Back to Neverland

Chapter 10 ✧

Chapter 10 ✧

"What are you doing, young lady?"

A smartly-dressed woman hovered over me, her face in a strict expression as she snatched the book from my table. She examined the work I had done on the blank spaces of the page and gave me a look of disappointment.

"Proper young ladies should be studying well instead of wasting time creating such childish fantasies." She told me, "You are too old for stories now, it is time to face reality."

"Wendy." I heard Mark call as I tore my eyes away from the fire. He had a concerned look on his face. "Are you okay? You were kinda spacing off."

"Sorry," smiling half-heartedly, I assured him, "it's nothing."

With that, I returned my gaze to the fireplace, watching as the orange flames gently flickered. Night had already fallen by the time we had returned from the campsite, but Peter was still out. The boys became uneasy because of this and couldn't fall asleep without knowing what happened to their leader. As for me, my mind was stuck repeating fragments of a past I had forgotten.

"What were you thinking, Wendy?" My father chastised me as I held John and Michael close, muffling their quiet sobs. "That was irresponsible of you! You are no longer a child."

"Dear," Mother tried to calm him, but he kept going on.

"And this letter from your teacher saying that you've been drawing on books instead of doing your work," he waved the piece of paper. "You go to school to learn, Wendy. You can never survive in the real world if all you do is spend your time daydreaming."

The scene then began to fade out, transitioning into darkness. The only light coming from the moon as it poured through the window; and in the deep night, two children were awake, exchanging stories with a small golden light flying around them.

"Wendy," The charming voice whispered in my ear, "come away with me. Leave this place and I'll take you someplace where you can dream all you want."

I whispered in return. "Do you promise that?"

Half of his face was covered in the darkness, but then the golden light would fly close and it would give me short glimpses of him. I would see the deep blue eyes that never looked away from me and the light auburn mess on his head, then I would see light splashes of freckles across his nose. The cocky grin never left his face as he answered, "I promise."

It was as though there was a secret that only the two of us shared, and the thought made me smile back at him. Then I would fall back into my bed and return to sleep while he flew out the window and disappeared with his glittering light, like the whole exchange itself was just a dream.

I must've been a trance for a long time as when I turned and looked at my companions, they had all nodded off. Even Mark had already fallen asleep with the twins leaning against him. Taking this opportunity to get some fresh air, I started making my way out of the hideout, when a voice stopped me.

"Where are you sneaking off to?" Andrew watched me with tired eyes, a mixture of wariness and worry in his expression.

Giving my most reassuring smile, I replied honestly, "I'm just going for a short walk."

"Should I accompany you?" He started to get up and I immediately stopped him.

"It's fine, Andrew!" I said, "You should rest. I promise I won't get myself lost."

He looked unconvinced, but returned to his position in the end. "I'm taking your word for that."

With that, he went back to sleep. I chuckled lightly then proceeded to exit the hideout, the chilly night air greeting me the moment I was outside. The sky was clear and only a few stars were out -- but even so, they did their best to illuminate the night. Everything seemed so serene, it was easy to forget the underlying chaos.