When Natalie decides to run away to Neverland, she never expected to get there. Not only that, a fierce love is waiting for her on the high seas by the name of Captain James Hook...
Natalie was reading a large white book titled Good Faeries/Bad Faeries near her home, a gorgeous, cozy little cottage just feet away from the edge of the cliff where she sat reading. Small salty droplets, carried high above the sea by a summer breeze, cooled Natalie as the the mild summer sun kissed the top of her wavy dark hair. From the cottage door she heard a shrill voice carried by the salty breeze.
"Natalie! Come in here and clean the kitchen!" Her mother, Sarah yelled. Natalie sighed and turned the page of her book. A gruesome leaf man stared at her with coal-black eyes. 'Barca the Snagger:' She read. 'A particularly troublesome faery, the Snagger is dangerous to travelers, ripping and tearing their clothes. The classic way to banish the Snagger is-'
"Natalie! Get in here! Now!" Sarah yelled again. Natalie rubbed her eyes and snapped the book closed, only to flip it over and open it again.
"Guardian of the Sword:" She continued reading, talking out loud.
"'The faery guardian waits, holding her potent sword in readiness. She waits... ready to transfer her spiritual power to one who is worthy." She read, tracing the picture of a fierce blond woman in an intricate mask and glowing sword.
"I wish I was worthy..." She sighed and snapped her book shut. She gazed out onto the sea, playful briny waves leaped high, aided by the salty wind. Natalie wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a giant, glittering fishtail in the waves. She smiled, standing up and heading to her house.
"Hi momma." She announced, rolling up her sleeves at the sight of a sink full of soapy dishes.
"Why didn't you come when I called you?" Sarah asked, brushing the faint wisps of curly black hair out of her face.
"Looking for mermaids." Natalie mumbled, sinking her hands into the steamy water.
"Of course, honey. I just don't like it when you sit on that cliff. You could fall." She scolded. Natalie sighed, but said nothing. She hated when Sarah babied her. It wasn't her fault really. Sarah just thought Natalie was mentally retarded. Everyone did. When she was younger, Natalie had decided that, when her father left and the custody battle nearly destroyed the family, she would think of a way to stay with Sarah. If she had a disability then she would be with the one who could provide her with a steady living environment. So she played the girl who couldn't tell reality from fantasy. Some people called it "autism". Now she was tired of the act she had kept up for five years.
"Your father called to say that court is next week." Sarah was saying, puttering around putting food away. "He also says he misses you."
"Goblins have no feelings." Natalie said, stacking the plates.
"Although I'd like to agree with you, Marcus is not a goblin. He's your father and he does miss you." Natalie shrugged, scratching her arm nervously. She finished the dishes without another word and wandered to her room to flop down on her bed. It didn't really matter if her father missed her. She didn't want to change schools every time her father got bored with a town or city. Maybe it would be better if she wasn't around. She sighed and looked out the window. A sliver of moon shone down and illuminated the half-moon of beach. She imagined a magnificent three-sailed ship landing there to take her away. The captain would be handsome and chivalrous. She smiled thinking of the adventures they would have. Unknown to the dreaming girl, a small one-sail dinghy had just washed up on the beach.
*Three days later*---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Natalie was on the beach; she had been for the past two days, nailing drift wood to fix the hole in her dinghy. Her fingers were blistered and her left pinky nail was painfully purple, but she didn't care. This was her project.
"Natalie!" Sarah called. "Your father's here to see you." Natalie waved the hammer at Sarah, but didn't stop. Marcus walked down the hill leading to the beach. Natalie was always surprised about how different her parents were. Her father was tall, with overlong blond hair and the coldest, bluest eyes which were almost violet. Sarah was small, dumpy and her hair was a curly black, with emotional taffy brown eyes. Unlike her older sister, Natalie got the better parts from both; Wavy black hair (that she had hacked to chin length), tall and big curves. Right now, Marcus was dressed in a dark grey suit, smoking a cigarette.
"How's my fey child?" he asked, tossing the used bud into the waves. It was his old nickname for her because she had one blue eye and one green.
"I'm going on a voyage to find myself." She said, scrounging for a nail she dropped. "I inquire of your young charge."
"Maria's in the house, catching up with your mother." He leaned against the side of the dinghy. "We talked about you staying with me next year, for school-"
"I love the sea and the sea loves me. We cannot be parted." She snapped, reaching for another plank of wood. Her father groaned and pulled out another cigarette.
"It's just an idea." he said, lighting it. "Your mom doesn't like it either."
"Great minds think alike." Natalie muttered, smashing the last nail in place. She reached for a thick, rough square of cloth and started tying it to the rigging of the mast. Once she was done, she nodded at it and leaped out of the boat, heading back to the cottage. Marcus followed
"I want you to think about it. You don't have to let Sarah make all your life decisions." Natalie stared at the cloudless blue sky in contemplation.
"I think I'll sail tonight." She murmured to herself, biting her bruised pinky nail. Marcus noticed the ugly purple color.
"What happened to your finger?" her father demanded, trying to grab her hand. She shrieked and slapped him, running to the cottage. When she burst into the kitchen, her mother was sitting at the table with Natalie's seventeen-year-old sister. Natalie heard her father's hurried steps and hid in the pantry.
"Marcus, what's wrong?" Sarah asked.
"Natalie slapped me!" he shouted, gesturing to the partially-open pantry door.
"Why?" Maria asked.
"I saw how purple her pinky was, so I wanted to check it out." he huffed. Sarah sighed and went to the pantry.
"Natty? Natalie, come out here." Natalie peeked over the door, caught sight of Marcus, and then dove back in.
"He's gonna make it hurt!" She whined.
"Natalie, he won't hurt you." Maria scoffed. Sarah glared at her.
"Maria, you're not helping."
"He won't! Honestly, you two baby her too much." Maria shoved the pantry door open and dragged Natalie out. Natalie screamed and bit Maria's hand. "Ouch! You little brat-!" Maria smacked Natalie hard. She screamed louder and ran to her room, slamming the door. She could hear the muffled sounds of her family yelling at each other. Natalie groaned and started packing. Her ship was done and she could leave now. She wasn't kidding when she told her father she was going on a voyage, and her mother knew Natalie wouldn't come out of her room when she was upset. Quickly she shoved a change of clothes in her knapsack with three bottles of water, a bag of tortillas, her notebook, her pencil box, a book of poems and her mp3 player. She left her cell phone (which she never used) on her nightstand with a small goodbye note.
I'm off to Neverland. I shall return.
Natalie
Once she double checked to see if she had everything, she wrapped her copy of Good Faeries/Bad Faeries in a piece of oilcloth and tying it up with a piece of twine and rummaged through her jewelry box until she found her locket with the pictures of her mother and father. Now all she had to do was wait for her father and sister to leave.
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It was midnight when she decided to leave. The light of an almost full moon lit the path to the beach as she climbed out of her window. She breathed in the briny sea air. "The smell of freedom." she thought, hiking her knapsack higher and walking to her boat. A favorable breeze blew in from the mainland, almost as if it wanted Natalie to leave. She tossed her things into the boat and started pushing it in the sea. When the water was waist deep, she pulled herself inside and grabbed the oars. When she rowed far enough out, she opened her sail and let the wind pull her away from her old life.
Natalie was lost. She had consulted the nautical star map several times, but the constellations didn't make sense. She took a sip of water, and then scanned the sky. A bright star outshone the rest.
"It must be the north star." She muttered to herself, tweaking the sails in that direction. "I'll just sail a little to the right until morning." Making sure the rigging wouldn't slip, she made herself comfortable on deck and slept.
A giant clap of thunder jerked her awake. She sat up and looked at the sky. It was still dark, but the clouds were an angry grey as the wind whipped the waves into a fury. Quickly she scanned the horizon, checking to see if she could get to land before the worst of the storm could hit. But it was too late. Rain pelted down like hard bullets and blurred her vision as she tried to batten down the sails. She grimaced when the waves threatened to capsize her. Acting instinctively, she crouched down and dumped her knapsack out on deck. She sorted through her things, tossing her mp3 layer, her notebook and the tortillas; she wrapped the poem book in the plastic bag and shoved it and Good faeries/Bad faeries into the bag and slung it on her back. Another giant wave sent gallons of water into the boat and soaked her. A follow up wave managed to turn the boat over. She tried to surface, but her jeans were soaked and her knapsack was too heavy. Her sneakers were lost. She was running out of air. "So this is how I die." She thought as she lost consciousness.
An odd story my brain spit up after I watched Peter Pan. This chapter was really hard because I've been in a storm at sea and it's terrible. So anyway, enjoy.