Happily smiling at her 'hourglass' collection of fairy dust in hand before her gleaming eyes, Wendy decided to treasure it as a keepsake inside her favourite drawer. Leaving the unresponsive Peter on his own, she headed out of the hallway and up the stairs into the nursery bedroom. Just one quiet step from reaching the door, the sound of a soft but sharp thud which pierced through the silence startled her. She nearly dropped the little glass bottle in her hands but taking a deep breath, she came to the realisation that the interruption must have originated from the inside of the room. She very quickly composed herself and explained her fears away that the windows may have been left open and the breezy summer evening could have caused a thing or two to fall from its place.
Wendy braved the winds of unease and doubts to turn the doorknob, holding her breaths as she tighten her grip on its cold metal surface and anxiously lowered her head to peep inside. She has to squint her eyes intently to afford herself a clearer vision in glancing away from the brightly lit stairway to the dark of the room to check from one end to the other. Almost abruptly, she felt a certain warmth swept through her being after a thorough careful inspection. The familiar stifled yawn of one the cutest voices which ever graced her attentive ears now soothed and calmed all her nervous apprehension. It brought her feet hastily marching into the room and her hands clasping together in utmost delight.
In the midst of her joy, Wendy still remembered not to stir any noise and hurried to shut the windows. As she did so, her gaze inadvertently caught Nana, her most-adored furry family nursemaid, down in her poor doghouse by the garden. Her heart pained to see their darling pet being banished this way into the dark and cool of the night again.
"She certainly has done nothing to deserve this," Wendy whispered to herself with aching emotions.
After she had closed all windows, she quickly went over first to Michael's bedside and picked up his fallen Bible bedtime storybook and sweet little teddy bear. The lovely four-year-old was now fast asleep peacefully on his soft bed. Wendy smiled and planted a tender kiss on his forehead. She tucked his cute fuzzy security bear into his arms and under the covers, quietly wishing for his sweet dreams to take over.
Then, she turned to John, the adventure-loving little young guy who aspired so much to be a pirate fighter. He was also asleep, but Wendy noticed his tired look with arms and legs wide outstreched all over on his bed. That was just his trademark each time after engaging himself in imaginary sword battles right before bedtime. Wendy could not help smiling again and swiftly tucked him under his huge blanket.
Once she has finished with her 'pre-sleep' round and closed the door behind, Wendy could not prevent herself from wondering about when exactly her brothers had came home from the school play. Her first instinct was to look at the wall clock.
It showed an hour after midnight, which utterly baffled and confused Wendy. The curious girl then paced to the door of the room right opposite the nursery of her brothers'. It was her parents' bedroom and she could hear all so clearly the train-engine-like snores of her father's coming from inside.
Wendy stepped back and crossed her arms, brows furrowed in attempting to work out an answer to this perplexity. In a brief moment, the hourglass bottle clutched in her hand somewhat flickered and quivered a little, surprising Wendy even further.
She help it up again, "Was it you? And...oh, Peter...I better have a look at him...Father and mother would certainly not allow him in here..."
She gasped worriedly and dashed straight down the stairs back to the doorway of the bathroom...