"I see it! It's an island!" Peter interrupted. "It's bright and green, with no' a building or dirty street in sight! There's a pirate ship there, and …smoke? Oh wait, I see it now. There's smoke from the Indians….Indians? They're dancing around a great big fire and beating on their drums."
"Are they, now?" The man said softly. His eyes had closed while listening to the boy's description and he wore a soft smile on his face, almost as if he was there with the lad, seeing the wonderful sights for the first time. "What else do you see?" he asked.
"I see lots of trees; I've ne'er seen so many in my life! So many different shapes and sizes, they are. And there are these, I donna' kno' how to describe them exactly. They're like little balls of light, with people inside them! And the people are wearing such funny clothes. Why, they almost seem t' be made of leaves!"
"That's because they are, lad. Those are the fairies. They take care of that world and keep it always looking beautiful." the man explained.
"It is very beautiful… but something seems almost, missing." The boy said.
The man opened his eyes. "And what is that, boy?"
His eyes still shut, lost to that magical world, Peter said, "I donna' kno' sir. The land, it seems sad. Like someone has gone away from it for a verra' long time and they're waiting for him to come back. You know, sad and hopeful at the same time? It feels like that, sir."
"Does it now?" The man sighed heavily.
Peter opened his eyes and looked at him. The man was gazing longingly into the fire, his mind not really there, but lost into some world of his own imaginings.
"Sir?" he questioned.
"Hmm…? Yes boy, what is it?" the man asked softly.
"Why did you ever leave? It's so verra' beautiful. I don't see why anyone would want to leave."
The man sighed again.
"It wasn't that I wanted to leave, Peter. I truly did not wish to, but there is a certain part of growing up which forces us to make decisions sometimes that we do not want to do. In my case, I had two things that were very precious to me. Now, these things could not exist with each other. I was either to lose one and gain the other, or lose them both. I foolishly almost ended up doing the latter. One of them was irretrievable and, though I didn't know it at the time, once I lost it, it was gone forever. The other, I came close to losing while chasing after the first one. Eventually, I realized that, while I couldn't change what had happened in the past, I did have a say in what happened to my future. So I made my decision; the hard part of it being that I had to stay here forever."
"Are you sorry that you couldn't stay?" the boy asked
He thought for a moment. "No. I do miss my life there, but I like the one I have here as well." he chuckled, "And maybe that's the key to growing up after all."
"What's that, sir?"
"Growing up doesn't mean abandoning all your dreams in the past. It means finding newer, lovelier ones and working to accomplish them. There is so much more satisfaction in something that you have worked for than in just having fun."
Peter didn't quite understand that. The man would rather work than have fun? It sounded pretty backwards to him, but since he had been so nice as to feed him and show him that beautiful island, he didn't feel like he should say anything to hurt his feelings.
"If you say so."
The man looked at his face and laughed. "You don't believe me yet, but someday you will, lad. For now, just remember that it's up to you to choose when you want to grow up. It is inevitable that you will do so, but you have the power to choose when it will happen."
"How does that work, sir? Most days I feel like I'm grown up already. Is there a way that I can stay a boy forever? I don't want t' grow up yet. I want t' always be a boy, and t' have a lot of fun!"
Leaning forward in his chair, the man stared at him intently. He looked as if he was weighing something in his mind. "Peter, do you remember when I said that I thought you to be the answer to all of my problems?" he asked
"Yes sir." Peter replied.
"And you understand that the place I showed you is real, that you can go there right now?"
"Yes sir, but what does this have t' do with never growing up?" he questioned.
The man smiled, "Everything."
"I'm afraid I don't understand…" Peter said sadly
"Listen to me closely, boy. There is a land out there, beyond the stars, filled with wonderful things. Anything you can dream of is there. It was created when the mind of a boy met the magic of a fairy and was designed to forever be a place where children could come who didn't want to grow up just yet." the man explained
"But why would they go there if they didn't wish to grow up?"
"Because that's the best part, Peter. You can never grow older there."
"Never?"
"Not as long as your desires remain innocent and pure, free from all the emotions of an adult. If you truly always wish to be a little boy and have fun, you will do so." The man said.
"I do, sir! I do wish t' always have fun. Can I go there now? How do you get there? Ye said it wasn't by boat. Is it by train?" Peter asked eagerly.
"No, it's not by train, boy. Are you sure you want to go there? It's very far away and you won't be able to see your friends or family for a while." The man said solemnly.
Peter looked down at his shoes, his excitement dimmed for a second. Then, looking up with eyes far too old for his age, he said, "I don't really 'ave any friends that I would miss too much for a while. Friends are hard t' come by on these streets, and as for family, all I had was me mum and dad. Now that they're gone, I suppose I wouldn't mind trying a new place to live. And I couldn't think of a place as beautiful as that island if I tried."
This time when the man smiled, it seemed like his smile would fall off of his face, it was so big. "But you see, Peter, you did think it up. Neverland, for that is the islands' name, exists because children like you imagine it to. It's your dream world and anything that you want to happen, can and will. You can change a mountain, make a stream, and defeat a band of pirates by the sheer force of your imagination!"
"But sir, if it's all in my mind, how do I get there?"
