We landed on the big hands of Big Ben as the clock stroke the first hour of the night. We all stood in a straight, rigid line on the big minute-hand of the clock, and Peter pointed to the brightest glowing star in the sky.
"Look, Wendy! Second star to the right, and straight on till morning!" Peter exclaimed.
He took Wendy's hand, and I took Wendy's hand, then John took my hand, and Michael clung to John at the end of the line.
Then Peter sped up into the air, dragging the rest of us behind him, and Tinkerbell twirled around us in a spiral of dust.
The star seemed to get larger and brighter as we traveled higher up into the sky, until eventually, a large, green island came into view.
"Oh, Michael! Look! It's Neverland!" Wendy exclaimed.
We neared a clump of large, puffy white clouds. Peter landed on them, and we followed. As I stood on the cloud, I stomped and jumped on it quickly, wondering if I might fall through. It was like jumping on the bed. A small handful of the cloud floated into the air and tickled my nose. I began to sneeze loudly and repeatedly as the rest of the gang peered over the edge of clouds.
"Look! There's Mermaid Lagoon!" Wendy explained as she pointed to the lagoon on the far right of the island.
"And the Indian tribe is over there!" said Michael, pointing to the far left of the island.
"And there's the Jolly Roger!" said Michael, pointing to a large pirate ship directly below us.
It was then that a blast went off, and a huge, black cannon was headed in our direction.
"Look out!" I cried as I grabbed Michael and pulled him out of the way of the cannon.
"It's Hook!" Peter explained. "Tinkerbell, you take everyone down to the island while I take care of ole Cap'n Hook," said Peter.
"Oh, no you don't!" I began to protest, suddenly remembering that Tinkerbell would then send the Lost Boys to "shoot" Wendy down. But Tinkerbell had already taken off. "But, Peter! Tinkerbell's going to-"
"Come and get me, ya old codfish!" Peter cried to the pirate ship below. He shot up in the air and performed another rooster call, then flew off without another word.
I looked down to see that Wendy, Michael, and John were already headed towards the island.
"Heck no! Wendy is not gunna get shot down by the boys this time!" I told myself as I flew as fast as I could towards the island.
Happy thoughts! Happy thoughts! Riding the Steel Venom at Valley Fair a hundred times! Eating ice cream! Christmas! Sleigh bells! Snow!
I was flying so fast that I managed to fly past Michael, John, and Wendy, and soon I was headed for the island. I could see gleaming gold dust just ahead of me.
"Tinkerbell! I know what your plan is! I won't let you have it!" I cried to her.
She turned back to glare at me only for a second, then flew off so fast that she was only a blur. The island seemed to be miles off still, and it took another few minutes for me to get a bit closer. By the time I was just above the canopy trees, it was then that I started screaming.
Rocks and sticks were flying in my direction. I couldn't see what the source was. Losing my balance and allowing bad thoughts to flood my mind, I lost my source of flight and began crashing towards the island. I was spiraling out of control and screaming at the top of my lungs. I hated heights!
Just as the jagged rocks below me seemed to come within closer view, I shut my eyes tight and waited for the collision. It was then that a pair of sturdy arms suddenly caught me from under, and I opened my eyes and found myself to be staring into the face of Peter Pan.
"Oh, Peter!" I cried as I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a hug. "You saved my life! Thank you!"
"No problem, Emma," said Peter as I pulled back from my embrace. I noticed his face was slightly red… why?
It was then that I realized I had embarrassed him by hugging him. I hugged my friends all the time back home, but had forgotten that this place wasn't home at all.
"Y-You're welcome," he stuttered as he set me down.
Confused by his continued embarrassment, I decided to shrug the feeling off, and instead turned my attention towards the screaming group of boys that surround Peter. They were all dressed funny in individual animal costumes (two of them, twins from the looks of it, were wearing the same costume).
"Are you alright, Emma?" came Wendy's voice. I looked up to see that she was floating to the ground, followed by John and Michael as they both landed on the ground together.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Peter saved me. I could've died!" I explained. It was then that I realized I had just taken Wendy's place-she was the one who should've been shot at by the boys and rescued by Peter.
"Didja see that, Peter? Huh, didja see that?"
"I shot down the Emma-Bird!"
Emma-Bird? I was puzzled by the words, which sounded strange and unfamiliar. Wasn't it suppose to be "Wendy-Bird"? But then I realized again that I had taken Wendy's place… maybe I shouldn't have done that. Now everything was different.
"No, I did!"
"Not, ah, I did!"
"Liar!"
"Hey, don't push!"
Soon the Lost Boys were rolling over one another at my feet, punching and biting and jumping on each other. I grabbed two of the boys and yanked them off each other.
"MEN! Attention!" Peter cried.
The boys all froze and instantly formed a line.
"What's going on around here? I bring you new people to meet… and you shoot down the first person you see!"
"What do you mean, Peter?" one of the boys asked.
"Yeah, Tinkerbell told us to shoot her down!"
"What? Tinkerbell?" Peter asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, she told us that you said to shoot the Emma-Bird down!" one of the boys explained.
Me? She specifically told the boys to shoot down me? Not Wendy? I felt slightly angry, but weird by the fact that Tinkerbell seemed to be more jealous of me than she was to Wendy. But I was no threat! After all, I was going to make sure that this time, Peter and Wendy would be together.
"Tinkerbell!" Peter yelled. "Tink! Get over here!"
I looked up to see Tinkerbell strut over towards us with her head in the air.
"Is it true, Tink?" Peter asked her sadly. "Did you tell the boys to shoot Emma down?"
Tinkerbell stared at us, then nodded with a smug grin on her face. I loved Tinkerbell, but sometimes she really could be a pain.
"Tinkerbell! You're guilty of treason!" Peter exclaimed. "I hereby banish you from the forest!"
Tinkerbell put her hands to her mouth in shock, then flew off in anger.
"Oh, Peter, not forever," Wendy said to him.
"Well, for a week then," Peter said, shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh, Peter, I'd love to see the Mermaid Lagoon!" Wendy explained happily.
"Well then let's go! You wanna come, Emma?" Peter asked me.
I shook my head. "I don't like the mermaids," I told him.
Peter gasped. "Don't like the mermaids? But why?"
"They're rude! And they're vile and arrogant, and they tried to drown me!" I said in protest as I counted off all the things off my fingers. "I suggest that you don't go there either, Wendy."
"Aw, c'mon, Emma," said Peter as he took my hand and led me up into the air. "It'll be fun. I promise this time that the mermaids won't upset you."
I just shook my head. "I can just go with the Lost Boys," I said. I turned to glance at the boys-Wendy was tending to Michael while John was commanding the boys.
"Please, Emma?" Peter begged. I turned to look at him and saw only his pleading green eyes.
"Why do you want me to come with so bad?" I asked him in surprise.
"Maybe I like having you along. You're unusual, you know," he told me. "You make things more fun! And you dress funny and stuff."
I snorted and felt slightly offended. "I'm not the only one, you know," I said as I eyed his green jumpsuit and tights. It was slightly unattractive.
"Hey, are you making fun of me?"
"Well, you were making fun of me!" I argued. "Aren't you the one who said earlier that I was acting like a grown-up? And now you want me to come along?"
"Don't fight with me, Emma! Just come with, alright?" he said to me as grabbed me by the wrist and began to fly across the canopy trees. "C'mon, we're already going. You might as well come with."
"Oh, Peter, let go!" I said as I tried to wriggle out of his grasp. "What about Wendy? Just take her then!"
I remembered the scene in the film though, when Wendy was fighting with the mermaids. "Or maybe we shouldn't go see the mermaids at all," I said to him.
"What? Why not?"
"Are we going to go to Mermaid Lagoon?" Wendy asked as she neared us from behind, now also flying through the air. She noticed Peter clutching my wrist and eyed me with skepticism.
"Uh…" I yanked my hand out of Peter's grasp and rubbed my wrist in comfort. "Yeah, I… I suppose," I said, finally giving in.
"Off to the lagoon! Follow me, girls!"
"John, you lead Michael and the Lost Boys in a plan of attack against the Indians!" Peter told John.
"I shall try my best, sir!" John exclaimed as he swung his umbrella over his shoulder and began leading the boys into the forest. As we flew off, I swore I could hear the boys singing…
We're following the leader, the leader, the leader…
Author's Note: Here's the fourth chapter! I attempted to change things up a bit, haha. Let me know what you thought! :)