Chapter 7: A Sorrowful Spark


Lola and her brothers were trapped in a circle of Lost Boys. They spoke all together, interrupting and shouting. Jenson elbowed Lola and named the accents he noticed. There were boys from every populated continent. The boys shared their favourite places—Skull Island, the Copper Dessert, the Underground, Dragon's Den Peak—and the more they spoke the less clear their accents became. Lola strained to listen to the fading differences. In less than ten minutes, the voices all shared the same accent—an echo of hers.

"Tink's house," Giggles shouted. He never ceased laughing.

The boys shut their mouths. They turned all eyes on Giggles.

"They haven't met Tinker Bell," Giggles said bashfully, his cheeks rosier than before.

"That's a great idea," Pan agreed.

The boys nodded like bobbleheads. They started chanting, "Tinker Bell." Their hands pushed and pulled the Dashers toward a bridge. They ran across single file—as the bridge was barely wide enough to fit Ball-boy. They raced across two other balconies, crossed three more bridges, and then climbed three ladders. Lola was grateful when Pan snatched her from the ladder and carried her to the top. Her palms were sweat-drenched and her legs were shaking. She'd had more than enough of heights and ladders and rope-bridges for her entire lifetime.

Pan landed her on a balcony deep in the tree canopy. The amount of leaves should've made it dark, but there were a hundred jars filled with glowing gold dust. In the centre of the balcony, atop a stack of dust-coated books, was a worn white cupboard. Branches had grown out from the tree trunk to wrap the sides of the cupboard, securing it against the tree. When Lola heard the boys reaching the balcony she noticed a small, short ding of a bell from inside the cupboard.

Pan crouched beside the white cupboard, winked at Lola, and opened the doors. "Tink. We have some new friends."

Inside the cupboard was a home. On one shelf was a chair too small for a doll. A broken mirror shard leaned in a corner. Buttons and pins littered the shelves. A twig was suspended on the bottom shelf featuring different outfits. Dresses, most of them with mini-skirts but some were ball-gown or flowing skirts. There was a table made from a leaf and twigs with a plastic hairbrush. On the top shelf was a bed, made the width of the shelf, with a small bed sheet that was sheer with the faintest hint of baby blue. On the bed was a fairy.

At first glance, she was only a light. Lola kneeled beside Peter, her nose almost touching the middle shelf. Her eyes peered through the glow and noticed a feminine body. The eyes were large—larger than the human proportion of eyes to head. Her eyes were the only part of her that didn't glow gold—and her eyes glowed blue. She had soft, rounded features with narrow arms and legs. She had a woman's hips, but her face was childlike. She had yellow skin the same shade as her yellow hair, which was styled into a shaggy pixie cut. Her short dress looked woven like a basket. The colour was mostly green, except for a few browning spots. The fairy's wings drooped behind her back, flowing over her bare feet.

"Tinker Bell, Lola," Pan introduced. "Lola, Tinker Bell."

"Hello." Lola had imagined fairies appearing in a million ways. She'd read fairytales, both the originals and the tamer, modern versions. Growing up had made her image of them less and less cute and warm. Tinker Bell was a fairy born from a little girl's daydream. Lola hadn't expected to be so thrilled finding this kind of fairy—but she was. Her eyes prickled. She was seeing something wonderfully impossible. She wanted to cry.

Tinker Bell's wings perked up. The tops were shaped like teardrops. The fairy's hands rolled into fists. Her arms were straight at her sides. She flapped her teardrop wings and zoomed forward. Lola jerked back, but not fast enough for Tinker Bell to kick her in the nose.

"Ow!" Lola grabbed her nose and stood. How was something that small able to kick that hard? It wasn't broken, but her nose felt bruised.

"She gets jealous," Red-tail warned too late.

The lost boys crowded Tinker Bell's cupboard home. Lola's brother squeezed to the front. Jenson peeled away Lola's hand and examined her nose. He then called her a baby and promised she was fine. Lola scowled at Tinker Bell.

"How can something that cute be that rude?" she asked. "Are all fairies like that?"

"No fairy is like Tinker Bell." Pan crossed his legs and sat next to the cupboard.

Tinker Bell perched on his shoulder. Her small hand patted his cheek. She nuzzled her nose on his skin. She paced back and set her hands on her hips. High-pitched bells sounded when she opened her mouth. Pan laughed at Tinker Bell's expression of fury.

"What is she saying?" Jenson asked. The strange fairy fascinated him. He itched to take notes. He hoped Lola would draw an accurate sketch so he could properly label it later.

"She doesn't like when Pan brings girls to Neverland," Red-tail answered. "Pan brings lost girls to the Porcelain Pavilion so they's don't bother Tink."

"You understand her?" Jenson didn't want to jealous of a young boy who spoke slow and improper—but he did envy the ability to understand a fairy.

Red-tail shook his head. "Nah. Only Pan can speak fairy. But we got good at knowing the sounds she makes. That's her jealous bell."

"Pan, are you going to take me to the Porcelain Pavilion?" Lola frowned. The name suggested a prison for girls too prim and dainty to participate in the adventures of Neverland.

"Of course not," Pan said. He clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Unless you want to. But there's a lot to see before that!" Pan picked up a full jar and emptied it into the pouch tied to his vine-belt.

"Pan only lets some lost ones fly," said Hiccup. His voice hitched on every odd word. He was smothered in brown freckles, grass stains and dirt smudges. His clothes were from the oldest era out of the group. The short white collar around his neck had yellowed with time. His vest was undone, all but one of the buttons missing. Where there had once been white sleeves were naked arms with red and blue bands painted from bicep to wrist. His trousers had holes and ended just above the knee. He had heavy black leather boots, missing all but one button on the right and missing only one on the left. "Wendy and her brothers."

Lola didn't know why, but that name made her heart stop. Wendy.


AUTHOR: Reviews are welcome.