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Notes from the Authoress: Hey guys, Ellie here, back with chapter 17!!! I personally think that this is a good attempt at humor on my part, so I hope you enjoy it and find it funny! I'm going skiing in Vermont this weekend, so 18 probably won't be up until sometime in the middle of next week.
Sois patient s'il vous plait!!! Merci beaucoup!!!
Oh, the mad French skills of me. Anyways, read, review and most of all enjoy!!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL
~Ellie~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------
It was yet another chilly night in the heart of London, where the Darlings lived. Although at the moment the house was the farthest thing from John's mind.
Yes, he was on his nightly walk around the center of London, putting out cold, dark streetlamps for money. Some may have called it a lonely job, but John was quick to contradict. On the contrary, he thought, the job was a rather peaceful one. It was an excellent chance to think about....well....anything.
That late at night....well, the streets were empty, and most of the glowing lights from the windows were shut off, save the few whose inhabitants liked to read long into the night, very much like him.
John would make an unknowing but fast mental connection with the people that he would see reading, for he himself was an avid reader, but lately had been drawn away from his childhood books of pleasure, and the strings of adulthood were beginning to pull on his heart.
He could see his future in the distance, and most unfortunately, he could see no books in it. He yearned for the simple lives of the people he saw in those windows, who could sit there reading for hours on end, and not have their father come in and tell them that they were addled in the brain for doing such a thing.
Now, not to say that John didn't love his family. He respected and cared for his parents, and had brought them much joy with his penchant for following rules and doing exactly as he was told. He loved his brother Michael, who had always looked up to him as a role model. His big blue eyes were always so full of admiration, respect and wonder.
John wondered if perhaps it was Michael's dream to become a man like him. It saddened his heart to think so. He loved the Lost Boys, over the six years they had lived in the Darling household they had become just like brothers to him, and their wily and adventurous spirits brought Michael to new levels of confidence that John had not that possible of his brother. They were indeed little rogues, but lovable all the same.
And of course, he loved his sister Wendy. Before Peter had arrived back in the nursery he and Wendy had been steadily growing apart, moving in two different directions towards two different futures. Very, very different. John desired to become a politician and to bring change to England and perhaps the world. He could in fact pursue this dream.
Wendy's dream was to be a novelist or an adventurer, but being a lady she could not pursue that future. Her fate was to be a housewife, to cook, clean, and to care for her children and husband. It seemed such a dreary fate to both of them.
They had come to bond over these dreams ever since Peter had returned, and it broke John's heart to see her pulled away from him, especially by his parents whom he had thought both kind and understanding. They were still kind yes, but stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They were tearing apart the happiness of everyone in the Darling family.
His thoughts turned to Edward. That sick, perverse bastard. He couldn't stand the way he was treating his sister, and on many occasions had had to try very hard not to smack him across the face, or even kill him.
His musings were trivial now, though. Higher things were at stake, such as his sister's dreams and perhaps even sanity. He had to come up with a plan quickly, as there was only one day left before the wedding. He had to think of some way to expose Edward's horrible nature to his parents, and perhaps, if he was lucky, embarrass him in front of everyone who was invited to the wedding. Because Edward's family was so prosperous and high in stature, there was sure to be an enormous turnout.
He found that his route had taken him to Kensington Gardens, a place that was so beautiful just to walk or sit in, so sit he did. He found the nearest bench and sat down to think for a while. He was determined to come up with a plan if he had to stay until the early morning. No later, though. He had to be back before his parents awoke and found that he was gone. Only God knew what they would do to him if they found he had taken the job against their wishes.
He sat for quite some time, an hour at least. Every plan that he had thought of so far had seemed perfect, but there had always been some sort of little annoying flaw in it. Damn master plans! They hardly every worked.
He sat for some time more, and just as he was about to doze off from drowsiness and the mere fact that he was numb with cold, he gave a start. A chorus of Hallelujah angels fluttered around his head and sang praise, and he jumped up from the bench triumphantly, not caring if any of the late night readers saw him from their windows.
He had an idea! Finally!
'Took me long enough,' he thought as he looked down at his wind-ridden fingers. He had gloves that didn't have any fingertips, which was unfortunate in this sort of weather.
He was too busy musing over the genius of his plan to worry about the cold, though. He had to go find Peter, and quickly! Hopefully he had found the inn ok. John felt a pang of guilt, knowing that the only inn in town that he could possible afford was rather an iffy sort of place.
No matter, he would go to him and tell him of his plan. They would save Wendy together!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John entered the musty smelling inn. It was dimly lit and noisy, and John's guilt pangs grew larger. He hoped he could find Peter in the midst of all the hub. If he had ever come.
Dirty, uncouth men were drinking and burping and gambling in dark corners of the room, and some rather slutty women were lounging about, looking for an unsuspecting man to prey on. Unfortunately, the inn never saw much of a show from the girls because all of the men that they desired were much too rich to stay at an inn of such low integrity.
But tonight was different. Over in the corner a group of women were surrounding a person that John couldn't see, as the flamboyant dresses of the women were impossible to see through. They were giggling and talking and moving in on whoever the poor lad was.
'That's strange, that kind of thing never happens around here,' John thought curiously, and sidled over to that side of the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person whom they were all so smitten with.
"'Scuse me, ladies, 'scuse me," John muttered, pushing his way through the crowd. The girls scowled at him and cried thing like,
"Oy! Laddie! You're much too young to be in here!"
"You don't drink, do ya? Got some change to spare for a scotch?"
"Eh, he may be young but he's a cute one...come back in three years, boy, then we'll have something or other for ya!"
Disgusted, John scowled at the ladies and pushed the aside, and finally reached the person they were so seemingly in love with. He almost died when he saw who it was.
Peter, looking confused and slightly disheveled, was sitting on a bench in the corner, looking upset and bewildered, his hair even more mussed than it usually was, and his once nicely ironed shirt wrinkled and slightly off- white. He had a few stray lipstick marks on his cheeks, and he looked as though he was about to cry. It was certainly a sight to see. John burst out laughing.
"John!" cried Peter, standing up quickly. "John! Thank GOD you've come! I've been stuck with these....with these....crazy people for over three days, and I haven't liked it one bit!"
The smiles on the ladies' faces fell with his words.
"So, are you just going to stand there and laugh at me? Do something!" he said frantically.
Still chuckling, John grabbed Peter by the arm and pulled him out of the circle of crestfallen ladies, who implored Peter to come back and have another round with them after he was finished with whatever business he had to attend to.
"Bye cutie! Make sure to come back and tell us some more stories, eh?"
"Don't forget, you still owe us another round!"
Peter stumbled away from the group, looking frightened and angry. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him up the stairs, with John close behind. He ran until he reached room number seventeen, to which he flung the door open and ran inside with John, flinging it closed and locking it behind them. He ran to the bed and flopped across it, breathing heavily. He turned to John with evil eyes.
"How could you leave me here with those....with those....animals? Do you realize what I've been through the past few days! They won't leave me alone! They're constantly calling me 'cutie' and 'beautiful' and they keep on kissing me on the cheek and trying to get me to drink that disgusting- smelling stuff they call scotch. Their faces look like they've been painted on, and their breath stinks! Why, John. Why!" Peter wailed, and John silenced him by putting a hand over his mouth, still shaking with silent laughter. His face was red.
Just the sad, bewildered look on Peter's face was enough to set him into a fit of laughter. The poor boy. He no longer felt guilty, just really bad that he had made him stay with sluts for four days without knowing what they were exactly.
"I'm so sorry, Peter, forgive me," John chuckled, sitting down on the bed next to Peter, who now sat on it cross-legged, trying grumpily to fix his mussed hair, but to no avail.
"So, why are you here? Did you think of something? PLEASE say I don't have to stay here much longer!" Peter pleaded frantically, tears in his eyes.
"Of course not," John responded simply. "Just one more day. One more day until the wedding. One more day until we can execute my plan! Of course, I'll have to start arrangements tomorrow when the bridal party comes to our house and all but....oh, that's right! I forgot to tell you! I finally have a plan. That's why I came here, so I could tell you about it."
Peter heaved a huge sigh of relief, and leaned towards John, looking at him expectantly.
"Well, tell it already!" he cried imploringly.
"Alright, alright," John muttered. "Here it goes..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Over the next hour, John proceeded to tell Peter of his plan, and together they worked out the details of how it would be executed.
(A/N-Oooh, Yes, I know that was mean of me!! But you'll find out what the plan is soon enough....so get back to reading!! Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain (or in my case girl)!!!!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once they had finished nitpicking all the little details and crannies, John got up to leave.
"Where are you going?" Peter demanded nervously.
"Home," John responded. "It's almost early morning, and I don't want my parents to know that I've been out all night, or have them find out about my job. Goodbye and goodnight, Peter."
He turned to leave, and Peter grabbed his arm.
"No! Please don't leave me here with those barbarians!"
Grinning, John jerked his arm free of Peter's grasp and began to walk out the door. "Good NIGHT, Peter."
"John!"
He sighed exasperatedly and turned to face Peter again.
"Yes?"
Peter blushed and whispered, "Tell....tell Wendy that I love her."
John smiled and nodded, and closed the door behind him. Peter smiled. The plan was to be put in action tomorrow! Not that he would have anything today until the actual day of the wedding, though.
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Afterthoughts: OK, so the next chapter is going to be the day before the wedding and the beginning of the day of the wedding, alrighty?? That'll pace it up a little more. I hope you all enjoyed chapter 17, it was a fun one to write! Especially the part about Peter the pimp. Teehee. I hope you all come back for chapter 18!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL
~Ellie~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------
Notes from the Authoress: Hey guys, Ellie here, back with chapter 17!!! I personally think that this is a good attempt at humor on my part, so I hope you enjoy it and find it funny! I'm going skiing in Vermont this weekend, so 18 probably won't be up until sometime in the middle of next week.
Sois patient s'il vous plait!!! Merci beaucoup!!!
Oh, the mad French skills of me. Anyways, read, review and most of all enjoy!!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL
~Ellie~
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------
It was yet another chilly night in the heart of London, where the Darlings lived. Although at the moment the house was the farthest thing from John's mind.
Yes, he was on his nightly walk around the center of London, putting out cold, dark streetlamps for money. Some may have called it a lonely job, but John was quick to contradict. On the contrary, he thought, the job was a rather peaceful one. It was an excellent chance to think about....well....anything.
That late at night....well, the streets were empty, and most of the glowing lights from the windows were shut off, save the few whose inhabitants liked to read long into the night, very much like him.
John would make an unknowing but fast mental connection with the people that he would see reading, for he himself was an avid reader, but lately had been drawn away from his childhood books of pleasure, and the strings of adulthood were beginning to pull on his heart.
He could see his future in the distance, and most unfortunately, he could see no books in it. He yearned for the simple lives of the people he saw in those windows, who could sit there reading for hours on end, and not have their father come in and tell them that they were addled in the brain for doing such a thing.
Now, not to say that John didn't love his family. He respected and cared for his parents, and had brought them much joy with his penchant for following rules and doing exactly as he was told. He loved his brother Michael, who had always looked up to him as a role model. His big blue eyes were always so full of admiration, respect and wonder.
John wondered if perhaps it was Michael's dream to become a man like him. It saddened his heart to think so. He loved the Lost Boys, over the six years they had lived in the Darling household they had become just like brothers to him, and their wily and adventurous spirits brought Michael to new levels of confidence that John had not that possible of his brother. They were indeed little rogues, but lovable all the same.
And of course, he loved his sister Wendy. Before Peter had arrived back in the nursery he and Wendy had been steadily growing apart, moving in two different directions towards two different futures. Very, very different. John desired to become a politician and to bring change to England and perhaps the world. He could in fact pursue this dream.
Wendy's dream was to be a novelist or an adventurer, but being a lady she could not pursue that future. Her fate was to be a housewife, to cook, clean, and to care for her children and husband. It seemed such a dreary fate to both of them.
They had come to bond over these dreams ever since Peter had returned, and it broke John's heart to see her pulled away from him, especially by his parents whom he had thought both kind and understanding. They were still kind yes, but stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid. They were tearing apart the happiness of everyone in the Darling family.
His thoughts turned to Edward. That sick, perverse bastard. He couldn't stand the way he was treating his sister, and on many occasions had had to try very hard not to smack him across the face, or even kill him.
His musings were trivial now, though. Higher things were at stake, such as his sister's dreams and perhaps even sanity. He had to come up with a plan quickly, as there was only one day left before the wedding. He had to think of some way to expose Edward's horrible nature to his parents, and perhaps, if he was lucky, embarrass him in front of everyone who was invited to the wedding. Because Edward's family was so prosperous and high in stature, there was sure to be an enormous turnout.
He found that his route had taken him to Kensington Gardens, a place that was so beautiful just to walk or sit in, so sit he did. He found the nearest bench and sat down to think for a while. He was determined to come up with a plan if he had to stay until the early morning. No later, though. He had to be back before his parents awoke and found that he was gone. Only God knew what they would do to him if they found he had taken the job against their wishes.
He sat for quite some time, an hour at least. Every plan that he had thought of so far had seemed perfect, but there had always been some sort of little annoying flaw in it. Damn master plans! They hardly every worked.
He sat for some time more, and just as he was about to doze off from drowsiness and the mere fact that he was numb with cold, he gave a start. A chorus of Hallelujah angels fluttered around his head and sang praise, and he jumped up from the bench triumphantly, not caring if any of the late night readers saw him from their windows.
He had an idea! Finally!
'Took me long enough,' he thought as he looked down at his wind-ridden fingers. He had gloves that didn't have any fingertips, which was unfortunate in this sort of weather.
He was too busy musing over the genius of his plan to worry about the cold, though. He had to go find Peter, and quickly! Hopefully he had found the inn ok. John felt a pang of guilt, knowing that the only inn in town that he could possible afford was rather an iffy sort of place.
No matter, he would go to him and tell him of his plan. They would save Wendy together!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John entered the musty smelling inn. It was dimly lit and noisy, and John's guilt pangs grew larger. He hoped he could find Peter in the midst of all the hub. If he had ever come.
Dirty, uncouth men were drinking and burping and gambling in dark corners of the room, and some rather slutty women were lounging about, looking for an unsuspecting man to prey on. Unfortunately, the inn never saw much of a show from the girls because all of the men that they desired were much too rich to stay at an inn of such low integrity.
But tonight was different. Over in the corner a group of women were surrounding a person that John couldn't see, as the flamboyant dresses of the women were impossible to see through. They were giggling and talking and moving in on whoever the poor lad was.
'That's strange, that kind of thing never happens around here,' John thought curiously, and sidled over to that side of the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person whom they were all so smitten with.
"'Scuse me, ladies, 'scuse me," John muttered, pushing his way through the crowd. The girls scowled at him and cried thing like,
"Oy! Laddie! You're much too young to be in here!"
"You don't drink, do ya? Got some change to spare for a scotch?"
"Eh, he may be young but he's a cute one...come back in three years, boy, then we'll have something or other for ya!"
Disgusted, John scowled at the ladies and pushed the aside, and finally reached the person they were so seemingly in love with. He almost died when he saw who it was.
Peter, looking confused and slightly disheveled, was sitting on a bench in the corner, looking upset and bewildered, his hair even more mussed than it usually was, and his once nicely ironed shirt wrinkled and slightly off- white. He had a few stray lipstick marks on his cheeks, and he looked as though he was about to cry. It was certainly a sight to see. John burst out laughing.
"John!" cried Peter, standing up quickly. "John! Thank GOD you've come! I've been stuck with these....with these....crazy people for over three days, and I haven't liked it one bit!"
The smiles on the ladies' faces fell with his words.
"So, are you just going to stand there and laugh at me? Do something!" he said frantically.
Still chuckling, John grabbed Peter by the arm and pulled him out of the circle of crestfallen ladies, who implored Peter to come back and have another round with them after he was finished with whatever business he had to attend to.
"Bye cutie! Make sure to come back and tell us some more stories, eh?"
"Don't forget, you still owe us another round!"
Peter stumbled away from the group, looking frightened and angry. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him up the stairs, with John close behind. He ran until he reached room number seventeen, to which he flung the door open and ran inside with John, flinging it closed and locking it behind them. He ran to the bed and flopped across it, breathing heavily. He turned to John with evil eyes.
"How could you leave me here with those....with those....animals? Do you realize what I've been through the past few days! They won't leave me alone! They're constantly calling me 'cutie' and 'beautiful' and they keep on kissing me on the cheek and trying to get me to drink that disgusting- smelling stuff they call scotch. Their faces look like they've been painted on, and their breath stinks! Why, John. Why!" Peter wailed, and John silenced him by putting a hand over his mouth, still shaking with silent laughter. His face was red.
Just the sad, bewildered look on Peter's face was enough to set him into a fit of laughter. The poor boy. He no longer felt guilty, just really bad that he had made him stay with sluts for four days without knowing what they were exactly.
"I'm so sorry, Peter, forgive me," John chuckled, sitting down on the bed next to Peter, who now sat on it cross-legged, trying grumpily to fix his mussed hair, but to no avail.
"So, why are you here? Did you think of something? PLEASE say I don't have to stay here much longer!" Peter pleaded frantically, tears in his eyes.
"Of course not," John responded simply. "Just one more day. One more day until the wedding. One more day until we can execute my plan! Of course, I'll have to start arrangements tomorrow when the bridal party comes to our house and all but....oh, that's right! I forgot to tell you! I finally have a plan. That's why I came here, so I could tell you about it."
Peter heaved a huge sigh of relief, and leaned towards John, looking at him expectantly.
"Well, tell it already!" he cried imploringly.
"Alright, alright," John muttered. "Here it goes..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Over the next hour, John proceeded to tell Peter of his plan, and together they worked out the details of how it would be executed.
(A/N-Oooh, Yes, I know that was mean of me!! But you'll find out what the plan is soon enough....so get back to reading!! Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain (or in my case girl)!!!!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once they had finished nitpicking all the little details and crannies, John got up to leave.
"Where are you going?" Peter demanded nervously.
"Home," John responded. "It's almost early morning, and I don't want my parents to know that I've been out all night, or have them find out about my job. Goodbye and goodnight, Peter."
He turned to leave, and Peter grabbed his arm.
"No! Please don't leave me here with those barbarians!"
Grinning, John jerked his arm free of Peter's grasp and began to walk out the door. "Good NIGHT, Peter."
"John!"
He sighed exasperatedly and turned to face Peter again.
"Yes?"
Peter blushed and whispered, "Tell....tell Wendy that I love her."
John smiled and nodded, and closed the door behind him. Peter smiled. The plan was to be put in action tomorrow! Not that he would have anything today until the actual day of the wedding, though.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------
Afterthoughts: OK, so the next chapter is going to be the day before the wedding and the beginning of the day of the wedding, alrighty?? That'll pace it up a little more. I hope you all enjoyed chapter 17, it was a fun one to write! Especially the part about Peter the pimp. Teehee. I hope you all come back for chapter 18!!!
I LOVE YOU ALL
~Ellie~
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