"Perp juice coming right up!"

A fifteen-year-old with brown hair and pale, but sparkling blue eyes skated through the room with built-in solar pumps. He swiftly and deftly placed down all of the requested dishes for the Benbow Inn's customers, and finally ended with the perp juice.

"Whoa, careful there! Don't spill - !"

"Attention all people of Montressor. Three days ago, Montressor Space Port researchers spotted a planet sized body some few light years away is coming toward Montressor. Just today researchers have publicly released their suspicions that this planet sized body is an asteroid about seven miles in diameter. The Montressor Space Society, although they cannot conclude whether this could pose a threat to our planet, asks that all remain calm about the situation and make no evacuation attempts until further investigation is carried out."

All day long, the radio buzzed with updates on the mysterious asteroid that was coming toward the planet Montressor. The Benbow Inn, although usually packed with loud, chattering families, remained silent after the most recent update echoed within the tiny walls. Sarah Hawkins, the inn keeper, had to shut off the whistling kettle just to hear the news.

"An asteroid! Seven miles!"

"Evacuate? You mean, we have to leave?!"

Sarah Hawkins could no longer stand the anxiety that filled the inn. She briefly placed down a tray of dirty dishes to hold her head into her hands. All this talk about the asteroid and its potential threat only made her job more difficult than it needed to be.

"But Mummy, I don't want to leave home!"

"Oh, goodness! If we have to evacuate, I should pack my things!"

Sarah Hawkins couldn't listen to the frantic customers any longer. Her forehead was drenched with sweat and her vision began to blur. After taking one more step, the tray of dirty dishes fell to the floor, and so did she.

"MOM!"

"Oh, Jim, my son…"

"Mom, I got you!" Fifteen-year-old Jim Hawkins took his mother's arm around his shoulder as he led to her to an empty table. He then fetched a cup of cold water. "Mom, it's no big deal. This whole asteroid baloney. They say this stuff all the time and nothing happens!"

"Oh, Jim. I don't know why I'm feeling so whoozy today. The customers seem more frantic about this than before."

"Mom, don't sweat it…" He took a clean towel to wipe her sweaty forehead. "Literally."

Sarah gave her son a weak, but genuine smile. Her son: a grown, responsible young man. She was so glad to see Jim was finally turning around after he had returned from Treasure Planet six months ago. The journey had changed his attitude toward life completely around. He became more content, positive, optimistic. It was just like old times before his father had left them: Jim was somehow still the happy little boy who was always inventing new things to help him fly. In fact, Jim's series of felonies seemed to have died down since he returned home. Instead of going out to solar surf in prohibited areas, he was often seen helping his mom table the Benbow Inn. The boy had certainly learned a thing or two about responsibility, it seemed. Although his behavior was drastically different than before, Sarah very much appreciated the sudden change. Her baby boy was grown up.

"Well, whatever happens, Mom, I'll never leave you." Jim finished with a swift kiss on the cheek before taking the broom to clean up the mess Sarah had made on the floor.


"We interrupt this program with breaking news. The Monstressor Space Society has confirmed the asteroid's target. Two days from now, the planet we all know and love will be obliterated by the seven mile diameter asteroid. Orders of evacuation shall be made within the next twenty-four hours. Please contact your local police department for more information regarding the evacuation plan. Good luck, all of you, and may God bless Montressor."

Sarah could not believe her ears, that she dropped a stack of seven dishes clean on the floor. "No. It can't be…!" she choked on her tears and ran upstairs to her room.

"Mom!"

"Jim, give her some time to take it in," Dr. Delbert Doppler grabbed Jim's shoulders before he could run after her. "She needs time to recuperate before she can think straight."

"But, Doppler. This is really happening. We're actually leaving Montressor…" Jim couldn't handle the revelation, that he banged his fists onto the walls of the inn.

"Jim, easy!"

"Doppler! Don't you get it? This is the perfect time to panic! This, all this… it will be gone in a matter of days!"

"Jim, I know. It's tough to accept these things, but we must make the best of this situation and try to survive this."
"But, Doppler… This is my home. OUR home! What we will become after all this? Where will they take us to?"

"I don't know, Jim. I wish I knew. But wherever we go, I hope the authorities have the time they need to make these arrangements."

Jim's heart kept pounding. It had been doing so since the news rang in five minutes ago. His mind began to flood with memories of the home he was born and raised in. The place where he took his first steps, the place where all of his earliest memories occurred, even the place where he was abandoned by his father. In just about forty-eight hours, the Benbow Inn will be just a memory, and nothing more than that.

The fifteen-year-old pushed the doctor away before he could reveal the tears. Covering his eyes, he rushed up to his room and crash landed onto his bed.


The Benbow Inn served its last meal for the day, and possibly forever. Sarah had decided to keep the inn closed for tomorrow so that all of the chefs could spend the rest of the day packing and making evacuation arrangements.

Jim was on his bed, flipping through the pages of his old adventure tale storybooks. A lot of them contained drawings he had drew in when he was five years old. His favorite one was the book about Captain Flint and his treasure stash kept hidden on Treasure Planet. He loved that book dearly, and he still did. He was tempted to take the book along with him, but he knew there were more important things to pack. More practical things they needed for survival.

Knock knock.

"Come in."

It was his mother. Her eyes were droopy and the ends of her lips fell into a permanent frown. Wrapped around her arms was a bulky white book. "Jim, I wanted to show you something." She opened one of the pages to a picture of Jim, when he was about seven or eight, flying on his first homemade solar surfer.

"Whoa, mom! That was so long ago…"

Sarah finally broke into a smile. "Your father, if he were here, he would have been so proud to see what you have accomplished."

Jim tried his best to smile, for he hated bringing up the subject of his father. It was like a taboo. Mentioning 'dad' at all in the house caused Jim to shut himself away. But now, he was sharing a heartfelt moment with his mother, the one he always remained loyal to.

Sarah shut the book before taking Jim's face into her soft hands. "Jim, I know this is a big change, for all of us. But I know you can get through this, because you have the bravest soul I know. You're much braver than your father, because you have the courage to accept change into your life. I know this, because ever since you came back from Treasure Planet, you have become a changed man."

Jim's eyes lit up. "Me? A man?"

Sarah offered a cheerful giggle that causes the end of Jim's smile to curl. "Honey, if you can handle that Treasure Planet disaster, you can handle this disaster, too!"

"We can."

Sarah gave an assuring nod, before taking the blanket over Jim's shoulders. "Good night dearie." It was just like old times, when Sarah would finish reading a story to Jim, and tuck him into bed so that he could dream of all the adventures he would one day experience the thrills of.


"Ah-choo!"

For the past three hours, Wendy Moira Angela Darling had been sifting through her dusty closets, looking for old dolls and storybooks to be donated to the children's hospital. The girl had just turned fourteen as of yesterday, and today she was not only trying to clear out her old childish toys, but she was also moving out of the nursery she had shared with her brothers for so many years.

Her slender fingers stroked the fine silk dress of a porcelain doll she had kept tucked in her closet. The doll's curls remained intact, albeit her face was somewhat scratched. "Poor thing! I hope the children won't mind that she's scratched." And without hesitation, she put the doll into a box she had marked 'FOR THE GREAT ORMOND CHILDREN HOSPITAL'.

Her fingers next found a dusty leather-bound book. Taking the book out, the cover caused colorful flashbacks to suddenly creep into her mind.

Cinderella. The servant girl who found her prince with a glass slipper.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The princess who cared for seven little men.

Sleeping Beauty. The damsel who dreamed of her princess to wake her up from eternal slumber.

All of her favorite stories were packed into this one treasure. It had been more than a year since she had last leafed through these pages. She took one last flip through all of its pages, carefully spotting the pictures of the beautiful princesses and their happily ever after moments.

Oh, the memories of them all!

It had been about a year and a half since she had left her bedroom window to escape adulthood. A fairy-like immortal boy in green offered her the solution to all of her troubles: never grow up. Wendy and her brothers, John and Michael, won over by temptation, made the ultimate decision to journey to Neverland, the island where no one ever had to grow up. The island where beautiful mermaids combed their hair, where Indian braves danced the night away around the fire, where pirates pillaged and plundered for treasure, and where fairies from Pixie Hollow prepared for a new season on Earth.

But Wendy knew she couldn't stay forever, as tempting as it was. She had a duty back home to her family. She had a duty to grow up.

To this day, Wendy knew she still made the best decision to leave and reunite with her family. And she had kept her promise to her father that she would have to leave the nursery and move into a room of her own. Today, that promise was going to be fulfilled. Again, without any hesitation, she carefully placed the great book of fairytales into her box of mementos that would be missed. She took one last look at the cover before shutting away the box, forever sending away the memories of her favorite stories.

It was if she was shipping her childhood away in a box, to be shared and loved by sick children.

After she finished packing away all of her old toys and books, Wendy carried the box away from the nursery. Before stepping out, she took one last look at the nursery. The side of the room closest to the door was now empty, and could be used for additional space for the boys' needs. The window through which the Darling children flew was wide open, and even from her place at the door, she could still see the second star to the right, glimmering as brightly and distinctly as ever.

"All good things must come to an end." And with that, she shut the lights off before exiting her former bedroom, and gates to childhood. At least there was a reason why we were meant to have memories.