Memories of a Lost Soul

A Fairy

'It was ridiculous, Tink!' I sigh as I float about. 

'He wants me to open a business!'

I straighten my back and put a finger above my lips, pretending to have a mustache. I deepen my voice as I try to mimic my father's. 'Open a business when you're older, my boy! With a bit of an investment, you'll be swimming in gold coins in no time! HAHAHAHA!' A fake, hearty laugh booms. 

'Ptooo!' I spit at the end of my sentence. 'As if I will be a greedy stingy adult!'

Slightly above my head, a small fairy, no bigger than my palm, flies. She is nodding vigorously in agreement. Her name is Tinkerbell. She was the one who guided me to this wonderful island called Neverland. She has been following me around lately. It's a bit annoying, but at least she listens to me.

'This time he really did it!' I sit on a thick branch and crosses my hands. 'He tore my drawing! He said I was wasting time! He said....he said I need to stop this nonsense and grow up!' I stand up in anger. 'He wants some nonsense? Well, I'll show him nonsense!' I sit back down and cross my legs. 'I'm running away from home and there's nothing he can do about it!' 

Supporting me, Tinkerbell also crosses her tiny hands and puffs up her cheeks. I slump back on the branch and sigh. 'But man...Neverland is just the best. No study, no homework, no chore, and no one will scold me! I can play, I can fly, I can swim, anytime and anywhere I want.' I put my hands on the back of my head. 'I can just live here forever!'

Tinkerbell, starts to fly around in excitement. Her bell-like voice rings excitedly, agreeing, approving my comment. I can't help but grin as I look up at the blue sky.

'Peter!' A shout rouses me. I look down and find a scrawny boy about my age waving at me. 'The boys are having a race near the lagoon!'

'A race? Sounds fun!' I jump down from the tree and starts running. 'Let's go!' The boy, Tinkerbell, and I start running towards the Mermaid Lagoon.

'Don't run yet!' The scrawny boy calls out. 'The race is there! not here!' 

'Then we better have a warm-up race!' 

I don't notice it at first, but I can't stop smiling. My feet feel light as I race through the woods. I laugh and jump up. In a blink of an eye, I am already gliding through the air. Under the branches, above the leaves, around flowers and fruits. My eyes are big, eager to engrave this whole scene into my brain. All I can hear as I am flying is laughter. I am free. I am happy.

It must have been years since I had feel this way. All I remember was things starts to not go well as I turned 12. Father changed. He no longer came home with smiles or candies. He didn't praise me or talk to me much anymore. When he did talk to me, all he talked about was business potential or how his colleagues' kids had find job. I felt a bit uneasy, but I still try to respond to him. 

Until one day, my mother snapped. She talked back about how I was no ready and to give me more time. The house started to get loud, too loud, especially after dusk, when father came home. I tried to ignore it, hoping that it would stop, hoping that the shouts would be gone, but it didn't. I couldn't take it anymore, I knew I had to do something. So, I draw a picture and wait for father to come home.

'Arr! Welcome to my pirate ship father!' I drew him a jolly roger and stuck it on the wall. I thought that he was probably upset because of work. It's nothing a little playing couldn't fix. 'Join my crew! Let's sail through the seven seas!'

Then, everything happen very fast. My father ripped the drawing off the wall. My mother hurried from the kitchen and was about to stop him when he shouted. 'WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?' His eyes are big. It felt like his gaze had stabbed me in place. 'YOU DIDN'T WANT TO STUDY! YOU DIDN'T WORK! ALL YOU HAVE BEEN DOING IS RUN AROUND, PLAYING, WASTING YOU TIME.' It felt like I had shrunk 2 sizes. He looked so big and scary. He exhaled and turned around in frustration.

'What are you saying to our son!' Mother knelt to match my height and put her arms around me. 'He was just a kid! It's normal for him to play!'

'NORMAL?' My father whirled around and faced us again. 'Jefferson's kid is taking a paper route! That Smith's boy is going to that High School! Even Small Billy is helping his father with the shop! But you! Oh, I've spoilt you!'

'He is not spoilt! He will get a job! He will work! You just have to give it some time!'

'Some time? I have given him time' His voice is low and angry. 'What he need is to stop this nonsense and GROW. UP.'

Mother was arguing back at him, but I didn't listen to a single thing. I couldn't. My eyes were wide, not blinking. My head was empty. I wasn't even sure whether I was breathing or not. It was as if the world had come to a stop. Slowly, my heart starts to hurt, like I had been stabbed. I felt like my heart is bleeding and with each drop, warmth escaped my body. I didn't know what I was feeling. I don't know what to do. 

So, I ran.

I opened the door with a bang and dashed outside. I could hear a voice, probably my father's, shouting at me, but I kept running. The street quite dark with only a row of streetlights to light it, but it didn't scare me. I kept running as fast as I could. I didn't know where I was heading, so I ran along the streets. I followed the road. I jumped a fence and kept running. My chest hurt. I wasn't sure whether my lungs or my heart was the one hurting. I gasped for air as my leg carried me. Then, I saw a flash of light and tripped on something. I heard a dull metal sound as I fell down, face first. I look up and saw a ball of light floating by the low metal fence. I squinted my eyes. As my eyes got used to the light, I could see a shape in the ball of light. 

It was a fairy.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Hello! I hope you enjoy the first chapter. Thank you for reading! Please read the next chapter as well.

Sincerely, Author :)