Ch. 3. The Land of Dreams
"Hook?" Tinkerbell nodded gravely.
"But that's impossible; my father had him leave the island years ago."
"He came back." Tinkerbell's hard exterior cracked and she prepared herself to explain the dire situation on Neverland. "After Peter left things started to change. For a while the remaining lost boys tried to keep things going, but without their leader they were disorganized and they lacked the imagination that Peter had once had. You see that's what protects Neverland, children's belief in magic. After Peter left some of the boys started to lose their belief. This is partly due to the Indians severing ties with them as soon as Peter was gone. War broke out. The lost boys worn down by warfare and trouble started to let go of their belief in magic, their imagination, everything that builds up the protective barrier around Neverland. And without their belief and dreams the defenses around the island were horribly weakened and time was able to slip through. When time came through everything started to age. For the first time flowers were dying and the beasts were beginning to hobble. It seemed like time was making up for the years we had gotten away from it. But that was not the worst, no, the worst was when he came. Hook came to the island with a crew larger than any force the island had ever seen. He attacked when we were at our weakest and easily overcame our ragtag army. When I left he had taken over half the island. When we get back he'll probably have control over the whole thing."
"But how is that possible?" Moira asked in a voice taut with shock. "You'll only have been gone a few hours, surely he doesn't move that fast!" Tinkerbell sadly shook her head then turned to glare at Moira, "Haven't you been listening girl? Time is racing in Neverland! A couple of hours here could easily be days or even weeks there. Your ten minutes is up. Get flying."
By mid-afternoon the island was in sight, a fuzzy green blob against the surrounding blue of the ocean and sky. From a distance it looked like a beautiful tropical paradise but as they closed in on it Moira saw the murky brown of dying plants, the pale, dead fish washed up on shore. This was not the Neverland of her parent's stories.
They touched down on the rough, waterlogged sand. Shocked out of her exhausted daze, Moira turned to look at Tink, "What happened here?" in a voice heavy with sorrow Tink answered,
"This is what happens when you take the imagination away from Neverland. This is what happens when people no longer believe in magic." Suddenly Moira's parent's disbelief seemed less like a mere annoyance and more like…. well like a crime of sorts. How could they condemn Neverland to this fate? Especially Father, how could he just abandon everything like this? He must have known what would happen. How could he? It's almost like a betrayal. Now Moira knew that logically, an island couldn't be betrayed and that her father wouldn't have left had he known what would happen when he did. But this did nothing to soothe the sting that came from the knowledge that her father had caused all of this. Pulling herself together Moira steeled herself for a fight. A fight that if lost would forever change the world of children; because the isle of Neverland was the home of all dreams. If it went down then so did all of the dreams of children. And a world without the dreams of children? Well, Moira shuddered at the thought.
"Come on. Moping never helped anyone. Where's the nearest place we can rest?"
"That'd be a cave near Mermaid's Cove. I would take you to the hide out, but I'm not so sure what your reception would be." Moira nodded once, and then gestured for Tink to lead the way. No more than five minutes later they were drifting toward the other side of the island, where a small cove dung into the main circumference of the island. For Neverland, as you know, is a very small island. Once, sparkling water had cascaded over the stones and hills of the cove. Now it sat stagnant and flat. Like a book sitting on a shelf gathering dust. Named for its beautiful mermaids, the cove was now left vacant, abandoned by its namesakes. Moira made a mental note to ask Tink where they had gone. But first, she would sleep. Rest her eyes that had been weighing down on her all day.
Sleep on Neverland felt like falling through a blanket of warm, velvet mist. And there were always dreams. Actually it's a little known fact that there is no such thing as a dreamless sleep on Neverland. Even if you had none of your own that day, one of the resident dreams on the island would seek you out, eager to be looked at again. (Dreams are very vain creatures.) Moira dreamed of how the island once was. The shining cerulean waters dancing around the soft, oatmeal colored sand, leaping up to kiss the evening sky painted in brilliant water colors. She saw the mermaids, jewel toned tails, scaly, yet somehow still beautiful. In her sleep she reached out to touch them, but as she stretched toward them, they vanished. Swept away like smoke blown in the wind. So she spent the night, her mind filled with pleasant images. She woke to the dawn expecting to see an emerald crocodile with a peculiar ticking sound originating from his abdomen. Instead she was the cave looking out on the empty cove. Her determination to save Neverland was increased ten fold. For she had seen how it was supposed to be. She had seen what the land of dreams was supposed to look like, not this rotting, desperate place, but a land of wonder and beauty that caught the imagination and took it for a ride. A ride that was very much like flying, only without the air resistance or exhaustion. Moira had to save Neverland. If only to see it for herself cloaked in all it's former glory. She also wanted to protect the safe haven, not just, for the dreamers, but for those who needed a land of dreams to keep them going.