Making Her Own Adventure – A Peter Pan One Shot
Wendy awoke slowly, fighting it with everything she had. She'd been having a wonderful dream. She'd been back in Neverland, and Peter was there…sweet Peter…
"Wendy! Wendy, do you know where my Philosophy book is?" she heard John shouting from the hall. She groaned and sat up, a mess of hair flowing about her shoulders.
"It was in the sitting room, you read from it last night!" she called back. She heard a smack as her brother likely smacked himself in the forehead.
"Of course! Thank you Wendy!" she heard his heavy footsteps go down the hall and sighed, flopping back against her pillows. She was drifting back towards her dreams when someone else shouting pulled her back.
"Wendy, is my notebook in there?"
"You're notebook? Michael, why would your notebook be in my room?" she called back to him. She could picture him blushing, pink cheeks clashing with his red hair.
"Because I put it on your desk…hoping you'd look it over."
"Oh…I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to do so. Would you still like it back?"
"No that's alright, I'll let you read it today. And you had better be done before I get home from school or I'll have to use one of my school books to write!" Wendy chuckled as he scampered away as well. John had a mind for school, but Michael had followed in her footsteps and was quite the dreamer. He'd been experimenting with writing short stories lately; having Wendy read them over for opinions. And Wendy had to admit, he had potential. His imagination was almost as wild as her own! She smiled as her eyes drifted shut once again. She'd practically raised him on imagination, she was glad he'd held onto it.
Once again she was just drifting off to sleep when someone disturbed her. This time it was a scratching at the door, right before it opened. Wendy opened an eye and looked over to see Nana. The dog went to her window and pushed it open, allowing the fresh spring air to fill the stuffy room. Nana saw her awake and barked happily before leaving.
"Nana you didn't close the door!" Wendy called after her, but to no avail. Despite years of training, Nana was simply unable to grasp the concept of privacy. She could do everything a regular Nanny could do it seemed, except closing doors. Wendy sighed and slipped from her bed. She knew that no matter how hard she tried, she would be unable to fall asleep in any case. Despite the early hour, she was wide awake. No thanks to the many interruptions to her dreams. She twisted, feeling her back crack in multiple places and stretched her hands towards the ceiling. Maybe she'd start the morning with a nice walk, it looked to be a beautiful day and she wanted to spend as much of it as possible out of doors.
She got dressed relatively quickly, pinning her hair up. After years of practice, she could achieve the perfect hairdo in only a few minutes. And being almost nineteen years of age, she was long since old enough to dress up like a grown up.
Yes. She, Wendy Moira Angela Darling, had grown up.
At least in appearance. Despite her floor sweeping skirts and her elegantly pinned up hair, she was still the same girl she'd always been. One determined to keep the child in her heart alive and well. And she didn't bother to hide it, not the way she really should. She openly talked to men about her dreams of being a writer. She talked about the adventures and travels she planned on having. She was very skilled when it came to the art of conversation, it was simply the things she talked about which people considered inappropriate.
She was slipping on her coat and pinning her hat to her hair when her mother came out of the kitchen. Her loose sleeves were rolled up and she had her apron on, yet she still looked as beautiful as ever.
"Are you going out?"
"Yes Mother, would you care to join me?"
"Oh not today sweetling, I'm going to be ironing all morning. The boys need their uniforms to be done before tomorrow morning and it'll take all day to get them all done." Wendy chuckled, that's what happened with so many adopted younger brothers.
"Well, I'm just going for a walk, do you need anything? I can stop by the store if you like."
"Actually, Cook needs some apples for the pie she's making for supper…would you mind terribly going to the store to get some?" Wendy smiled at her.
"Not at all! I'll be home in a few hours." She pinned her hat to her head and grabbed the notebook of Michael's stories. She was planning on reading it in the park somewhere. She slipped from the front door and shut it behind her, smiling happily in the warm sunshine.
She walked quickly down the street, eager to reach the store and get her shopping over with. Once her work was done she could go to the park and relax for as long as she wanted to. As she walked she rubbed her ungloved hands through the leaves of the trees planted along the sidewalk. They'd been planted there to bring nature back to the city, but Wendy had difficulties seeing them as such. These trees were small, trimmed neatly, and picked for their prettiness. They'd even been cased in individual fences! Wendy had no idea what the point of that was, it wasn't as if the trees would run away.
No…Wendy wanted to see real trees again. Enormous and wild and left free to grow as much as they pleased over hundreds of years. At least the oak trees in the park were large, their twisted branched reaching towards the sky. They'd been planted in perfect rows, but Wendy could always close her eyes and imagine she was surrounded by them instead. As if she was back in the forests of Neverland.
She was shaken from her thoughts when she reached the store. It was a small one, sitting on the corner of the street, and surrounded by apartments above and houses on either side. It was also one of Wendy's favorites. She could spend a good deal of time in this tiny place, exploring amongst all the miracle drugs and tasty treats. But what she really loved were the people. Londoners of all ages, social status, shape and size came through this one store, and Wendy loved to watch them. She got a good deal of her inspiration from the people she saw.
When she entered the store she was given a welcoming smile from the older man behind the counter. The salt and pepper in his hair continued to his large mustache, but his smile was warm and friendly. She nodded to him with a smile of her own and made her way to the back corner. She would start there and wander the aisles, watching those she passed.
One man with ridiculously curly hair was looking at a bottle of wine, and Wendy imagined him with a bandana about his head and a sword in his belt; a perfect pirate. A tiny woman wearing multiple shawls was inspecting perfumes, and Wendy could instantly picture her sitting behind a crystal ball. A very tall and thin man was standing beside a jewelry stand. He turned when he saw her and beckoned her closer.
"Excuse me my dear, but which of these two necklaces is prettier? I want to get my daughter something special for her 28th birthday." Wendy's smile softened, thinking of the love the man had for his daughter. She looked at the selection and decided on the one with a tiny amethyst flower.
"This one is lovely, I'm sure she'll love it." She smiled up at the man. "And please pass on my birthday wishes to her as well." He smiled.
"You have my thanks child, and the thanks of my little girl as well." He bowed a tiny bit, thanks to the tiny space in which they stood, and went to pay for the necklace. Wendy giggled, imaging him with a long beard and wizard's robes as he swept away. He was very graceful for a man, he seemed to be the type who would look good in a long dress like robe.
Finally she tired of simply watching people, longing for fresh air once again. She grabbed the apples she'd been asked to buy and took them to the counter. The store owner must now be working elsewhere, seeing as it was now a young man about her own age standing by the cash register. She gave him a shy but polite smile, setting her goods on the counter.
"And this will be all Miss?" the boy asked. She nodded, pulling her coin purse from her handbag.
"Yes, that will be everything, thank you." He ran up the numbers and announced the price, and she was counting the coins onto the counter when he spoke again.
"Thank you for helping my grandfather." Wendy looked up at him in surprise, now seeing a slight resemblance he bore to the elderly man he's spoken to earlier. She smiled warmly.
"I was only happy to be of service, I'm sure your mother will love the necklace as much as she'll love the gesture."
"In a way…she isn't actually alive any longer to appreciate it." Wendy's eyes widened in shock.
"Oh! I- I'm sorry, I didn't realize-" the boy shook his head.
"It's alright Miss. Every year, on the day of her birthday, he buys her something, and leaves it at her grave." Wendy's eyes filled with tears, and she looked blindly at the coins in her hand.
"He is very devoted then." The boy nodded sadly.
"He is. I've been given permission to leave work early today, so I can go to the cemetery as well." Wendy bit her lip shyly, looking into his eyes once more.
"The cemetery by the city park? I'm heading in that direction if you'd care for the company." She offered, this being the only way she could think to offer her condolences. He smiled softly at her, sweeping her coins from the counter and ringing up the purchase.
"I would appreciate it." He admitted, slipping her change into her hand. "If you don't mind waiting a moment, I'll get ready to go." Wendy nodded and pointed to the door.
"I'll be right outside." As the boy dashed to the back room, she made her way through the winding aisles and through the glass door, standing beside it where she'd be out of the way. The boy arrived only moments later, now wearing a nice coat rather than the apron he'd been wearing previously. Wendy blushed a bit as she realized how handsome he was. He offered her his arm with a smile and she laughed, taking it gladly.
As the two of them walked through the streets in the direction of the cemetery, they discussed a lot of things. At first the conversation felt rather forced, only talking about simple things such as the weather and business at the store. But soon, sooner than Wendy could have ever expected, things turned around and they talked about whatever happened to come to mind. By the time they reached the cemetery, Wendy felt as if she'd known him for months rather than only an hour.
James, for that was the boy's name, was actually the son of the man who owned the corner store. Wendy had giggled at that, they shared the same warm smile and sparkling eyes. His father had never remarried, but he was becoming very good friends with a pretty woman who'd lost her own husband a few years back. James was very happy for them, knowing that their innocent flirtation was soon going to turn into courtship. Though he confessed it was a bit odd for his father to be courting as he himself was trying and failing to do. Wendy had only laughed, explaining her own failures when it came to the male half of the population.
By the time they'd reached their destination, Wendy was surprised to find that their simple conversation had turned to flirtation. And that she didn't really mind it. The two of them spent the rest of the morning together. She stayed by his side as he went to his mother's grave, and offered him her handkerchief when he tried to hide his tears. Then they went to the park where they both looked over Michael's stories, commenting on their wonderful creativity and originality. Before long, they realized that they'd missed lunch and decided to go to a café they both knew about but had never tried.
Later that night, Wendy sat in her window seat, watching the stars twinkle in the black void above the glowing city. She was thinking about James, and the amazing day she'd had with him. She suddenly sat up straight when she realized something. Normally she would sit here and wonder what Peter was doing at the time, dreaming of seeing him again. But tonight…she hadn't thought about him once!
She stared at the stars, searching for the one which was the gateway to Neverland. 'Second star to the right and straight on till morning' as Peter had always said. She had discovered shortly after their return home of their adventure that she could no longer find that star. No matter how long she stared at the heavens, she was unable to find it, or even the one it was once next to. It seemed the only way to get to Neverland was with the help of Peter…unless you were a candidate for being one of the lost boys at least.
And tonight, for the first time in years, she'd discovered that she didn't mind that the gateway was closed off to her. She didn't mind that Peter would be living his life of fun and games on that island in the sky while she was trapped here in London. Because…she no longer felt trapped. She had a life of her own, and she realized that she wanted to live it. She no longer wanted to spend each day daydreaming and living though her stories. She wanted to go out into the world and experience it in a whole new way.
She was going to have her adventure. It may not be book worthy in that there wouldn't be sword fighting and pirates and mysteries to solve…but it would be hers. Besides…James had said that he considered himself to be a rather impressive fencer, she may have to give him a run for his money.
She smiled and rose from her seat, climbing into her bed. Tomorrow was the beginning of her new adventure, and she was looking forward to it.
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My first oneshot! I have a hard time with oneshots, cuz my first instinct is to plan a full story. Only having one chapter just never feels like enough, lol. Anyways, this idea randomly popped into my hed and I decided I would put myself to the test and actually try writing one. And it worked! Yay! It's kind of a bittersweet ending, I know, but it was something I knew Wendy would have to go through eventually. I'm considering writing more one shots of these two, but we'll have to see :P
Your Humble Authoress,
Whisperwings