The Land Never Lost

Chapter 19

Peter flew through the sky, weaving in and out of clouds. The sounds from the town should have felt familiar, however the time Peter spent in Pan made his old home seem chaotic. The playground was full, the streets were busy, and the sound of machines blended into nature in a very unnatural way. Peter thought to himself, he greatly preferred the calmness of Pan. His own mind was chaotic enough, the town just exacerbated it. While flying in deep thought, which was weird for him, he caught sight of the orphanage.

When Peter reached the window of his old bedroom, he peaked in, expecting to see James inside. The room was dark and empty. Peter's old bed was made and untouched. He dropped down to the ground and walked around the orphanage. It was unusually quiet, and Peter was feeling uneasy. He walked up the steps and right through the front door.

"Hello." Peter whispered trying not to startle Sister Angelina. He walked through the empty kitchen. Peter walked through the hall towards the bedroom of the other boys. He opened the door and peaked in. The bunk beds were full. Peter was relieved to see the boys were there, sound asleep. He quietly closed the door to not wake the boys up. He backed away from the boys' room and walked towards Sister Angelina's. Now under normal circumstances Peter would have never considered entering the Sister's bedroom, but she was nowhere to be found and he was starting to worry.

He approached the door nervously. Peter knocked softly and the door swung open slowly. He closed his eyes and peaked through, "Mom, are you in here? It's me. Peter." His eyes opened carefully and he saw her sitting on her bed. Her long white hair was flowing over one shoulder. Her hands were on her knees tapping weakly. The Sister never turned to look at the boy. She stared out of her bedroom window looking blankly into the night sky. Peter pulled a chair from the writing desk and sat in front of the elderly woman. Peter saw how weak she looked and a tear fell from his eye. He followed her gaze and looked outside of the window. He must've been clouded from the emotions because Peter could've sworn she was looking directly at the star that led to Pan.

When he turned to face her again, she was looking directly into his eyes. A smile slowly crossed her face as she spoke in a soft voice, "Peter. My boy." He was too sad to answer. It was becoming clearer that the aura of strength the Sister once had was gone. She was using it all to just carry on.

"I'm sorry I left without saying anything. I got caught in another adventure." Peter smiled through his guilt.

"No. No." she said, shaking her head. "Don't apologize. I realized too late your actions said enough about how lost you felt. Did you find..." her question was interrupted by harsh coughs. Peter stood up abruptly, worried and asked, "Are you okay? I'll go get some water." The Sister's frail hand reached out for the boy. "Just help me lay back into bed." Peter sat back into the chair after he situated Sister Angelina into bed.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" She said looking straight up.

Peter said simply, "Yes."

"I'm glad you found who you are. Tell me all of it." She closed her eyes as she listened to the boy tell his adventures. Peter spoke of glooms and Fairies. How glooms harmed humans and how fairies protected them. He told her about Pan, the magical land of fairies that looked like something out of a cartoon. Peter recounted his training by the Fallen, the bravest fairies ever who had not abandoned humans. He talked and talked and at some point he realized the Sister was gone. She slipped away peacefully in her sleep. The boy kept telling his story through tearful eyes. Crying as he spoke about the power he attained, completely powerless at that very moment. Peter sat on the chair and wept silently.

"She couldn't hold on, Peter. It was too long for her." The deep voice sounded oddly familiar. Peter looked up and almost fell off his chair. Standing in the doorway, with tears running down his face was a tall, serious looking guy. His wavy black hair was pushed back under a ball cap. The once wispy mustache had filled out and the makings of a messy short beard were coming in. Mostly everything about the guy looked different, but one thing Peter noticed remained the same. The guy looked as awkward as ever, as if his body grew into his frame but his mind was uncomfortable with it.