Chapter 2: Mischief with Mermaids

"These, James, are the mermaids," Peter Pan said, gesturing grandly to what he had dubbed "mermaid lagoon."

I peered through the leaves of the bush behind which we were hiding. Three girls sat upon the rocks underneath two small waterfalls, washing and combing their long hair. From the waist up, they were girls, and they wore no shirts, which caused the heat in my cheeks to rise, but from the waist down they had the body of a fish. They were very strange creatures, but I wasn't so surprised because my sea-faring uncle had told me lots of mermaid tales.

"They're alright," I shrugged, rather unimpressed. "They're not doing anything, though."

"Not yet," Peter smirked, winking at me.

"Do you know them?" I asked.

"Well," he said. "I tell them stories sometimes, but other than that we don't talk. Actually, I'm not sure they understand me." At this he looked troubled, as though he had never thought of that before.

"Hmph," I said, looking at them again. Two of them had taken up a game of lightly splashing the other. "What do they do all day, anyway?"

"Nothing, really," Peter Pan shrugged.

"So why do you come down here?" I asked.

"To show you!" he retorted, offended. "If you don't appreciate my tour, I can just go off and play with the indians for a while-by myself." He folded his arms across his chest and pouted.

"I appreciate your tour," I said quickly to appease him. He gave me a sidelong look to show he was listening. "I was just wondering whether we could do something with the mermaids."

This perked his interest. "Like what?"

"Like," I dragged the word out thoughtfully, "trick them?"

"I like tricks," Peter Pan replied, lowering his voice to a husky whisper. "What shall we do?"

I frowned as Peter watched me eagerly. What could we do? My eyes hovered over their bathing forms, then caught onto the cascading water. Then they traveled upwards and stopped at the source. An idea lit a smile on my face. "I know!"

After relaying my ingenious plan, Peter and I set out, suppressing snickers and creeping as close to the ground as we could until we were surely out of their sights. We happily thought of the plan, and then floated up the side of the outcropping from where the waterfalls came. The cool water gaily tumbled over the edge, excited at the prospect of returning to the ocean. But unfortunately for one particular stream, it would never reach home.

"That one," I whispered, pointed to a great boulder. "Help me move it!"

So we worked to roll the huge rock toward the nearer waterfall. It was an even tougher job since we had to be quiet about it, but somehow we managed it. It fit perfectly over the path of the water, and dammed it quite well. Peter and I shared a proud glance, grinning as the confused and outraged cries of the mermaids reached us.

But we weren't done there. No, there was much more mischief to be caused that day in mermaid lagoon.

As the fish girls were preoccupied with their waterfall plight, we snuck down and around the lagoon, careful to keep out of sight. For the next prank we would have to move quickly. It wouldn't do if they left before the fun started.

Still sure to stay out of their sights, I set to work digging while Peter, as the more experienced flyer, went to the beach to get the other materials. Moments later, he returned, arms laden with sopping wet seaweed.

"Perfect," I said, clapping him on the shoulder as he dropped them at my feet. "I've dug up plenty of mud, I think."

He pressed a grimy hand over his mouth to stifle his chortling.

As we worked, we could still hear the mermaids chattering angrily. They still hadn't figured out what had happened to their favorite waterfall, and were fighting over who got to use the second to wash their hair. Which was fine by us, as long is it kept them distracted.

Soon enough, we had finished, and admired each other's work. Peter and I shared one last gleeful look before dropping strands of muddy seaweed over our faces. We burst out the trees, screaming at the tops of our lungs.

Through the green haze I saw the mermaids whip around to face us as we staggered out, arms raised. Fear crossed their pretty faces, as all they saw were two green, furry monsters running toward them. Each one squealing as though she had been burned, they dove into the lagoon and splashed to safety, down to the bottom. , furry monsters running toward them. Each one squealing as though she had been burned, they dove into the lagoon and splashed to safety, down to the bottom. When we saw that the sparkling water and the rocks were completely deserted, Peter and I abandoned our screams and burst out laughing.

Peter drifted up into the air, clutching his belly. The seaweed began to lose their holds on us and slid off onto the ground. I gasped for air, cheeks burning from my wide grin. I imagined my face was red under the mud, and that Peter's was as well. After what felt like hours of hysterics, we both calmed down enough to look at one another, covered in mud and a few bits of seaweed.

As a final measure, we gathered a few large leaves and painted red pictures of nonsensical things. Then we set them gently upon the water and allowed the current to carry them off. When the mermaids returned, they would find these warnings and be frightened once more. I only wished I could have seen it.

"You have the greatest ideas, James!" Peter Pan exclaimed, wiping his eyes. He only spread the mud around more.

"It couldn't have been done without you," I replied, though I was rather proud of myself.

"Let's get out of here before they come back," Peter said wisely.

I thought of the fish girls' screams, and with another fit of giggles floated upwards and followed Peter away from mermaid lagoon. I knew I would remember that day fondly for the rest of my life. I couldn't wait to tell my uncle about the mermaids.

"So James," Peter said, turning to face me and flying backwards, "what other tricks do you do?"

"Hm," I hummed thoughtfully. "Well, in my world I play lots of tricks, but because of that I have not many friends."

"Hey, you have me!" Peter exclaimed. "I love tricks!"

I smiled. "Yes, yes. Let's see, once I tricked my uncle into thinking his ship was on fire!"

Peter Pan's eyebrows flew up, nearly disappearing into his hair. "Wow! How'd you manage that, James?"

With a smirk, I explained, "Green leaves smolder but don't burn. So just light a few of those carefully, and you've got a lot of smoke but no fire."

At that Peter laughed. "I'd have liked to see the look on that grownup's face!"

I laughed with him. "Oh," I uttered. "Another time, at the schoolhouse, I replaced all the blackboard chalk with charcoal-so nothing the teacher wrote showed up!"

Another howl of laughter from my friend. "You're amazing, James! I'm so glad you're my friend."

I beamed at him, feeling happier than I'd felt in a very long while. "I'm ever so glad you're mine as well."

Together we flew off to another adventure in Neverland.

A/N: Thanks for reading! If you happen to have any mischievous ideas, feel free to drop it in a review or a PM. :) Any predictions for the story, or a direction that you'd like to see it go?

Join us next time, when James and Peter imitate the indians!