James: A Tale of a Captain

Chapter 8, The Secrets of Neverland

The years went by and we started to grow. Tinker Bell had made regular trips to the human world to get things for us. This included new clothing. Eventually Peter and I were fifteen. With that George was fourteen and Mary was thirteen. We were getting older. Mary had become prettier than she already was. Peter looked quite handsome too. I could care less about George. He was my brother after all.

Even while things were going great, I still didn’t trust Tinker Bell. She would just leave at random points in time. Sometimes she wouldn’t return for days. That’s when I noticed something off with Peter one day, “Good morning sleepy head.”
“Good morning Peter. Did you make breakfast?”
“No.”
“Tinker Bell I assume. At least it wasn’t you.”
“I’m not that bad of a cook.”
“Is it glittering?”
“It’s just pixie dust. It’s harmless.”
“How many times have you eaten pixie dust?”
“I don’t know.” he replied. That’s when I saw his ear. I moved his hair aside and behind it. He watched as I did so. It was starting to form into a point. Similar to Tinker Bell’s. He moved his hair back, “How long has it been like that?”
“A couple of months.”
“Why do you keep so many secrets?”
“I don’t keep secrets.”
“You do.”
“I don’t think you’d understand.”
“Just tell me.”
“It’s nothing.”
“Tinker Bell hasn’t been here in a week. So you made breakfast and lied about it because you get very defensive about how good you are at things like playing that pan flute of yours. Did you put pixie dust on your food?”
“No.”
“You can’t lie to me Peter.”
“Fine. I did. I wanted to see what would happen. I didn’t think it would make my ears pointy.”
“Dear god Peter. How am I supposed to stay calm when you’re always putting me in a panic? I’m always afraid that I’m going to wake up and you won’t be there.”
“You are?”
“Yes. You… you mean a lot to me.”
“I didn’t think you cared.”
“Now where did you…? Oh, never mind.”
“You aren’t very good at showing emotions.”
“I get that. I’ll work on it. Just know, I care a lot. I don’t know what I’d be like without you in my life.” I replied. He smiled at that moment. His smile used to be something that I loved to see. Nowadays I despise it.

As he smiled at me he lifted off the floor. He was floating in midair. He didn’t even notice. It was like he was covered in pixie dust but there was no golden glow. There was only one explanation, it was because he ingested it. It seemed as if he was now part fairy. Then he saw my expression and looked down. He slammed down on the floor. I quickly rushed to help him, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You didn’t hit your head or break anything?”
“James, I'm okay. Really. It wasn’t that far off the ground.” Peter replied. His eyes had a slight twinkle to them. They were quite magical. That’s when I felt something I would never feel again, love. What I had felt for Peter was love. Not like a brotherly love any more, like love love.

That was the only logical conclusion. I wouldn’t worry about George and Mary like I did about Peter. What would they think if I had told them? Had Peter felt the same way? And if so for how long? I had regretted what I did all those years ago. Instead of telling him how I felt then, I ignored my emotions and hid them. It’s a bad habit that I’ve always had. Neverland had several secrets, and that day it gained one more. It’s something that would never be told in all the versions of Peter’s story. Captain Hook was once in love with Peter Pan.