When Stars Fall

Chapter 8 - Starcatcher

Peter saw the dark waves of the Neverseas and how the stars bored into their surface. They fell like luminous rain, but their glow tired as soon as they touched the bottom - whether sea or earth. The soft voices of the young, small stars died away; their whispers died. They dug craters in beaches and plains and pelted down on the mountains and the forests.

Peter, however, had his eyes on only one star. The twin star. His star.

Whenever he flew to London to fetch new boys, he whispered stories to them and told them about his adventures. And they listened, laughed, giggled, blinked, and lit up the darkness of the night. But none had ever shone as brightly as the twin stars. The second star from the right had always shown him the way and led him back home: to Neverland.

Was this the price of his selfishness? His revenge on Hook? For his victory? Was he now to lose everything? His Lost Boys, his youth, his star, AND Neverland?

This could not be allowed to happen. He could not let it happen! Peter gripped the small, whispering, and blinking celestial body in his hands tighter. He had to make up for all of this... he had to fix it!

"Please ... please grant my wish!" he pleaded with all his heart, squinting his eyes. The star in his hands shone brightly and then cooled between his fingers. No whispering or blinking, as all the little stars had done over the many years. Just silence and cold stone.

Though his eyes were closed, he saw the bright glow through the closed eyelids. A bright and clear light engulfed everything and everyone, and Peter had to pull his arms in front of his face. Had it worked?

No star or queen of the fairies whispered the answer to him. Blinking his eyes, Peter drew the air deep and hissed into his lungs just in time - then his body hit the surface of the Neverseas in free fall. Peter felt the impact, pain exploding through his body. Then the water's icy surface crashed over his head, engulfing him with thunderous waves.

☆

Glowing bright, the luminous tail stretched through the night sky, seeming to slice it apart and banish the darkness in falling power as a rock might push back a wave. Faster and faster, the pulsing light crashed, cutting a burning, violent swath through Never Jungle and, finally, the forest floor. The impact shook the earth, pushing and flinging trees aside as fire and light engulfed everything, leaving nothing but smoking wood and glowing rock behind.

It was easy to follow the star's trail. The trees bent aside had fallen, and the blackened patches glowed as Peter hurried past them. Peter trundled. The third time he had to land. Worry ... this feeling was new, and he loathed it! Before, he had never worried. Now he was plagued by ... heavy thoughts.

Reproaches, which his voice hissed at him inside, as it had only whispered of adventures before the deal with the damned fairy!

What had gone wrong? Had he hit it too hard? Because he didn't appreciate this damn body and its power? Why did everything suddenly go wrong? How was he supposed to get the other lost ones back now? What happened to Neverland, where one of the twin stars had fallen? Could he even leave Neverland now? Would he somehow regain his youth? Or did he have to ... stay in this damned, disgustingly adult body?!

All these questions put invisible stones in his soul. He barely made it over the treetops, though twice he almost crashed, and Tink was nowhere to be seen. Desperately, Peter clutched his wild blond curls and stared gloomily in the direction where the star had crashed. Could things get any worse?