Happy Thoughts || Peter Pan

Chapter 3

'Avery, are you home yet?'

Avery opened her eyes. Abby was lying on her stomach and had not stirred since Avery had closed the book. Her eyes briefly shot sideways to the clock radio on her bedside table; It was already 20:30. Her stomach rumbled.

'Avery?' her mother called again.

Avery pushed herself up from the mattress, causing Abby to tumble off her lap and look up at her, alarmed. 'I'm upstairs!'

'Have you eaten yet?'

'No.'

'Oh...' For a moment, silence fell. 'Your father and I have already eaten some on the way. We still have some things to sort out, but there are eggs in the fridge and a dish of potatoes from yesterday.'

Avery sighed. 'Why are you guys so late? We were supposed to go to the park.'

Another momentary silence, before: 'We're sorry, dear, but work intervened.'

'Right,' she muttered. It was always the same song. She had been looking forward to this evening when they would have a bite to eat together at the local caffeteria and then get ice cream at the ice cream shop opposite the park, as they sometimes did just like on her birthday. Now her parents had spontaneously offered to go randomly. Finally they would have some time to do something together as a family again, but then something would come up and Avery would be alone all afternoon or evening. She tucked her head under her arm and brought her knees closer to her body. She suddenly regretted having declined Mira's invitation. It may not have been completely sincere, but at least she wouldn't have been alone.

Her stomach rumbled again. It longed for that treat she had been so looking forward to. With a sigh, she rolled from her bed and went to the kitchen to make herself a fried eggs and potatoes. Her father was sitting in front of the TV watching a game of something and her mother was on the phone with one of her friends. In silence, she ate her meal on the sofa next to her father. He put his hand on her head once and smiled at her, then his eyes turned towards the screen again.

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By now it was getting dark and Avery was getting ready for bed. She looked back at the window, at the stars twinkling in the sky, and sighed. Would there be anyone who was also looking at the stars right now and feeling as lonely as she did? That thought, however sad, took away some of her sadness.

She piled up a few of the books lying on her desk. An advantage that her parents were never home, they didn't realise what a mess Avery lived in. She shivered as a gust of wind tickled her bare legs. Had she left the window open?

To her surprise, it was indeed ajar. She looked sideways at her bed, but Abby was still snoring comfortably. She listened for a moment, as if her body wanted to warn her for something. She heard the rustling of the wind through the trees, an ambulance far away, honking cars and the TV downstairs.... Nothing striking. Avery frowned. Why did she suddenly feel so uncomfortable? With that thought, she closed the window and pulled the curtains closed.

She stuffed her bare feet into the grey slippers and pulled on the hoodie lying on her bed. With the jumper still half over her head, she walked back to her desk. Swinging her arm through the sleeve, she smacked it against the stack of books that thundered off her desk with a hellish noise. Abby awoke immediatly. Avery stared at the books and muttered a curse to the heavens, before dropping to the floor and starting to rebuild her book tower. As the pile reached her shoulder, a thin book under the wardrobe caught her eye. It hadn't been there before, had it?

She felt under the wardrobe and pulled the thin book out from under it. Carefully she blew the dust off the cover and read the title; Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. She raised an eyebrow and stood up. She had not seen this book for years and had been wondering where it had gone for months.

The pile of books on the floor completely disappeared from her memory as she took a seat on the bed and opened the booklet. 'When Wendy was only two years old,' she began. Abby looked up as soon as she heard her voice and continued to stare at her as she continued reading. Minutes ticked by on the clock and it was already past twelve that Avery slammed it shut.

She lingered for a moment, letting the last sentences play through her mind once more. The boy who would never grow up, she thought, how wonderful that would be. She dreamed away to memories of the old days, when her parents used to take her to the park every night. She heard herself running across the grass screaming with laughter as her father chased her and her mother urged them to be careful. The taste of the scoop of vanilla ice cream afterwards.... Tears rolled down her cheeks. I would so love to be little again...

Avery was startled when her window suddenly flew open. Abby shot up screeching and kept hissing at the window with her thick tail straight upwards. The curtains blew into her room. Rustling pages from her open books briefly claimed her attention, before a shadow at the window caught her eye. She crawled backwards on her bed alarmed when two eyes looked at her from the darkness. She was so distraught that she forgot to call for help and before she could bring herself back to her senses to start screaming, the figure at the window silenced her.