Winston paused, closely watching Erin's reaction to the tale. "Did you ever not like girls, Winston?" Erin asked. "Actually." Winston paused, looking away and taking a deep breath. "I was hoping that I would never have to tell you this. But I don't want to lie to you." Winston stopped and seemed to be looking at something that Erin was unable to see. "People have always said that I'm stubborn, and they're right. I don't like to conform to what others expect of me. So when Ella left with Pan and everyone blamed her for it, I spoke out on Ella's behalf. I told them that we shouldn't blame Ella or just girls in general because Pan decided to leave with her. So." Winston trailed off, then looked down and continued. "They drove me out of their gang. As I ran away, they were throwing stones at me and yelling, 'Don't come back until you've changed your mind, or we'll make sure that you never come back.' Things like that.it was the worst experience of my entire life. So I ran away and resolved never to return. I lived wild in Neverland for a while, eating berries and sleeping in trees. I was finally captured by the Indians. They never did anything bad to me though.and for a long time I just lived with them, as an Indian. But with Tiger Lily around, my views that girls didn't have any worse traits than boys stayed the same. Still though, I missed all of them.I missed the life. So later I told Tiger Lily that I had to go back, and she just let me go. I returned and they were so glad that I was back that they never asked if I had changed my mind and I never had to lie. But it hasn't ever been quite the same. I'm sorry to bother you with this, Erin, but I've never talked to anybody about it before. I've never really wanted to share it." "That's awful. They threw you out just because you stood up for Ella?" "I think some of them agreed with me but didn't want to admit it." Winston's open emotions slammed shut, and the way that he looked straight ahead told Erin that the discussion was over. They flew in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. They had been flying for quite a while. It was much like swimming through air.and got very tiring after a while. Erin was quite winded. She slowed down and ran her hand through her tousled hair.the wind had long abated and the silence of the sky seemed eerie and oppressive. Erin broke the spell of quiet. She had been wondering something for a while. "Winston," she began hesitantly, "when- when Tinkerbell took you from your home, you know, what was your life like then?" Winston stopped in midair, and Erin had to circle back around to face him. "Here," he offered, "let's rest for a little while...and I'll tell you about it." He floated toward a cloud and sat on it like a chair. Erin followed and did the same. The darkness of the night was fading very quickly, and Erin could see rays of sunlight peeking over some clouds in the distance. It was all very beautiful, the clouds turning beautiful oranges and yellows and the sky turning from deep purple to gorgeous pinks and reds. Winston sighed. "Well, this was a long time ago. I was born in 1903 on a farm in the Rocky Mountains. I had nine brothers and sisters, and I was the youngest of them all. But it was a hard life. My mom had a drinking problem- and when she had her drinking spells she was really terrible to us kids. She used to beat us and scream at us, you can't even imagine. Three of my brothers and sisters had already run away. My father was gone most of the time, he was a trapper, and so my mom was with us all the time. It finally got to the point one night when she beat me so hard I couldn't even open my eyes. And that was the night that Tink took me away...and I never knew what happened to everyone else." There was a long silence. Erin tried to register this, but it shocked her at how terrible everything in his past was. "But really, I know all parents must not be like that. I mean . . .what was your mother like?" For an instant, Erin's mind flashed to Sharon. She had been terrible and cruel and unkind to her also. But suddenly, her thoughts sifted and her stomach dropped. What about her real mother? And almost as suddenly as the thought had entered her mind, she was ripped from her sub-conscious back into reality. It felt as someone had pulled the floor from beneath her.and she was falling. She was falling, falling through the air as the wind rushed past her ears and her stomach seemed to jump into her throat. She suddenly was very aware of the churning ocean below her. The sea seemed so hungry and so deep, so very bottomlessly deep. It was getting closer, too, as she whistled through the air and all of a sudden Erin could hear the eerie sound of the breeze rushing across the half-formed waves and the whispering, haunting rush of the writhing water below her that was getting nearer and nearer.now she was so close to it that she could see the whitecaps forming and feel the salty, cold sea wind and she knew that in just a moment she would crash into the water and the hungry waves would consume her. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for the imminent chill of the cold water. The waves were roaring now, in ravenous anticipation. Just as her feet touched the freezing seawater, two warm, familiar-smelling arms caught her, holding her tightly just inches above the tongues of water. Erin melted into the reassuring curves of Winston's strong arms and buried her face in his shoulder. Winston hovered above the waves for a moment before turning and rising up in the air to carry Erin towards the small patch of island in the distance. Erin was trembling and when Winston set her down upon the branch of a papaya tree, she felt it and made sure that it was real and sturdy before relaxing and leaning against Winston as he sat beside her. The dawn was just becoming day, and the sun's early rays seemed to calm the see, satiate it and make it seem less stark and greedy and threatening. Erin smiled for a second, uneasily. She didn't quite trust the air and curled up against the trunk of the papaya tree. "Erin? Are you gonna be okay?" "I'm." Erin had to take a moment and lick her dry lips, "I'm fine. I think. You've saved me twice in less than 24 hours." Suddenly, Erin's stomach rumbled as she realized that she hadn't eaten anything since the raspberries in Indian country earlier. "But I'm starving, Winston. Aren't you?" "I could eat anything, right about now." Erin grinned and reached for a papaya, peeling off a section of the skin and tossing it to the ground. She gave a quizzical look to Winston at his look of revulsion. "Erin, what on Earth is that you're eating there?"

"It's a papaya, of course. You've never had one?" Winston shook his head no. "We had all kinds of fruit in New York.mangos, breadfruit, boysenberries.but papayas were always the best." Erin bit into the soft, pink skin and juice dribbled down her chin. "I love papaya juice," she said to Winston, her mouth full. Uncertainly, Winston plucked a papaya off of the branch next to them and tore off a section of the skin. He examined it, looking sidelong at Erin, before taking a tiny bite of the fruit. Erin smiled at the look of surprise that spread across his face. "You like it, Winston?" Winston didn't answer, just took another enormous bite. They both finished their papayas and several more, not pausing to talk as they devoured the succulent flesh. Erin didn't feel like talking. The papaya would stay down and she wouldn't be queasy if she didn't think about the cloud's betrayal, the way that the clouds had grown smaller as the rushing ocean came too quickly into focus.

****A/N******** Okay, a few things. Thank you all for your kind reviews. They make my cup of joy overflow. Second, I can't figure out WHY my story doesn't have any paragraphs, because it does when I write it. So, if you could give me a tip on how to make paragraphs, I would be most pleased. It is extremely hard to read with them. My sincerest apologizes. Thirdly, sorry I have gotten so off track. I kinda forgot about Tiger Lilly. So pretty much, they are fleeing to New York because they can't stay in Neverland because no one likes them, and because Winston (aka ME) couldn't think of anything better for them to do. Well, ENJOY, I hope that you still like it although my plot has somewhat vanished. =) ***********