Penelope had always loved sitting on the balcony jutting from her bedroom and watching the twinkle of the stars so many galaxies away. It always mesmerized her, thinking about these faraway worlds. She wanted to get away from this one she lived in, in fact. She wasn't considered very important to anyone, so perhaps she could start all over when she escaped. Sitting on the balcony on a very cloudy night, she sighed. Penelope couldn't see anything,no stars, no moon. So she went back into her bedroom, fastening the glass doors behind her shut.
Flopping onto her springy mattress, she heard noises coming from downstairs. You see, Penelope lived with her mother, who was always working, working, working to pay off the house loan and her slobby boyfriend. This man was a distasteful being, always chit-chattering away on his mobile or plugged into an after-hours television special. Either way, he was always on his rump and he never spoke a word to Penelope, unless he was wondering where her mother went off to. This made Penelope feel even worse so, being ignored for a good portion of her life. Her solution to this unending loneliness was reading. Her bedroom had shelves upon shelves overfilled with stories that sparked her imagination and inspired her to be more. Even so, in the schoolyard everyone failed to peak interested in Penelope. Sure, she spoke some words every so often, but the individual eventually left her for good. This always confused her, for she thought they wanted to be her friend. Nonetheless, her stories always caught her fall. She did have one particular favourite, though; Peter Pan.
Penelope heard his legends in elementary school. The children scoffed at it, saying that it was impossible to fly and that faeries weren't real. She would come home crying about the subject of the matter and her mother took her into her arms and comforted her. "Mum? Faeries are real, aren't they?" Her mother would proceed to give her a solemn look and replied with a, "Yes, darling. If you believe in them, they are real in your heart." Her mum set a palm onto her chest, just above her heart, and that was that. Ever since, Penelope had committed herself in having an open mind for just about everything. She discovered that nothing should be one-sided, to imagine things in many different perspectives.
But back to the noises from downstairs; her mum just got home from the sounds of it, and was being yelled at by her nasty boyfriend. Penelope rose from her bed, and cautiously padded across the wooden floor, opened her door, and crept to the staircase. Looking down on the situation, she saw that her mum was still clutching her purse when her boyfriend was spitting insults at her consistently. Penelope saw how upset her mother was and worked up the courage to pitch in her opinion. He snapped back with an unfair statement, making Penelope's eyes widen in disbelievement. How could someone be so cruel? She ran back into her room, slamming and locking the door, afraid of being attacked with words once again.
Penelope flung herself onto the fluffy bed, burying her tear-covered face into her pillow. She wished her hardest to get away, even if it were for a minute! There was no hope for that, though, she reminded herself. Looking up out of the window, she thought she saw a bird flitter by. That's it, she thought. Fly away, like Peter Pan...
So up Penelope went, from her bed and back out on the balcony. The moon had finally snuck out from behind the clouds, and illuminated her long, pale hair. She climbed up onto the stone railing, eyes closed, feeling the wind flow past her. Penelope slowly rose her foot, getting prepared for her final dive.
Suddenly, Penelope took a hard blow to the stomach as she fell backwards, back onto her balcony, knocking into her telescope. The force left her startled, and she opened her eyes to find that she was no longer alone.
