Title: Madly in Love
Summary: When Wendy came back from Neverland and started telling people about her experiences, they all thought she was crazy… literally. Can she convince anyone to believe her? And what if they don't?
Author's Note: Alrighty then, here we are at chapter five. Hopefully it's been improving since chapter one (and yes, I did realize the whole thing with bowling was a little misplaced, but unfortunately it was necessary to spur the scene with Mr. Powell). By the way, I changed the genre from angst to humor because right now, I haven't gotten to the real dark stuff. It's mostly comedic at the moment. I'm trying to outline the whole story but it's not at all finished so if you ever feel like it, feel free to give me ideas. And of course, REVIEW whenever possible.
At teatime, it was basically a half hour devoted to teaching proper manners so that once the inmates were released into society, they would know how to behave. The very dull room it was taught in looked like a basement with a long table set with cheap china and a nice sofa in the corner.
A stout woman with frizzy grey hair taught how to drink, how to eat, and how to make conversation while having tea. The entire affair was boring Wendy practically to tears because she had heard all this a thousand times before. She had taken four years of this with Aunt Millicent and had enough of it to last her a lifetime. So while she sat there almost falling asleep, Eliza had to find ways to entertain herself and Noodle while really not listening to the lesson.
"I spy, with my little eye, something… yellow," whispered Eliza to Noodle. He whispered something else back into her ear and she nodded with a smile. And while Noodle whispered what he was "spying", Wendy was scrutinizing the boy. Why did he only talk to Eliza? What was wrong with him that put him in here? Why in God's name was he called Noodle!
She looked very closely at him to notice that, even though he was small in stature, he had a defined, mature-looking face that suddenly made him appear older than Wendy had first realized. The next thing she realized was how dirty he looked. His chestnut brown hair was tousled and greasy like he hadn't bathed in a while and his skin was very pale. It was the sort of pale that you see from people in prison who hadn't seen the light of day for too long.
If Noodle looked a little happier or a little cleaner, he could have been mistaken for handsome.
"And if you should prefer not to have tea, then simply place your cup upside down with you spoon across it and say very courteously, 'I shall have no tea'. Now repeat," said the teacher loudly, scrambling Wendy from her thoughts. The whole room copied her and said in unison, "I shall have no tea."
"Well that was about the biggest waste of time I've ever had to endure," exclaimed Eliza while walking out of the room. On their way to the library, Wendy and Eliza talked about how completely mind-numbing the entire thing was.
"It was like reading a novel about cotton balls," said Eliza laughing.
"No, it was more like listening to the exciting life and times of a pine cone," Wendy added.
"It was like going to the opera."
"Watching a snail run a mile."
"Going to the dentist."
"Waiting for your hair to grow."
"Drinking water!"
"What?" asked Wendy as she stopped suddenly in the hall.
"Well… water is probably the dullest thing you can drink. It tastes like nothing!" explained Eliza.
"You are some kind of strange, Eliza," said Wendy jokingly as she pushed her friend a little with her shoulder. Eliza immediately retaliated and slammed Wendy into the wall, laughing hysterically.
"Take that, fiend!"
"I'll get you!" cried Wendy and she howled like an Indian before taking off after Eliza. Tearing down the hall and passing each patient, they made as much noise as possible while pretending they were Indians.
Then suddenly, someone stepped out in their path and both girls rammed into the unexpecting casualty. A loud "thud" boomed throughout the hall as both girls dog-piled onto the poor victim. When they both got up, they saw the kindly chief secretary Bridget sprawled out in the floor. She sat up straight away and tried to fix her disheveled hair and lopsided glasses. Once she straightened out her glasses and could see clearly, she looked up at the guilty party and gave a stern stare.
"Young ladies, there is no rough-housing. It's almost time for you two to be in the library for our reading time," she reprimanded. "You lasses better scurry on in there before I get you into quite a bit of trouble for this."
"Yes, ma'am," answered Wendy. Eliza just bolted towards the library without saying a word. Wendy followed and was lead to the only room in the entire building that had some color.
"Thank God!" said Wendy aloud. It was a nice, homey brown in the library. The shelves and shelves of books were made of oak and the walls were wood paneling. And to top it all off, there was a very beautiful green rug in the middle of the room. Wendy smiled joyously. This had been the first happy sight she'd seen in what felt like days.
The room buzzed with quiet conversation while the patients waited for a nurse or doctor to come and lead them in their reading. Until then, they were to wait quietly.
But how much fun can that be?
Wendy and Eliza were so wound up from running around before that they couldn't settle down enough to stay calm. Engaging in a game of tag, they ran 'round and 'round the particularly large room, smacking each other and repeating it. In the middle of their game, Wendy caught a glimpse of Noodle sitting in a corner with a book in hand and reading it attentively. When she called for him, he looked up and his face split into a smile. Wendy darted over and pulled him up from the floor.
"Come on, Noodle. Play with us!" she exclaimed breathlessly. He looked up at her almost in awe, like he thought it was the mostly amazing thing in the world that someone wanted to play with him. She grabbed his arm and tugged him along yelling, "Noodle's it!"
Eliza heard and started screaming in delight like one does when they have so much energy and not enough to do with it. While she wasn't looking, she ran right smack into another patient. The man she ran into turned around and glared at her. He was quite intimidating, with a scraggly beard and a deep scar over his nose. Nevertheless, Eliza stood up and came up with her excuse on the spot.
"Pardon me. I can't see very well without my glasses," she lied coolly, and the ugly man's expression turned from anger to understanding. After that, she walked over to the other two kids, who were still trembling from the sight of the other inmate.
"He looks like he should be in jail, not the institute," commented Wendy. Noodle nodded.
Reading time was almost as bad as teatime. One of the doctors (the only female doctor in the entire institute) assigned everyone in the group a chapter of the novel to read. The novel was so boring that Wendy couldn't even remember the title so as to remember not to try and read it in the future.
Reading out loud and in front of people was supposed to enhance speech and public speaking skills, although no one put any effort into it.
While sitting in her very cushy seat, Wendy accidentally dozed off from lack of sleep the previous night and being bored stiff from listening to the monotone readings of this completely uninteresting book. And while she slept, she dreamed…
It was nighttime, and Wendy was back in her room. The window was wide open and the wind was blowing furiously. She slowly stepped closer to the open window and peered out of it vigilantly. Unfortunately, there was nothing there.
She looked up to the night sky like she had done night after night, seeking the boy from so many years ago and listening for the never-changing laugh that had soothed her on so many occasions.
Then, she saw it. A shadow blacker than the sky itself was flying avidly through the air.
"Peter!" she shouted gleefully. The shadow seemed to hear her and soared down from the heavens towards Wendy's window. She jumped up and down and laughed as he came into view.
It was Peter.
"Peter! I can't believe it's you!" she said in excitement as he closed in on her house. He flew straight through the window and stopped right in front of his Wendy lady. Then, he whispered those familiar words…
"Come away. Come away to Neverland."
At that moment, Wendy heard another voice call her name softly. Then louder and louder until it sounded like yelling!
Wendy awoke with a start, suddenly realizing that she had been dreaming. Everything was a blur, with swirling colors distorting her vision. When her eyes finally came back into focus, she saw the female doctor in front of her trying to hand her the book. It was her turn to read.
"Wendy, wake up, damn it," said the doctor irritably. She was obviously not happy that Wendy had taken a short little nap.
"Oh, yes! Of course!" said Wendy hurriedly. She took the book and started reading where the doctor had instructed. "Chapter six…"
Supper passed by in a flash. It was a quick meal of potatoes and squash (since the institute couldn't afford much better) and then each patient was hurried on to their next event. For Wendy, it was her first session with a man named Dr. Smith.
One of the nurses whom Wendy hadn't seen before walked her down to the special therapy room for said doctor. The thing that really made her feel uncomfortable was that Eliza was taken to her own psychiatrist in another part of the building, leaving Wendy to fend for herself.
She anxiously stepped through the door and was greeted by an old man with a thin beard and partially balding head.
"Welcome, Wendy Darling," he said. He stuck out his hand and she shook it just like one should when meeting someone new. "Please sit down and make yourself comfortable."
Beside her was a fluffy blue couch with two throw-pillows lined with gold tassels. She sat down slowly and tried to look presentable. Straightening her back and folding her hands in her lap, she waited for him to speak.
"First of all, my dear, you need not be lady-like if you don't feel like it. In here is where you can be entirely honest, even in the way that you act. However, I am impressed with your manners already. I think we'll get along just fine," said Dr. Smith pleasantly. He smiled warmly and the tension in Wendy's body was eased. He reminded her of a sweet, old grandfather.
"We have two full hours here so we don't have to rush into anything. That being said, let's start with the basics. My name is Dr. Edgar Smith. I like bicycling and fishing and I have a wife and two grown children," he started. "What about yourself."
Wendy cleared her throat and said in a small voice, "I'm Wendy Maura Angela Darling. I live here in Bloomsbury with my parents and my seven brothers."
"Seven!" said Dr. Smith in surprise. "That's quite a respectable number. However, I still pity your parents. Go on."
"I like reading, drawing, and telling stories."
"Stories, eh?"
"Yes, sir. I've told my little brothers stories since I was very young."
"What do you tell them about?"
"Adventure stories, love stories, fairytales. Things like that," said Wendy.
"Fascinating."
"Thank you."
"I have a daughter who used to listen to my wife tell her stories every night before she went to sleep. Against all odds, she turned into the most magnificent writer."
"Oh, I would so love to be a writer!" Wendy interjected.
"Is that so? Well, it's hard to be a writer. My daughter had a lot of talent, but she still had to go to college for years and years so she could learn to write properly. And no one would publish her books for a long time. Being a writer is hard work and it doesn't pay very much," asked the doctor.
"But it would be fun!"
"Yes, but it's not very practical. Making a respectable living off of writing is very rare."
"You sound like my aunt," muttered Wendy sullenly.
"And who might she be?" asked Dr. Smith.
"My Aunt who used to give me etiquette lessons."
"Tell me about your family, Wendy…" requested Dr. Smith.