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The Lost Boys were confused. It is fair to say that they were often confused- but this morning is a different case. What made it different was that everything seemed normal except for one thing- Neverland was covered in ice. There were no flowers. There were constant rumbles of thunder from the sky, and lightening cracked.
But the Lost Boys were confused. Peter was back from London. (I should mention that for Peter to be back from London equaled fine to the Lost Boys…they had little recollection of a time when Peter had returned from London and the ice didn't melt).
In all fairness, the Lost Boys left Peter alone. They continued what would be their daily chores. They hunted, gathered, played in a nonsensical way. And Peter stayed in the burrow.
Tink woke up, stretched, fluttered her wings a couple of times and began to wash her face in her fairy-sized basin. She was interrupted by the sounds of sobs from inside the cave under the ground. She sighed exasperatedly, expecting it to be Tootles, probably with another graze, scratch, or seeking comfort after an insult from one of the other boys. She swept out of her lamp in a flurry of irritation and bells. She couldn't have been more surprised- it was Peter. Peter, all curled up into a tiny ball, in the middle of the cave. The thimble 'kiss' was lying forlorn a couple of feet away. His body shook slightly with each sob, and tiny diamond tears rolled down his cheeks. Tink fluttered down and rested on his shoulder. He felt her feather-light touch and reached over to swipe her away. She dodged his hand, and hovered near his eye. She tried to drag it open, and was rewarded with another swipe. She grabbed his hair and started tugging it-
"What's wrong, Peter?" she replied, her voice a jingle of bells, over and over again. He continued to shake and sob.
Then silence.
"I think I'm dying, Tink…" was all he could say, before he erupted into sobs once again. Tink started at him, puzzled, for a minute or two. She thought, grimacing at what she was about to do. She was about to ask the Lost Boys to bring back to Neverland one of the people she liked least in the world.
Wendy.
The Lost Boys gabbled loudly about the idea that Tink had just told them- an extra special mission, to bring Wendy back to Neverland. As a super special surprise for Peter. The Lost Boys would do anything for Peter- they needed no incentive. And despite Tink's less-than-kind deeds in the past, they were willing to trust her that this was exactly what Peter wanted, and this is what would make the ice go away. They didn't feel any need to prepare- after all, they would just need to convince Wendy to come back with them? How hard could it be? Wendy had often enough spoken of returning to Neverland, it would be a cinch to convince her to make the trip. Wouldn't it?
Wendy was curled up, nice and warm, in her bed when she heard rapping on the window. She blinked a couple of times. She had been dreaming she was running through a wood- maybe this was still in the dream, the sound of a woodpecker or something…she looked across to her clock. 12 midnight! She turned over and tried to go back to sleep. The rapping resumed, much more loudly. She sat up in bed, and nearly had a heart attack at the sight of Slightly and Nibs all pressed up to the window. A tiny, golden ball of light hovered above them- Tink. She looked at them, unbelievingly. Maybe she was imagining them. She walked calmly across the floor and unlatched the window. They tumbled into the room, nearly knocking her over. It wasn't just Slightly, Nibs and Tink- it was all of the Lost Boys. She was thrilled to see them and hugged them (except for Tink of course, whom she just mildly waved at) and was in high spirits until she heard about the purpose of their visit.
"Wendy!" said Nibs, "we've come to take you back!"
Wendy's mouth dropped open in despair.
"But…I don't want to!"
Sorry for the cliffy and the short chapter! I haven't had much time to write lately, but I will update as often as possible. mwah Ally xox
