It was a beautiful night. The sky twinkled like a swirling cauldron of velvety twilight and silvery wisps of clouds. Wendy looked at the open window, her face resting in the palms of her hands. How could one close the windows and draw the curtains over them, when the night was such a beautiful, peaceful, tranquil sight? A dreamy expression floated upon her pretty face.

"Second star to the right, and straight on till morning."

Wendy saw the star. It twinkled back at her, as if it was winking back at her, imploring her to just

...come.

She could easily hear the echoes of his voice inside her mind. She knew when she felt the night breeze caress her self, she could re-enact the same, wonderful feeling, of the silvery fairy dust tingling on her skin, the magical sensation of...flying. She never felt so alive, when they soared above the gloomy streets of London, without a care in the world. The carefree ambience of youth and magic and imagination. There's nothing like it, nothing.

Now, she was sixteen. A mature sixteen, most had said, and quite a haughty, uninteresting one too. The way she carried herself, her nose held high when she walked across the hallways of the Chamberlain's School for Girls. She never seemed to smile, never saying much except for occasional words along the line of "Pardon me"s and "Thank you"s.

But no! They didn't know her. They didn't know her feelings, dreams, burdens, hopes.

"Wendy Moira Angela Darling, please. You are not a child. And neither are your brothers. Stop blathering them with stories of frivolous fantasies!"

The same old argument. He had compromised, but after awhile... he has forgotten that he had done so.

"But Father-"

"No, Wendy, no. It's high time for you three to grow up. The world out there, isn't all happiness and fun and joy and wonder. There are hard times. And you all, will experience them someday, and if you propose to sustain your childish fantasies, you'll never learn to live. Never."

And then he slammed the door shut.

"My inner child helps me to live, Father." she whispered, holding her hand to her heart. "I'm only ever holding on to it."

Father had sent John and Michael to boarding school. They had wailed, night after night, but they had to accept it with a heavy heart. Within weeks, they left. No more yelling around the house, no more boyish voices bawling from the next room, no brothers to scold to, no one to play-act Peter Pan's great adventures. With their departure, her heart felt empty, empty, but gloom weighed her down.

There were times, where Wendy felt like she was living in a dream, that someday she'll wake up and discover her life's true reality. And there were times that she felt depression sinking into her head, her heart, her soul. She felt she was plummeting away, and also felt like plummeting to the ground below so she'd just wake up from this non-reality she lived in. But she knew that was impossible. She clung on to her memories as a child so that she knew there was still something to live for in this world, that there was still happiness to experience somewhere in this life. And that happiness lived in her memories. Looking unto them felt like opening a chest cascading with priceless treasures. And she thought that if she was happy then, she could find her own happiness today, rescuing her from the murky gray waters of melancholia.

Her eyes opened.

And she gasped.

Where...is the star?

She rubbed her eyes again and again. She closed her eyes and opened them again, just to see the same sight, a horror bestowed upon her mind.

But stars don't just disappear, do they?

"No...no..." she murmured under her breath. "It can't. It can't be."

Her hope of youth...gone.

She felt herself fall on her knees.

And let her tears of sorrow dampen her cheeks.

Straight on till morning.