Julie flew through the orange-black sky as she headed over the trees and fields of Neverland. Ever since she sprang out from the tree moments earlier, she was raging in fury for Captain Hook. She couldn't believe the letter; everything about it made her want to squeeze his guts out:
Dear Miss Annesley,
You're probably wondering how I learned your full name; it was quite easy, Lynn has been very cooperative. Another thing you're also probably wondering is how I know you're still alive! Let's just say a little mermaid flopped on deck of my ship and told me the whole story. I find it precious how Peter Pan has taken you under his wing. He is quite a charming boy really; but it's a shame, he'll never grow up, and he'll never ever be more than anything but a simple little brat with a sword! Now, let me explain the point of my letter Miss Annesley; I have your dear friend at Skull Rock. If you come and do everything I ask of you, I will set her free.
But, if you don't come, I'll let her drown in this dark, bitter ocean that is rising quite rapidly…
Captain J. Hook
Rushing through the fierce winds of the early night, Julie raced towards Skull Rock, willing to do anything just to save Lynn. But what she didn't know was that Hook had a greater plan than she or anyone else expected.
Back at the Lost Boy's hideout, the boys were all beginning to sit down to dinner. As usual, Peter crowed as he entered the hall, flying down into his comfortable head chair. Everyone started eating, but Peter didn't. His eyes were fixed on the empty seat across from him at the other end of the table.
Concerned, Peter whistled to Javen, causing him to jump up from his seat and obediently come over to Peter's side.
Javen leaned close to Peter who softly whispered, "Where's Julie? Did she say she wasn't coming to dinner? Is she not hungry? Is she sick?"
Javen put his hands out in front of him, signaling Peter to calm down. The boy was only ten years old, but he was very wise for such a small boy. Coolly, he whispered back, "She isn't sick Captain, she just went to bed early; you wore her out today from all the hard work!"
Peter leaned back sighing, "Oh, good! Did she say she needed anything, anything at all?"
But Javen shook his head, "I don't think so. I didn't actually talk to Julie directly, Tinkerbell told me. But I wouldn't bother the girl if I were you, sounded like a tough day!"
Peter shook his head in agreement, "You're right! Julie's fine! No worries!" After dismissing Javen, Peter took a piece of hog off the table and bent over to eat, but couldn't. No matter what he did, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Ever since they touched hands briefly earlier that day, he couldn't get her out of his head. It was quite annoying really. However, Peter was starving, and he indulged himself with food and cider with the others.
The sun passed over the sea, bringing darkness to the land of Neverland. In Skull Rock, Captain Hook watched the sun set, and gave the signal to his pirate crew. Two of the biggest members brought out Lynn, who was again covered in a hood, being dragged to where the rock and water met. They lay her in the icy ocean, and chained her to the rock.
Once hitting the water Lynn screamed. Hook turned, and quickly went over to her and took off her hood, "What is it my dear? Did something nibble at your toes?"
Scornfully, Lynn turned and glared at him, "This waters freezing my a-"
"That's quite enough complaining for now Lynn, thank you!" And he hurriedly put the hood back over her head.
Hook climbed up to a much higher rock to Smee and the two pirates. The rest of the crew stayed on deck only because he knew Julie would come alone, and he didn't need an army to beat her.
Then, suddenly, there was a squeak at the tall iron gate. The pirates flung out their swords in a second, peering towards the opening.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you big manly men!" Julie boomed from out of no where. The pirates turned and looked all around them, but found no one.
"Hey! Up here!" And up sitting on the edge of a hole in the stone wall. The two pirates were about to run up to fight her, but Hook put his hand out and walked closer to the high window.
"Good evening Miss Annesley!" He said slyly, "I'm glad you came, alone I presume?"
"Utterly." She replied.
Then, after realizing what was going on, Lynn yelled out, "Julie! Julie, you have to get out of here! I don't know what's going on, but you can't stay here!"
Hook was about to make her shut up, but Julie yelled back, "I'm not goin' anywhere Lynn, I know what I'm getting myself into!"
Smiling, the Captain bowed slightly saying, "I admire your endurance Miss Annesley; you really are quite the strong little lass!"
"Just tell me what I have to do to get Lynn!" Julie ordered seriously.
"Oh, nothing too difficult I imagine. All you have to do is rescue Lynn from her horrible fate!"
Julie looked at him suspiciously, then looked at Lynn, chained to the stone. She knew something was up, but she had no idea what. So, she pulled out her sword and jumped off of the sill of the stone hole, flying towards Lynn.
However, she suddenly heard a strange sound, and stopped midair between Lynn and the iron gate, connected to the ocean. The noise grew louder and louder. Julie knew the sound was very familiar, but she couldn't clarify it.
But then, it struck her…hard. She realized what it was…tic-toc tic-toc. Julie couldn't move, she couldn't even breathe. Somewhere in the water below her was the crocodile she had heard about ever since she was a little kid. It was a trap.
"Ah! Right on time! Well, all you have to do is defeat this horrible fate…which happens to be a crocodile! Haha!" The Captain laughed as he and his men climbed higher, finding a good seat to watch the show.
Julie watched at bubbles formed on the surface of the water below. Then, there was a gigantic splash, the crocodile jumped into the air, trying to snatch Julie. He jumped at least thirty feet up, almost reaching the sole of Julie's shoes.
"Crapola!" She screamed flying through the air. She didn't know what to do; she had to stop it before it reached Lynn. So, she turned around, and held her sword out.
However, she stopped when she saw a golden light circling the beast. It glowed to the point that the crocodile started to glow. Then, it began to float out from the water.
"Tinkerbell!" Julie whispered to herself. She was saved; she had a fairy to help her. However, the only difference about the crocodile now was that it could fly! It began to snap its great jaws at Tink, and started to chase her. Tink tried to fly faster, but the croc was gaining. Then, the little sparkle of light was pushed into a corner, with no escape.
"NOO!" Julie cried, flying to the rescue.
She ran to the back of the croc and held onto its tail. It turned around and began snapping at her, but couldn't reach her at all. So, it began to swing its tail back and forth, causing Julie to hold on for dear life.
Then, after the failed attempts, it tried flying around. Julie kept holding on to his back, making her way up from the tail. The slimy scaly skin on its back was hard to hold onto, but then, she looked up and saw the croc was heading straight for Lynn.
"What's going on?" She yelled aloud.
Julie strained her eyes as she balanced herself on the croc's back. She stood up slowly, and grasped her sword in both hands. The crocodile was coming closer to Lynn, who was now screaming.
Then, Julie pierced the crocodile's heart, running her sword completely through him. It slowly fell into the dark waters below, beginning to sink under. Julie tried to pull her sword out, but it was stuck. Rapidly, she too fell under water.
"Julie? Julie!" Lynn screamed; as she felt the pirates unchain her, then pick her up to take her back to the ship.
Hook put his sword away and chuckled to himself, "Thank you Miss Annesley; it seems you did become a great use to me, in the end." Then, mockingly, he took off his hat and bowed at the ocean.
He turned and walked out of the cave toward the small boat, joining the others. Out from the corner, Tinkerbell flew sadly over to Julie's grave, feeling guilt for what had happened.
But then, bubbles formed, and out from the water Julie gasped for air. She swam to the stone rock and lifted herself onto the ground. Julie coughed and laid her sword down, loving the scummy salty air she breathed in.
After a few minutes, Julie got up and sat down on a rock outside of the Skull. She watched as Hook, his men, and Lynn climbed back onto the Jolly Rodger. Tink sat down on her shoulder, and looked at her as if silently asking if she wanted more fairy dust.
"No, I can't catch them now, it's hopeless. I shouldn't have come here; I got rid of Hook's biggest weakness! I've done nothing good here! I'll I did was help out the bad guy! I've gotta get out of here!"
Julie got up and started to run away. She ran to the back of Skull Rock, but found she was marooned. So, she struggled to fly up, but only got off the ground a few feet. She strained herself to stay above the water so she could reach the shores. She was so close that she was walking on the ocean.
Tears filled her eyes, and she began to slowly fall into the water, just on the shoreline. She touched the sand with her shoes and ran onto the beach and into the forest. Tinkerbell tried to fly after her, but Julie ran so fast into the dark, thick forest that she felt it was hopeless. So, she somberly turned and flew back to the Lost Boys' Hideout.
And just at that moment, Peter was walking past Julie's bedroom, wondering what she was doing, or thinking. He looked at the spot they stopped at earlier, and wondered about what she had said. From what he thought, it sounded like someone hurt her, bad. He wished that she didn't feel that way, or that it ever happened. Then, something hit him suddenly.
"Tomorrow, I'll make her forget all about that! We'll have our duel, and everything will be perfect!" He whispered to himself as he passed her room.
Just then, Tink flew straight into him. "Woah, watch where you're going Tink! Hey, why weren't you at dinner?"
She looked at him tiredly and shrugged, causing him to not worry about it, "Alright, well, goodnight Tink!" And off he flew to his tree top fort. Tink watched him go, and looked over at the empty bedroom. She then slowly flew off, not knowing what would happen to Julie, or if she'd ever return.
Deep in the forest, Julie slowed her run to a walk. She had all the time in the world since she was in Neverland, never to grow up. She tried to forget about everything, everything in her life up to this point.
But then, as she walked, she saw something that caused her to stop. Wild daisies. She went over to them, and plucked one off the ground. She remembered the last time that she had gotten daisies:
"Come on Jay, we're almost there!" Johnny Pierce, Julie's boyfriend at the time, running up the hillside.
She followed him completely out of breath, "I'm…coming…Johnny!" She ran to the oak tree at the top of the hill and collapsed on the ground below it.
He laughed at her and sat down next to her. She put her head in his lap and looked up at the dark green leaves of the first day of summer saying, "It's such a beautiful day; I wish it would stay this way forever!"
Johnny ran his fingers through his curly brown hair and looked up at the sky, "This is Seattle sweetheart; days like these are rare!" He then began to pick the grass one by one out of the ground.
Julie looked up at him seriously and asked, "And what about us; will we stay like this forever?"
Johnny plucked a wild white daisy out from the ground and put it into her wild hair. He then looked at her with his deep from eyes and said, "Maybe, who knows what the future holds?"
Julie sighed to herself, that's not the answer she wanted. She sat up slowly, and put her hands on his face.
"Johnny, I think I'm in love with you."
This caused him to stop picking grass, and looked up at her surprised, "What? You do?"
"I know now more than I ever had. I love you!" She waited for him to reply, but he sat there in silence forever to her.
Slowly, he whispered back, "I love you too."
Overwhelmed with joy, Julie wrapped her arms around him laughing, "You have no idea how happy I am!"
He hugged her back, smiling as well, "Yeah, me too." But still, his mind wondered. He still had much on his mind; he wasn't as carefree as the young, bright, honest, innocent girl Julie once was.
But then, the last day of summer came…
"Yeah Lynn, he told me to meet him at the park! Yeah, I know! I know! I haven't seen him in two weeks! I miss him so much! He said on the phone that he liked music camp; we talked occasionally. Uh, huh, hey, he's coming I've gotta go!"
Julie got off her cell phone and watched as Johnny came over to the bench Julie immediately got up from.
"Hi!" She ran into his arms hugging him tightly, "I missed you so much! Every time I came to this park, every time I saw a flower, I thought of you."
Then, strangely, Johnny separated from her, "You shouldn't say that. I don't deserve that."
Julie looked at him closely, "What's wrong?"
He took her hand and sat down, causing her to follow. He took a deep breath and slowly said, "We need to talk about something."
But, she didn't need to hear that. Julie already beat him to it, "Johnny, you know that school starts this Monday, right?"
He nodded, "Yes. But that's not the point-"
"No, I need to ask you something first. Promise me that you will answer my question honestly, okay? Promise me!"
Johnny sighed, and his eyes came to hers for the first time, feeling cold, "I promise."
Julie looked around her, how the park had changed. It was quite chilly out, and it was a cloudy day, unlike before. The leaves on the trees were turning yellow, and some even fell lonely to the ground.
She struggled to speak, but forced herself to say, "When school begins, will you and I still be…together?"
Johnny dropped his head, and she instantly knew. But, she wanted him to speak. He didn't, not for the longest time.
But then, he looked back up again, and said, "It's doubtful."
Julie turned away from him, beginning to cry as he tried to explain, "I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, but I've been having doubts about us for a while. I can't go on with it; going away made me realize how much better off both of us would be."
"Better off? Better off? Johnny, I don't wanna be with anyone but you! I love you!"
He held her hands tightly, "You don't need anything but yourself; you're strong Julie!"
"Julie? You haven't called me that since we first met. You've always called me Jay, as long as you've…" She trailed off. She realized what had happened.
"Emilia." She whispered.
"What?" Johnny said in disbelief.
"You like Emilia." She looked down at their locked hands and thought about how it made sense. Julie had never met the girl, but she had heard a great deal about her from Johnny. During his time at the music camp, Johnny would call Julie and tell her about a new friend he had made, Emilia.
He made other friends too, but he never talked about any of them as much as he did her. At the time, Julie wasn't worried because she trusted Johnny. She just figured that when he meant he had "never met a girl like her, friend-wise" was that he was just getting to have success with friends. Because, he hadn't before. But now, Julie understood completely.
"You're smart." He replied.
"No, I'm stupid! Stupid for ever thinking that a guy like you would ever be interested in someone like me! I bet she's pretty!"
"Don't say that!" Johnny sighed.
"No! I bet she is! I'm sure she's tall, skinny, unlike me, and a music person just like you!"
"Julie please! You're beautiful!"
But, she stood up, taking her hands away from him, "No Johnny! I'm short and chubby! I'll never be the super model type! And, I guess that's what you're really looking for! I was a fool to let guys in; all they do is tear you apart!"
She began to walk away, but Johnny followed, "Julie wait! I promise I did love you! I did!"
But she didn't care anymore, "Yeah, did you love me all the times you said it while on the phone at the camp? I'm sure you didn't! You're a liar! I gave you my heart and soul; you know me better than anyone else does! You know my favorite kinds of music, my favorite movies, everything! You even know when I'm crying! And maybe that's the problem, you make me cry!"
She turned and stopped sadly, looking into his eyes with love on last time, "Goodbye Johnny. I may see you Monday, but everything will be different."
And, without stopping her, Johnny let Julie go off into the park. The rain began to fall, and Julie began to run. She felt as though she ran forever that day.
Now, holding the daisy in her hand, she felt raindrops fall onto her head. She looked up at the cloudy sky, and then back at the daisy.
Having run these events through her mind one last time, she threw the flower to the ground and ran. She ran far far away, into the deep forests of Neverland. The rain pounded harder and harder, but she continued to run. It felt as though she ran forever.
After sometime had passed, she began to feel dizzy. Then, despairingly, she tripped on a log and fell to the ground, fainted. And, the rain continued to fall.
