The Legacy of Peter Pan

Chapter 1: A Troubled Wendy Darling

       When Wendy returned from Madam Linden's School For Girls, she realized that finishing school was only a much more proper term for "Here is the place where we teach young ladies how to rid their minds of anything childlike and balance books on their heads for hours on end. We will now be handing out 'How to Attain a Husband and Keep One' Written by Plain Jane. She died an old maid."

       Ever since she had arrived back in London, young men that used to tug on Wendy's pigtails as youth would now open the door for her, nervous sweat beading across their brow. Family friends at any social gathering would ask, "How does it feel to be a young lady now?" as if she had morphed into a completely new person. Wendy would reply, "Simply wonderful!" with a small smile, but really she felt no different. She was still Wendy Moira Angela Darling. Perhaps a bit taller and older looking, but still herself. Another change that had come with 'being a young lady' were all the 'visitors' as Wendy's Father called them. Before that dreadful school, Mary Darling would pull Wendy to her side if she even made eye contact with a boy her age, and now she was throwing her daughter at every one that she could successfully trick into coming in for tea.

       It was one of these 'visitors' that Mary Darling was so ecstatic about this particular morning as she pulled apart the curtains of Wendy's bedroom window, letting the golden sunlight flood the floor.

"Wendy dear, get up will you? That Mr.Connolly is here!" With a spring in her step, the woman strode over to the bed and gently shook Wendy's shoulder, earning a depressed sigh from the girl. Wendy pulled her pillow over her face and turned away from her mother, who had already left her side, and was heading towards the wardrobe.

"Mother, I have seen Jack Conolly enough to last me a lifetime." Wendy said sleepily.

Mrs.Darling threw open the doors of the wardrobe as if it held all the secrets of the universe. "Now don't be silly, you've only met with him twice...well not counting the Conally's New Year's Eve dinner party of course."

"He's terribly dull." Wendy muttered as she pulled the covers off of her and reluctantly got out of bed.

Her mother pulled from the secret revealing wardrobe, a robin's egg blue dress. A pretty dress fitting for any young woman who was to meet a dull man downstairs. She held the dress up against Wendy who yawned and rubbed her eyes. "I think you should give him a chance. He really is a nice boy and rather handsome too."

"I would be happy to marry a troll if he had a good sense of humor and imagination." The girl wandered over to her vanity and picked up a hairbrush to begin taming her tangled hair.

Mrs.Darling shook her head and laid the dress out across her daughter's bed, lovingly smoothing out the wrinkles. She then rose up and went over to Wendy who was struggling with a very tangled piece of hair. The older woman sat Wendy down on the ottoman that was placed conveniently in front of the mirror and took the brush from the frustrated girl.

"Not all boys can be Peter Pan, Dear." She said as she picked up the tangled curl of hair and began brushing it out with that familiar mother-like urgency. Wendy folded her hands in her lap, looking down.

"I...I know. I'm not expecting Peter Pan. I just want more than...normal I guess. Plain. Everyday."

Her mother smiled at her daughter's mention of Peter. She hadn't heard much of the bedtime story hero since Michael left for school. "Oh, how you loved telling those stories." She said as she sat the brush down and lifted Wendy's chin to look into the mirror.

Wendy nodded and softly chuckled. Mrs.Darling rested her hands on the girl's shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. "I know he may not be like a character from your stories, but if you got to know him, I feel like you'd see that Jack has more in common with you than you think." Wendy nodded, agreeing as her mother leaned down to kiss her forehead. As she did so, she smoothed back Wendy's hair and lingered there a moment, remembering when the young woman under her had been a small girl with stars in her eyes, always dreaming up some new adventure. Finally, Mrs.Darling, sniffling a bit, stood up, adjusting herself. "Now go on and get ready. Your Father and Mr.Conolly are waiting downstairs. It would be a good idea to hurry before Father intimidates the poor man to death." She laughed.