This is the story of Peter Pan. Or actually, it’s about Wendy Darling, if Wendy dreamed about being a lost boy with a pirate past.
1904 – London
Peter Pan lurked outside the bedroom window of Wendy. Waiting patiently for the parents to finish the bedtime story he so desperately wanted to hear, Peter snuck inside through the creaky bedroom window. He tiptoed as to not wake the kids up. Then he heard the voice of a girl calling out ‘who’s there?’ with a British accent. Peter and his shadow stood still. Wendy had already lit a light that she was taking to investigate who stood there like a statue. Peter Pan hopped to the ceiling which made Wendy intrigued. ‘Who are you?’ she asked. Peter floated back down with not even a single sound, right in front of the girl. He placed his hands on his hips to make the signature Peter Pan pose. ‘I’m Peter Pan.’ He said with a raspy yet determined voice. His hair, wild like the seas. His dagger, cut from trees. His clothes, made from the greenest of leaves.
“Come with me to Neverland,” He said. Wendy got excited after hearing his speech about mermaids and pirates. But after she had set foot in the snow on the window frame, she doubted and looked back at her room. It was filled with toys and the ceiling was painted with clouds.
“Come with me where you’ll never have to worry about grown-up things again,” Peter whispered in Wendy’s ear.
“Never would be great,” Wendy said, already soaring through the skies with pixie dust. Riding on the wind, traveling towards the second star to the right, like two adventurers passing in the night.
Time moves differently here – Neverland
Wendy’s feet hit the shallow water near the beach. She was in awe of the reflection of the stars in the water. The galaxy was all around her. And she felt as though this was where she was meant to be.
_
When morning came, Peter and Wendy played with swords. They ran through the forest, and Peter taught her to fly. He introduced Wendy to the lost boys, but most of the time Wendy was with Peter. Nights passed and Wendy’s dreams returned: her feet made the boards of the ship creak, then she saw a pirate and took a step back. But before she knew it, she was in the forest, sword-fighting with lost boys. And this wasn’t the kind of friendly fencing, Wendy was a pirate here.
She woke up and Peter noticed she had just had a nightmare. Instead of talking about it, Peter took her to a field of flowers. And even though Wendy had been in Neverland for more days than she can count, she had never been here.
Peter Pan plucked a forget-me-not and placed it in Wendy’s hair. She smiled and wanted to place one in Peter’s hair too, but the two kids were ambushed by pirates. They took them to their ship and tied them up to the mast.
Wendy Darling recognized the pirate ship from her dreams. Then she saw the eyes of the famous Captain Hook. She dreamt of him too. However, instead of Hook, it was her that was captain.
“This is not my story.” Hook said while cutting Wendy loose and handing her a sword. “It’s yours.”
Wendy was puzzled. But then it all made sense. The skies grew darker and dense clouds formed above the pirate ship. It started raining, the seas were wild, and thunder struck the waves in the distance.
“It’s time for you to grow up.” Hook sounded agitated by Wendy’s lack of action.
“What?” Wendy whimpered. Things were simpler when she was younger. When she was part of the lost boys, never worrying about anything, never growing up. Then the mess started.
“It’s time for you to grow up! You have to kill Peter Pan.”
Tears welled in Wendy’s eyes. The wishing well was dead. And Peter was next.
I know how this story ends, because I was there.
Let’s just say, Peter didn’t die.