Neverland Away
Chapter 2: Spring Cleaning
Stars were rushing past her, their light whizzing by her head like fireflies. Except, she was the one who was flying, and they were staying perfectly still. She was weightless and free, and felt as if nothing could hold her down or damper her spirits.
Nothing could, really, she was with Peter, heading back towards Neverland, the place where you didn't have to worry about what was proper or scandalous, or right or wrong. All you had to worry about was... well, she couldn't think of anything really. Hook was gone, and even when he was there, he was less of a worry, and more of an adventure.
An adventure. That's what she was looking for, that's what she was missing... but not for long.
"Hold on!" Peter cried.
Wendy smiled and grabbed hold of Peter's leg. This was her favorite part, she knew they were almost there.
Peter looked back and smiled at her. "Here we go!" He shouted as they sped up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun was rising, casting golden light all over the island. Sunlight was reflecting on the waves, making the water twinkle like the stars they'd just returned from. Peter landed on a fluffy golden cloud, quickly followed by Wendy.
"Since last time you were here, they got more organized." Peter warned her.
Wendy was baffled as to what he was talking about, he spoke to her as if they had been in the middle of a conversation.
"What" Wendy asked "on earth are you talking about?"
Peter turned and flashed her a devilish smile. "We're not on earth, silly... and the pirates, they're what I'm talking about. Remember last time Smee and Clawfoot were fighting over who would be the new captain?" Wendy nodded, and Peter continued "Well, they agreed to be co-captains."
"Smee's idea, I'm sure." Wendy said smiling.
Peter looked at her and smiled back. They stayed there, simply smiling at each other for a moment, until a cherry pie came flying through the air, right between them, nearly hitting Wendy in the face. This made Tinkerbell, who was just reaching them, very amused.
"What in the...?" Wendy asked flabbergasted.
"Well, Smee was worried someone might get hurt if they kept on using cannons. Come on, let's hurry up and get out of here before you're lovely clothing gets all dirtied up." Peter said teasingly.
Wendy indigently flared up "I don't care about that!" she cried.
"Oh really? I bet you brush your hair every day!"
Wendy looked at Peter, who seemed to believe he'd just made some huge point. "Peter," she said, trying not to laugh "I've always brushed my hair every day."
This got Peter even more excited "Oh yeah? What about when you were a baby?!"
"When I was a baby I didn't have any hair."
"So I bet you didn't brush it!" Peter smirked and flew off heading towards the tree where he and the Lost Boys used to live. Wendy flew off after him, just missing a blueberry muffin, and trying to call out after him to make him understand that she was right, and he was wrong. Tinkerbell, who was flying along right beside her, gave Wendy a triumphant smile that said "You lost, he won, so ha!"
Once Wendy finally reached the tree and climbed inside she was confronted with Peter lying smugly on his bed.
"What took you so long, slow poke?"
"What are you in such a hurry for, fast poke?" she asked him calmly "You know, in London, the only people ever in a hurry are grown-ups."
The last statement made Peter more upset than she would have expected. "I'm not a grown-up!" He shouted, jumping up off the bed and floating in the air. "Don't talk about that. Grown-ups and grown-up talk don't belong here!"
Wendy flinched and stepped back. She tried to stay reasonable, but was a little surprised and embarrassed by his outburst. "You know, Peter," she started tentatively "someday I'll grow up... will I no longer be allowed?"
Peter was quiet for a minute. Wendy was afraid he would say something like "No, in a couple of years I'll do spring cleaning for myself, or maybe I'll get Tiger Lily to come and do it for me. She'll never grow old!"
Finally, however, he spoke. "Stop it Wendy" He said looking away. "Stop it. You won't grow up! We can be kids forever!" He was getting louder, and more exited "Forever! Isn't that good enough for you?" and then, suddenly, his voice was barely a whisper "Wendy, why isn't that good enough for you?" His eyes met hers. There were no tears in them, but there was pain, and loss. The look grown ups have when their dreams die.
Wendy didn't know what to say, what had just happened was unexpected to say the least. The response was made harder by the fact that almost every day she second guessed herself, wondering if she had made the right choice. "IÐ" she started "It's not that-that it's not good enough. I have a life, Peter. Family and friends that I love. I can't just leave them."
"The Lost Boys did. They just left Tink, and me, and the pirates, and the Indians, and their home!"
Neverland was different now, without them. That's what Peter had decided was the cause of the feelings he was sometimes having. The ones that told him make-believe was not enough. But it was, any child knew that. And even while he was telling himself it was the empty bunks that made him feel so lost, somewhere within him he knew, that as much as Neverland had changed, so had he. It was not just Neverland that could never be the same, Peter couldn't either, not since Wendy had came and left. But that wouldn't stop him from pretending that none of that was true.
"They knew" Wendy told him, tearing him out of his reverie, "that all children must grow up."
"Why?" Peter asked. It was a genuine question, one which Wendy couldn't answer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wendy and Peter tried to forget that experience. It instilled doubt in them both that they had made the right choice, it made each other into the bad guy, and that was not what they had been waiting all year long for. It was worse than waking up Christmas morning only to find coal, it was more like waking up to discover Santa had forgotten all about you, that you weren't even worth his time. After that they had went off on their own for a while, and then at supper they came back and pretended it had never happened.
Wendy and Peter went through his things, Wendy said they should get rid of anything he wasn't attached to. However, every little knickknack she suggested they throw out he was able to tell an amusing little anecdote about. He had wrestled a Lost Boy for this, and stole that from a pirate, he found this thing while exploring in the forest, and was given that one for rescuing Tiger Lily that time at Skull Rock.
His stories made her smile, his vigor, his delight in them. She didn't have that, but, she realized, as he was delighting her with a tale of Hook's old feathered cap, that none of these stories happened in the last year or so. She wondered if he really still had that feeling, or simply memories of it. And even she had memories. Everyone did.
TBC
Chapter 2: Spring Cleaning
Stars were rushing past her, their light whizzing by her head like fireflies. Except, she was the one who was flying, and they were staying perfectly still. She was weightless and free, and felt as if nothing could hold her down or damper her spirits.
Nothing could, really, she was with Peter, heading back towards Neverland, the place where you didn't have to worry about what was proper or scandalous, or right or wrong. All you had to worry about was... well, she couldn't think of anything really. Hook was gone, and even when he was there, he was less of a worry, and more of an adventure.
An adventure. That's what she was looking for, that's what she was missing... but not for long.
"Hold on!" Peter cried.
Wendy smiled and grabbed hold of Peter's leg. This was her favorite part, she knew they were almost there.
Peter looked back and smiled at her. "Here we go!" He shouted as they sped up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun was rising, casting golden light all over the island. Sunlight was reflecting on the waves, making the water twinkle like the stars they'd just returned from. Peter landed on a fluffy golden cloud, quickly followed by Wendy.
"Since last time you were here, they got more organized." Peter warned her.
Wendy was baffled as to what he was talking about, he spoke to her as if they had been in the middle of a conversation.
"What" Wendy asked "on earth are you talking about?"
Peter turned and flashed her a devilish smile. "We're not on earth, silly... and the pirates, they're what I'm talking about. Remember last time Smee and Clawfoot were fighting over who would be the new captain?" Wendy nodded, and Peter continued "Well, they agreed to be co-captains."
"Smee's idea, I'm sure." Wendy said smiling.
Peter looked at her and smiled back. They stayed there, simply smiling at each other for a moment, until a cherry pie came flying through the air, right between them, nearly hitting Wendy in the face. This made Tinkerbell, who was just reaching them, very amused.
"What in the...?" Wendy asked flabbergasted.
"Well, Smee was worried someone might get hurt if they kept on using cannons. Come on, let's hurry up and get out of here before you're lovely clothing gets all dirtied up." Peter said teasingly.
Wendy indigently flared up "I don't care about that!" she cried.
"Oh really? I bet you brush your hair every day!"
Wendy looked at Peter, who seemed to believe he'd just made some huge point. "Peter," she said, trying not to laugh "I've always brushed my hair every day."
This got Peter even more excited "Oh yeah? What about when you were a baby?!"
"When I was a baby I didn't have any hair."
"So I bet you didn't brush it!" Peter smirked and flew off heading towards the tree where he and the Lost Boys used to live. Wendy flew off after him, just missing a blueberry muffin, and trying to call out after him to make him understand that she was right, and he was wrong. Tinkerbell, who was flying along right beside her, gave Wendy a triumphant smile that said "You lost, he won, so ha!"
Once Wendy finally reached the tree and climbed inside she was confronted with Peter lying smugly on his bed.
"What took you so long, slow poke?"
"What are you in such a hurry for, fast poke?" she asked him calmly "You know, in London, the only people ever in a hurry are grown-ups."
The last statement made Peter more upset than she would have expected. "I'm not a grown-up!" He shouted, jumping up off the bed and floating in the air. "Don't talk about that. Grown-ups and grown-up talk don't belong here!"
Wendy flinched and stepped back. She tried to stay reasonable, but was a little surprised and embarrassed by his outburst. "You know, Peter," she started tentatively "someday I'll grow up... will I no longer be allowed?"
Peter was quiet for a minute. Wendy was afraid he would say something like "No, in a couple of years I'll do spring cleaning for myself, or maybe I'll get Tiger Lily to come and do it for me. She'll never grow old!"
Finally, however, he spoke. "Stop it Wendy" He said looking away. "Stop it. You won't grow up! We can be kids forever!" He was getting louder, and more exited "Forever! Isn't that good enough for you?" and then, suddenly, his voice was barely a whisper "Wendy, why isn't that good enough for you?" His eyes met hers. There were no tears in them, but there was pain, and loss. The look grown ups have when their dreams die.
Wendy didn't know what to say, what had just happened was unexpected to say the least. The response was made harder by the fact that almost every day she second guessed herself, wondering if she had made the right choice. "IÐ" she started "It's not that-that it's not good enough. I have a life, Peter. Family and friends that I love. I can't just leave them."
"The Lost Boys did. They just left Tink, and me, and the pirates, and the Indians, and their home!"
Neverland was different now, without them. That's what Peter had decided was the cause of the feelings he was sometimes having. The ones that told him make-believe was not enough. But it was, any child knew that. And even while he was telling himself it was the empty bunks that made him feel so lost, somewhere within him he knew, that as much as Neverland had changed, so had he. It was not just Neverland that could never be the same, Peter couldn't either, not since Wendy had came and left. But that wouldn't stop him from pretending that none of that was true.
"They knew" Wendy told him, tearing him out of his reverie, "that all children must grow up."
"Why?" Peter asked. It was a genuine question, one which Wendy couldn't answer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wendy and Peter tried to forget that experience. It instilled doubt in them both that they had made the right choice, it made each other into the bad guy, and that was not what they had been waiting all year long for. It was worse than waking up Christmas morning only to find coal, it was more like waking up to discover Santa had forgotten all about you, that you weren't even worth his time. After that they had went off on their own for a while, and then at supper they came back and pretended it had never happened.
Wendy and Peter went through his things, Wendy said they should get rid of anything he wasn't attached to. However, every little knickknack she suggested they throw out he was able to tell an amusing little anecdote about. He had wrestled a Lost Boy for this, and stole that from a pirate, he found this thing while exploring in the forest, and was given that one for rescuing Tiger Lily that time at Skull Rock.
His stories made her smile, his vigor, his delight in them. She didn't have that, but, she realized, as he was delighting her with a tale of Hook's old feathered cap, that none of these stories happened in the last year or so. She wondered if he really still had that feeling, or simply memories of it. And even she had memories. Everyone did.
TBC