Story Telling
It was dark outside, the street lamps had just been turned off. All the houses in
the whole city were darkening. But in one such house, there happened to be a
single light left on, forgotten perhaps, up in the attic where five children,
all boys mind you, gathered around a larger figure...
"Once upon a time there was a boy, who didn't want to grow up...."
"Miss Emily, why didn't he want to grow up?" one of the young boys,
Trevor, a child of no more than four questioned.
"Yes Miss Emily, why didn't he?" The other boys piped in.
"Shush! Don't interrupt." The figure spoke. It was a young women of
about 14 years of age. She smiled as the young children rustled around in their
pajamas.
"Miss Emily, Miss Emily!" They chorused, mispronouncing "Emily" for
"Eh-muh-wee".
"Hush children, you don't want to wake the Missus." She chided them. The
boys started to settle down once more and she continued the tale. "This
boy was very special, and his name was..."
"Peter Pan! Peter Pan!" Another boy interrupted.
"John, how am I supposed to tell the story if you keep interrupting
me?" The girl asked the boy who had spoken.
"I'm sorry Miss Emily." The boy, named John (six years old if you
must know) answered.
"Ok, continuing. Now where was I? Oh yes. The boy was very special. He
could do many things other young children cannot! He could sword fight, he
could dance," She smiled at their wide eyes as she begun relating the tale
of the boy Peter Pan to them, "He could even..."
"Fly, fly, fly! He could fly!" The boys jumped up and yelled
together.
"Boys! Good Lord! I thought you wanted to hear the story!" the girl
began to grow impatient.
"Were sorry Miss Emily, honest we are! But we know the story so
well!" A third boy apologized. This boy was Thomas; eleven years old.
"I like the part when he flies off to Neverland with Wendy and Michael and
John!" The fourth boy, James, age nine, rather excited now, yelled.
"No, the best part is when Hook is fighting with Peter Pan in the Black
Castle!" The fifth boy, Henry, ten years old, spoke up.
"No, no, no! It's when the lost boys find Wendy!" Trevor argued.
"Yes, the Wendy bird!" Thomas cried.
"That's a sad part!" Henry pouted.
"What about you Miss Emily? What's the best part in the whole story?"
James asked, emphasizing "whole" with his arms.
"The best part of the story," she paused, "is when Wendy gives
Peter Pan the Hidden Kiss."
"Ew! Kisses are gross!" Trevor, disgusted, blurted out.
"Yeah, icky!"John joined in.
A sound was heard on the stairs below.
"Emily? Boys? You better not be awake. It's half past eleven now and you
should be sleeping!" A voice called up from below.
"Boys, get into your sleeping bags, hurry now. We don't want the Missus
coming up to check on us, now do we?" Miss Emily said as she shepherded
the five into their sleep sacks. "It's time for bed now." She
finished.
"But we didn't get to hear the story!" John sniffed.
"Yes, Miss Emily, you didn't finish the story!" Henry said with a
yawn.
"But Miss Emily..." Thomas trailed off as he drifted to sleep.
She could already hear Trevor snoring, and soon John and Henry's snores joined his. Thomas always slept quietly, thank goodness, or else the Miss Emily would never have made it to sleep with all the noise. As she settled into her own blankets, a voice whispered next to her, "The Hidden Kiss is my favorite part too, Miss Emily, it sure is."
Miss Emily looked up and stared into the plain face of the boy James. She opened her arms and he snuggled down to her. As her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, Miss Emily murmured, more to herself then to James, "Aye, the Hidden Kiss, for everyone knows the power of a single kiss...."
And the children went to bed after a long day. They slept peacefully, each with their own thoughts. Thomas dreamed of sword fights; John dreamed of Indians. Trevor conjured up fiercesome pirates, (but he was not scared) while Henry dreamed of Lost Boys, boys who, if not claimed seven months after they fell from their prams, would be taken away by Peter Pan. He would take them to Neverland, the place James ran through while he slept. And Miss Emily thought of all these things; faeries like Tinkerbelle and Tigerlily, the Princess. Soon, her dreams would carry her across the sky, north and straight on 'till morning. To Neverland, the place she could never go.
Author Note: Hey! Thanks for reading this please pretty please review it! New chapters coming as soon as possible!