The Playwright: The Escapades of JM Barrie
Chapter 2
Fairies

It was eight thirty AM when Mr. Barrie left with his old flowered bag. He wrapped up in his black coat, wrapped a scarf around his neck, and began to walk through the city, where it was snowing lightly. He loved the snow. Loved everything about it. (with the exception of having to get Julie to clean up the mess that Emma du Maurier made of his staircase with her outrageous bonnet) On a day like today, when there was no wind, the snow just floated in the air, not moving anywhere except for down, just floated to its resting place on top of another crystal. And it all piled up there, on the wet grass, the grass that would poke back up while the sun dragged itself out from behind a cloud, during Spring. Then James would miss Winter. This small depression would last for a few days while he watched it all melt, then when everything dried up, he and the boys would go out and play. They'd take their games outside. Summer would roll around and the sun would roar over their heads, making everyone itch and sweat in their heavy clothing and dresses. But the Barries didn't have a care in the world, and just went on making merriment. And then all through Fall...until Winter came along again...

So now James trudged through the city, through the slush that was made by horses and the other wealthy people who drove cars. It was really a sight. A little girl twirling around, trying to catch one of the fat snowflakes on her tongue, two boys wrestling in front of a store window, pedestrians having to step over their feet and fists. The two were laughing all the while, and that's what made James Barrie smile. The laughter of children. It only had that certain ring, that certain shrill sound, that made you jump out of your skin, for a few years. Boys' voices would change, and grow deeper, girls' voices would in turn grow deeper, and they'd begin to laugh daintily like their parents, and only at formal parties or in the off chance that one of the square folks at their house made a fairly humorous joke.

He'd like to take them all to Neverland right now. To have them all experience fun and immense happiness again. But he knew he can't. No one can be pushed into going to Neverland. Often if they are, it won't appear real to them. Because they have lost their imagination and their innocence along with childhood. It was sad, really.

James watched a dog carry away a woman's scarf, while she chased after it angrily, and scolding it as she did. This was another thing that made James smile...and this was simply called Keep-Away. Fine game it was. He and Porthos played it many a time. Presently he looked up at the large statues by the sides of the stairway to the orphanage. Two big angels, their arms stretched towards the heavens, guarding all of the children inside, it seemed. James was almost hesitant to walk up the stone steps, thinking that maybe the angels would look down upon him and slam their mighty hands in his way, banning him from entrance to their fortress. But he did climb the stairs, though watching the angels all the while, and soon found himself inside a large room, where a large number of children were all sitting around, most looking bored. Two boys were in a corner playing cards, two girls playing jump rope across the room. James looked around as he walked. On the ceiling two floors up was a mural, and doors lined the walls along the second level. Behind each door was a bedroom, each with about ten beds. Children were put into bedrooms judging by their age. A few children were leaning over the balcony, two watching Mr. Barrie, as he just narrowly missed slamming into a woman with a large purple hat. He decided to watch where he was going after that.

"Mister!" James looked down to see a girl wearing a jumper too big for her tugging on his jacket. She looked to be about six years old - Michael's age.

"Hello," he said, giving the small girl a smile. She smiled back, revealing the fact that she was missing both of her front teeth. James raised his eyebrows, the same playful smile plastered on his face.

"Well, look at that," he said, crouching down to her level and setting his bag on the floor.

"What?" she asked, a bit puzzled.

"Open your mouth again."

"Oh." She giggled, and obeyed, now realizing what this strange man wanted to see. James looked into her mouth and clicked his tongue a few times.

"And where did you put those teeth, young lady?" he asked critically, but soft enough as not to offend her.

"Sister Theresa took them." James's eyes grew exaggeratedly wide, and he covered his mouth with three fingers.

"What? What's wrong?" The girl asked, worried by his reaction.

"It's just that...ye' should've put 'em under your pillow."

"Why?"

"Well, haven't ye' ever heard of the Tooth Fairy?" The girl shook her head. James acted surprised, though in reality, he wasn't. This child was young, so she probably had grown up here. Many of the children here had, he knew. The nuns didn't speak to the children of such magic. There were too many, especially in this orphanage, for a nun to talk to a child directly.

"Well, see, when you lose a tooth, you put it under your pillow at night, an' the next morning, you'll find something special under your pillow. Some money, or some candy, or clothes. That's because the Tooth Fairy came to your house. She flies around each night to the houses of children who've lost teeth, and takes them back with her and leaves a present for you."

"What does she do with all the teeth?" James paused, now knowing what to tell her. He'd never thought about this before.

"Well...she puts them all in a big sack, and flies back to her hideout...and makes things with them."

"Makes things?"

"For the other fairies."

"There are other fairies?"

"Oh, sure! An' in fact - " James glanced around him, and noticed that a small queue of children had formed around he and his friend. He smiled, and continued. "In fact, for each child, a fairy's living somewhere." A gasp went around the group.

"Do I have a fairy?" This time, it wasn't from the first girl, but another girl, an older girl, standing next to a boy with playing cards in his hand. Clearly he and his friend had finished their game and decided to see what was going on.

"Of course you have a fairy! Everyone has a fairy - oh! Except..." James motioned for everyone to come closer. The group leaned in to listen to his whisper. "Except...if you say...'I don't believe in fairies.'"

"I believe in fairies!" A girl said loudly.

"Good!" James said. "Who else believes in fairies?"

"I do!"

"I do too!"

"And me!"

"Wait..." said the toothless girl. James looked at her. "What happens if you say 'I don't believe in fairies'?

"Oh...well...that's a sorry, heartless thing to say, that is. When you say 'I don't believe in fairies,' a fairy dies."

"Dies!" A young boy exclaimed.

"That's right. Dies. Boom! Drops to their death. Instantly."

"That's awful!" said the toothless girl.

"Aye, it is." James nodded.

"What's your name, anyway?" A boy asked. The stranger looked up at the boy with a smile, and that cheerful, playful twinkle, bursting with youth, in his dark brown eyes.

"Peter Pan."

Author's Note: A short chapter, but chapter three is longer and I couldn't make it all one chapter or it would be way too long. Go to the bathroom or something and go on to chapter three!


REVIEW REPLIES FOR CHAPTER 1:

KatrinaKaiba - I was real excited when I saw your review! lol. I'm glad you liked mine...I tried to make the first chapter good enough to keep people reading and hopefully it's working! As you can see, I got 5 reviews so I can post this one! Thanks again!

Liz da Lizard - Liz, Liz, Liz. What am I going to do with you? Ah well you read almost everything I write. STALKER. I'm kidding! Thanks for reviewin lolol you won't have to harvest my organs. (mmm organs)

oi-oi-oi - My friend! You speak of adding jewels! You have added a jewel to my review collection! I shall update as fast as I can because until Monday the 28th, I am on vacation! And then I have another vacation in a month! See, we had two weeks for Easter, but they broke it up this year like all of the other schools in the area so we have a week for President's Day and a week for Easter. I wish I could just drop out of school and just write all day long. I find when I'm out of school, that's what I'm doing. My parents yell at me so much but I tell them I'm writing and they let it go because they know it's my dream. My goal is to get on the Bestseller list. But I can't do that by writing Fanfiction...so what I need to do is get something original out! Here's a proposition - be my first reviewer for my original I started on Fictionpress. It's called Authoress. If you can't find it, email me at and I'll send you the link because sometimes you really can't find stories even if you put in the exact name. Anywho - thank you for the most AMAZING review, I sent it to all of my friends and now I'm going to write some more of this fic, you've inspired me so much! Thank you!

H.M. Chandler - The games are SO much fun to write! I need to stick some more in there desperately for my own sake! I have a few plans for this...they're mostly just separate ideas, but I'll add stuff to make them an actual story...don't worry, you won't even be able to tell. That is if you keep reading, and you better! lol! Thanks for taking the time to read!