of course there were already people living in Neverland, like the Indians, and the Mermaids. And of course there's that scoundrel of a pirate (or should I say codfish) Captain Hook and his crew. So you see Neverland was perfect! It was the best place to grow up—er—not grow up. I wanted to go there since I was a little girl. I was an orphan you see and the oldest and supposedly wisest in the orphanage. I knew all the Peter Pan stories. I told them to the little ones at night when they cried or couldn't sleep. Sometimes I made up songs about him and his adventures. And that's where our story starts…one perfect night when I was 14 years old.
The headmistress of "The London Orphanage for Girls and Boys" was a mean and cruel person. She tried to make our stay as miserable as possible. So it was no wonder when kids got adopted they never came to visit like they promised. But the days, weeks, and years came and went. Some went, some came, and everything was normal, or as normal as normal can possibly be. The little kids in the orphanage came to me when they were scared, or worried, or anything else for that matter. So to calm them down or cheer them up (which ever they needed) I told them stories of a place far away from here. A place where all your wishes and dreams were real! "Like candy trees?" asked one. "And mermaids?" asked another. "Well there's got to be pirates!" said a little boy as a little girl hugged her teddy bear tighter. "Well sure! There's all those things! And a boy named Peter Pan!"
This was the usual nightly routine. They would crowd around my bed and I'd pull the smallest onto the bed with me and tell them stories about Neverland. That night I was telling them about the time Peter cut off Hooks hand and gave it to the Crocodile. (The boys seemed to like that one) Just as the last ones were falling asleep I heard something on the roof. I looked up but kept going with the story, tucking all of them in, in turn. Then I got to Gregory's bed. He was the littlest boy of them all. Only 5 years old. And he said, "Angie?" "Yes Greggie?" I ask. But he nodded off to sleep before he could finish the question. Just as I was about to crawl into my own bed I saw a star. I walked to the window the wood cold on my feet and whispered:
"Star light,
Star bright
First star I see tonight
I wish I may
I wish I might
Grant the wish I wish tonight"
Just as I was thinking of what to wish a saw a face appear in front of me on the outside of the window. I looked long and hard at the face and finally recognized him as, "PETER PAN!"
Most Stories start "once upon a time". Well mine doesn't, it starts "once upon a where". See the important thing about Neverland is that it doesn't matter how much time passes, things are always the same. Captain Hook will always be a "codfish", Tinkerbell will always be jealous but sweet, and the lost boys will still be, well, "lost", but happy. And of course Peter Pan will always be the dashing, debonair, young hero. Yet, some things do change, but for the better of course. All it takes is faith and trust! OH! And something I forgot. Dust…yup, just a little bit of pixie dust.
Once upon a where, there was a young boy about the age of 14. How he got to Neverland remains a mystery. But never-the-less he got there all the same. Tinkerbell and he became fast and best friends. You see Peter could leave Neverland anytime he wanted. But, as everyone knows he's the boy that doesn't want to grow up. He traveled through the world and found a few others that didn't want to grow up either. They became known as the lost boys. Of course there were already people living in Neverland, like the Indians, and the Mermaids. And of course there's that scoundrel of a pirate (or should I say codfish) Captain Hook and his crew. So you see Neverland was perfect! It was the best place to grow up—er—not grow up. I wanted to go there since I was a little girl. I was an orphan you see and the oldest and supposedly wisest in the orphanage. I knew all the Peter Pan stories. I told them to the little ones at night when they cried or couldn't sleep. Sometimes I made up songs about him and his adventures. And that's where our story starts…one perfect night when I was 14 years old.
The headmistress of "The London Orphanage for Girls and Boys" was a mean and cruel person. She tried to make our stay as miserable as possible. So it was no wonder when kids got adopted they never came to visit like they promised. But the days, weeks, and years came and went. Some went, some came, and everything was normal, or as normal as normal can possibly be. The little kids in the orphanage came to me when they were scared, or worried, or anything else for that matter. So to calm them down or cheer them up (which ever they needed) I told them stories of a place far away from here. A place where all your wishes and dreams were real! "Like candy trees?" asked one. "And mermaids?" asked another. "Well there's got to be pirates!" said a little boy as a little girl hugged her teddy bear tighter. "Well sure! There's all those things! And a boy named Peter Pan!"
This was the usual nightly routine. They would crowd around my bed and I'd pull the smallest onto the bed with me and tell them stories about Neverland. That night I was telling them about the time Peter cut off Hooks hand and gave it to the Crocodile. (The boys seemed to like that one) Just as the last ones were falling asleep I heard something on the roof. I looked up but kept going with the story, tucking all of them in, in turn. Then I got to Gregory's bed. He was the littlest boy of them all. Only 5 years old. And he said, "Angie?" "Yes Greggie?" I ask. But he nodded off to sleep before he could finish the question. Just as I was about to crawl into my own bed I saw a star. I walked to the window the wood cold on my feet and whispered:
"Star light,
Star bright
First star I see tonight
I wish I may
I wish I might
Grant the wish I wish tonight"
Just as I was thinking of what to wish a saw a face appear in front of me on the outside of the window. I looked long and hard at the face and finally recognized him as, "PETER PAN!"