I have been stuck on Neverland for four days. Peter Pan made is so that I can't leave his camp. There are always someone guarding the entrances to the camp. And I can swear there is always at least one watching me.
I am planning to escape the camp, but I'm waiting for the right moment, a time were Peter Pan and his followers will be distracted. There are six of them, including Pan, and one of me. But I do have an advantage, I know how to be sneaky, and I'm able to cover my tracks.
But a disadvantage is that Pan's followers are great trackers, and skilled fighters. I got lucky with one of them, but with six, including Pan, makes this difficult.
This is what I know; Neverland is an island and another realm, which narrows my chances of escaping.
Right now, I'm walking in circles around the camp. I don't know why, but walking is circles, always help me think.
"I'm sorry to disturb your walking," says a voice behind me. "But there is something I have to tell you."
As soon as I heard the voice, I knew it is Pan. I never called him Pan out loud yet, but I will someday. And when I do, I can't wait to see the look on his face. I notice the only thing that his followers call him is Peter Pan. I wonder if they think he is "too high" to have a nickname.
"What do you want,"? I ask without turning around.
"Tonight, I will be getting more lost boys and…,"
"Lost boys,"? I interrupt.
"That's what I decided to call the boys who come to the island" Pan says. "Has a nice ring to it, don't you think."?
Pan already has five boys who are following his every order, does he really need more?
Whatever reason he is bringing in more boys can't be good.
"What about girls,"? I ask.
"What about them,"?
"I must not be the only girl you planned on kidnapping," I tell him. "And the "lost boys", were they given a choice to come? Or were they kidnapped like me,"?
Right after I said that, Pan's face changed. His face looks dangerous.
"Do you know why these boys are here,"? Pan asks. "I only take the boys who are unloved and lost."
"Then why did you take me,"? I ask. "I wasn't feeling unloved or lost."
"You may have a mask that covers your emotions," says Pan. "But you forget one thing, I know about your past. What your mother did to you when you were younger, is something that people don't just forgive and forget."
"You claim to know my past," I tell Pan. "But you have yet to prove it."
Well besides knowing my name.
Pan than looks me in the eye and says "your name is Ella, or as your mother sometimes calls you, Danya. You were a fairy and you were banished for a crime of "harming" another fairy. You are half-human, half-fairy. You were the only fairy who finished your talent training, but you were still in training for the other fairy stuff. You didn't start to get along with your mother until a few years before you were banished. Before that, she would mentally abuse you."
I fought the urge of tears. When he started to mention my mother, painful memories came back. Memories I have tried for years to forget.
Yes, my mother used to mentally abuse me. A few years ago, mother eventually realized mentally abuse would not get me anywhere. When she stopped, life started to get better. I became better being a fairy, I got better with spells, I completed my medical fairy training. But it all shattered because I lost my temper.
But still, the same question is there. How does he know this?
"And don't even try to play stupid again," Pan tells me. "And to answer your question earlier, you will be the only girl on the island. Well, except for the mermaids."
I have never met a mermaid before, but I know they don't get along with fairies.
"And back to why I need to talk to you," says Pan. "I'm going to bring the lost boys with me to mainland."
That means I can escape.
"And I don't trust you," Pan tells me.
"That's great," I reply. "Because I don't trust you either,"!
"And because of that," Pan says. "You will be moved somewhere else until I return."
"Where is this somewhere else at,"? I ask.
Instead of answering, Pan waved his hand in front of my face, casting a spell.
A sleeping spell.
When I wake up, instead of trying to open my eyes, I try to stand up.
As soon as I try to do so, my head hit a hard ceiling. As soon as I open my eyes, I made a realization.
I'm in a cage.
A small cage made of bamboo sticks.
Who in the world does Pan think he is? You can't just lock someone in a cage!
The cage suddenly swings for wind. I look around to see tree branches. I Look down;
Oh gosh! I'm hanging in a cage with a thirty-foot drop!
Think Anna, think!
You know how to climb trees, you just need to hope Pan didn't find the small knives in my boots.
A while back, whenever I got a new pair of boots, which doesn't happen often. I would make a hidden, small area, right outside the boots. Just the right size to hold a small knife. I make it, so it looks like the boots were designed that way. So, if ever in a position like the one I am in now, it will come in handy.
I start to cut off a side of the cage, it is more difficult than I expected it to be. Bamboo isn't supposed to be that strong. After for what it seemed like an hour, the side of the cage was cut off.
I then start to swing the cage to get closer to a branch. During my first big swing, I start to get scared. I don't exactly have the fear of heights, but I do have the fear of falling. I was teased so much for being a fairy who is afraid of heights.
I also hate being in closed-in spaces. If it was dark, I would have a mental breakdown. The reason I have this issue is because sometimes as punishment, my mother would lock me in a dark closet. It was small, and sometimes I would be locked in for a whole day without any communication.
She did stop eventually, realizing that it did more harm than help.
After a few large swings, I suck up my fear, and I jump. My right hand was able to grab on the branch.
I try to get my left hand to grab the branch, but suddenly, my right-hand slips. And I fall.
Right before I hit the ground, without thinking, I grab a week branch with both hands. Five seconds later, I hit the ground.
If I didn't grab that branch right before I hit the ground, I would have died or got injured.
That thought scares me.
I slowly stand up, and I look around my surroundings.
I have never been in this part of the island.
I start to walk, I keep walking until I see a beach.
It wasn't the sight of the beach that stopped me, it was the sight of Pan with many more boys. Probably about three times the number of the ones that were already here.
I turn around, and I run the other direction.
Maybe I can find a cave or something to hide in. Not forever, but just long enough so I can find a way off Neverland.
I pass by many plants, but one catches my eye.
Is that dream shade?
I might have only seen it from my mother's diaries, but the poison drizzling from the plants give it away. My mother described it as the poison that has no cure. She told me that she was not too worried about finding the cure because it only grows in one island. The island was place that you didn't end up in accident.
She wrote that there have been no cases of someone being poisoned by dream shade in her whole life.
I remember asking her once if she has ever been on this island before, she told me yes.
My mother has been on Neverland. How-
My thoughts are interrupted by vines wrapping around my waist and wrists, pulling me ten feet into the air.
"I was going to let you out from your cage when I got back," a voice says. "But you decided to be rude and escape."
Pan.
I don't say anything.
"Oh Anna," Pan says. "What am I going to do with you,"?
"If I am so much trouble," I reply. "Then why don't you just let me leave,"?
Peter Pan doesn't reply, instead and raises his hand and the vines prompt me back on the ground. Before I could do anything, the vines quickly wrap itself around my wrists and ankles tightly.
As soon as I am secured, Pan picks me up and places me over his shoulder and starts walking.
The thorns on the vines are digging in my skin. I can feel the blood on my wrists and ankles.
Nothing happens until I hear someone say "what is a girl doing here? I thought this is a boy's only island."
"She wouldn't be here unless it is necessary," Pan responds.
And with that, no other questions are asked. But I tell that the boys are staring at me.
"Take her to the pit," Pan says to two lost boys. The two lost boys obeyed and grabs me. Both were dragging one arm each. I try to fight, but they were too strong. The vines wrapped around my wrists and ankles don't help either.
They drag me out of the camp.
After a while, I finally ask, "so, what is this pit exactly,"?
"A place that you will hopefully come to your senses," one boy responds.
And that's all that they gave me.
When I feel the boys stopping, one of them lets go of me, while the other grabs both of my arms. I want to use this opportunity to run, but the vines around my ankles makes that impossible.
The lost boy who let go of me, pulls something metal of the ground. And before I know it I am roughly shoved. I fall about six feet into a pit in the ground. And soon as I am in, something large is placed on the top. It isn't completely dark, the metal top leaves just enough sunlight.
This must be the pit.
Do they plan to just leave me here tied up?
After what it seems like an hour. The metal top of the pit comes off. I look up to see Pan.
"I am not here to let you out, if that is what you're thinking," Pan tells me. "Those vines around your wrists and ankles look very uncomfortable."
As soon as he said that, I feel the vines disappear.
Then the metal top is placed back on.
I stand, and I try to jump to reach whatever is blocking the light, but no avail.
Of all times to be this short.
I honestly don't know how tall I am. But if I must guess, maybe 4'8. I'm just glad I have a bunch of growing to do.
I squat down, and I touch the ground. I can't see the ground, so I am relying on my touching sense. I feel leaves, dirt, and sticks.
I look around to see that the pit was hand dug.
The pit is just big enough for me to lie down straight.
Rather this than the cage.
What am I saying? All prisons of any sort are bad.
Pain interrupts my thoughts. My wrists and ankles are bleeding. I tear off parts of sleeves to cover my wrists and ankles. But most of the pain is still there.
I sit down and wrap my hands around my knees.
Then I do something that I haven't done in a long time. I cry.
I cry because I am trapped, and I don't know what to do.
I don't remember falling asleep. I just know I am woke up by the noise of the metal on top of the pit being moved.
Something gets throw down and the metal gets put back in place.
I pick up what's thrown down. A banana, stale bread, and container of water.
I didn't realize how hungry I am until I see the food. Before I eat and drink, I check the food to see if it was drugged. It looks ok. I take a bite of the bread, it might be stale, but since I'm hungry, it tastes like heaven.
The water is a relief with my scorched throat.
When I'm done eating, I try to reach the top of the pit again.
Still no avail.
After hours of starring at the whole, I lay down and try to go to sleep. But there is a noise that keep is keeping me awake. It sounds like crying. I stand back up trying to hear the sound better.
It is crying.
If I am not mistaken, it sounds like children.
Must be the new boys. All the old boys seem to be happy in Neverland.
I am guessing that Pan lied, I bet he took the boys against their will.
I decide not to think about that anymore, I lay back down. It is a cold night and I don't have anything like a blanket to cover me. I huddle up, and after a while, I finally can sleep.
…
For the next two weeks, it's the same thing each day; wake up, eat, talk to whoever is guarding, see how high I can jump, throw rocks at the walls, talk to whoever is guarding, listen to the crying, and go to sleep on the hard grown. Which makes sleeping difficult. I got fed one to two feels a day.
There is always a lost boy guarding. I see him when I am given food. Whoever it might be, he tries to make a conversation every day. The conversations that we have are actually pretty nice. I realize that most of the boys are not that terrible. Maybe is just Pan who is terrible and the Lost Boys do what he says under fear. I did try to ask about the crying at night, that is one subject that none of the boys like to get into.
I also learned that what Pan said about these boys being unloved is true. Either that, or everyone here is a good liar. A few of the boys told me about their past. Their backgrounds are sad. Most were abused. Neverland must have sounded like a safe haven to them.
Sooner or later, all the boys who guarded me asked what they should call me, I told them to call me Rose. They ask questions about my past. I don't give them the exact truth. For an example; one boy, I think his name is Mathew. He asked where I am from. I told him the Enchanted Forest. There is no way I am letting anyone know my past!
I can't help but wonder why Pan hasn't told any of the boys anything about me.
….
The next day, like every day, the metal on top of the pit opens. I expect to see one of the lost boy's to be giving me food. But instead, I see Pan.
"What do you want,"? I ask.
Pan responds, "I want to make a deal."
To be continued…
I won't be able to update until next January or February.
So, have a Very Blessed Christmas! And a Happy New Year! :D