Happy Thoughts || Peter Pan

Chapter 13

Avery stared at the little front door of the nest. Her leg dangled down from the vine chair. A sigh rolled over her lips. She hadn't seen Peter in hours. Just like the days before. And when he would come, he didn't speak a word to her, put her food on the table and disappeared again. She hadn't walked in the valley for days, let alone washed, and she was sure she smelled terribly.

Avery had tried to talk to Peter, but as soon as she even opened her mouth, he was already gone, leaving her alone again. It was as if he was punishing her. Perhaps he was doing just that, exactly as she had left him. But he couldn't punish her forever, could he? She had left her home for Neverland and now suddenly she was a prisoner, much like she was at home in London. She regretted running away and she had apologized, so he couldn't keep her locked up here for the rest of time, could he?

She rose to her feet when she heard a noise behind the door. It was twilight and Peter would surely have returned with her supper. But this time she was ready. She walked toward the door and the moment Peter stepped inside, she slid past behind him, slammed the door shut and stepped in front of it. 'Peter, I think I've been punished enough.'

He turned and looked at her. At least that was something, but when he stayed silent, she grew impatient. 'Peter, listen to me! You brought me here for an adventure and you said I would never feel alone again. Well, I do now! I feel like a prisoner.' The lump forming in her throat made her voice skip. She cleared her throat before speaking further. 'I want to see more, Peter. The valley is lovely, but this is Neverland.... Why do you deny me this adventure? Why won't you let me see more?'

Peter looked at her, with her food still in his hands. 'Because it's too dangerous.'

Her heart fluttered for a moment at hearing his voice. Finally she heard a voice again that was different from the one that had been screaming in her head with boredom for the past few days. She continued to look at him. 'But why?'

Then he sighed, put his arm around her waist and flew out the door, down where the fire was still burning and roasting his own supper. There he gently released her again. Avery felt the grass tickling her feet and couldn't believe her luck. At last she was outside again!

Peter pressed her food into her hands and sat down by the fire. 'Eat,' he hummed, 'after I'll show you why I'm so careful.'

The dark undertone sent shivers down her spine. She hesitantly took a bite. In the minutes that drifted by, the air around them seemed to grow heavier, and when Avery finally emptied her bowl, she looked at him expectantly. She didn't know if the uneasy feeling was her stomach starting to digest the food or if she was expecting him to reveal something terrible.

Without saying anything, Peter gallantly lifted her off the ground and steef up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly. The warmth that resonated from his chest was the only reassurance that kept her sane.

Peter was flying low above the treetops and in one straight line, making Avery well aware that he was trying to be seen as little as possible. There was no fun in this flight, just a point A and a point B. Without a warning, he shot down into the thick blanket of leaves. He released her legs to protect her face with his arm from striking branches and cutting leaves. Suddenly the rustling was gone and she felt the ground beneath her feet. Peter removed his arm again. 

Low rays of sunlight shone through the hole they had just created in the foliage. The rest of the area was shrouded in darkness. Not so dark that you couldn't see anything, but dark enough to make you feel very uncomfortable. In front of her were the remains of a thick oak tree that needed no introduction.

'The gallows tree,' she whispered, but it was far from how she had imagined it. The smell that still hung in the air after all this time gave it away. The bark was blackened and the branches were like scorched cabbage. All that remained was a sad skeleton of the once mighty tree that had stood there. There were no more plants on the ground beneath her feet; no flowers, no bushes and no new saplings.

She looked at Peter for a moment before walking over to the tree and placing her hand against the bark. It was as if she could still feel the heat of the fire against her palm, trapped under the scorched bark. 'What happened here?' she asked as she turned to him. Peter stared at the tree as if he had lost a loved one.

'Pirates.' His voice sounded broken. She heard the desperation behind his words; there was nothing he could have done.

'Hook did this?'

He looked at her sternly. 'Hook hasn't been here for a long time.'

A frown crept across her forehead. She had lost all understanding of the situation by now. She looked at him, at the tense muscles in his jaw and the fury in his eyes. 'If you don't want to talk,' she said, 'you don't have to.' The truth was that she was incredibly curious, but she also understood that this probably felt like torture to him. No, not "as if" this time, this was real. His home was hidden under these roots and it was completely destroyed.

To her great relief, Peter shook his head. 'No, sooner or later the truth will come out anyway. I'll tell you, but first let's go back to The Nest. It's not safe here.'

Avery nodded in agreement. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Avery kept looking at him all the way to The Nest. The anger from minutes ago was completely gone from his face. Only a deep sadness remained. Whatever had happened after Wendy had damaged him considerably.

In the valley, he put her back on the ground. He muttered something about a fire and disappeared again. Avery passed the time looking for twigs until Peter returned. Her thoughts about the Gallows Tree did not rest for a moment. How could a once carefree, happy place like Neverland have changed so much? Not to mention Peter. What had happened to him that he was so unstable?

When Peter finally returned and lit the campfire, Avery was bursting with curiosity. Silently she followed his movements as he stoked the fire. He cleared his throat briefly, and Avery was startled by the sound that suddenly broke the dead silence. He looked up, the reflection of the fire dancing around his irises. Heat rose within her, but not from the glowing fire. She wanted to look away, but she couldn't, she could only look into his eyes. Eyes that she had no idea how long they had watched over the world. They were so young, and yet so old. They had seen changes in civilizations, wars, and yet she had no idea how much of this he had actually witnessed, whether he had looked away from the suffering of the world and hidden under the safe wings of Neverland. She kept staring into it, and he did not avert his gaze from her. It may have only been for a minute, but to Avery, time seemed to stand still. Perhaps it did.