VOLATILE (I) : peter pan ouat

When Deafness Happened

When Deafness Happened

Day: 7

I wake up on the cold forest floor. Sleep must have crawled up and taken me into its arms after I escaped Pan. I don't know where I am.

I slowly stand up, stretching my back and looking around. I am so hungry. I've got to find food soon.

I take a step forward, yawning. My own stench fills my mouth; so strong I can taste it. I haven't brush my teeth in a week, nor have I bathed. I understand why all the clothing in the tent smells awful now. It's because the boys haven't bathed in hundreds of years.

I look around, trying to spot any source of food. There's a lump in my side so I reach in my cloak and pull out my dagger. I don't remember picking it up when I ran from him. I don't remember anything from when I ran from him, other than his eerie green glare.

I stop walking and collapse onto the forest floor, dry-heaving. The dagger is cold in my hands. I wonder if it felt cold against his throat. I wonder if he was scared. I wonder if he is even capable of being scared. I'm scared.

I throw the dagger away from me, as I lie back on the ground. I breathe in and out heavily. I almost killed someone. I am Pan.

I stand up, and pick the sickly dagger up and place it back in my cloak. I continue walking through the forest, my feet hitting stone and roots as I trudge along. I'm not scared anymore. I'm just very tired. I need to find food.

I continue to walk, searching for anything. I see some berries on a bush. I quickly scarf them down, starving. The berries dye my hands a bright red. Blood.

I continue walking.

I reach the beach. Somehow, every time I am at the shore it seems that I am at a different part of the island. The sand here is pink. Tall rocks surround the area, making a circular sort of circular wall between me and the sea. I walk forward, into the circle. In the center of the water there are a few boulders. I trudge up and into the circle, and sit myself down on one of the boulders.

I scream.

It echoes along the walls and is sent out to sea. I wonder if the mermaids heard me, or if Captain Hook did. Pan Flute said there were no pirates; and Tiger Lily was a tiger after all, so I doubt she did.

A head bobs up in the water and smiles at me. She has long blonde hair, and a beautiful grin. Eerily beautiful.

Mermaid.

I back up immediately, centering myself on the boulder. All I have learned about the mermaids on this island leads me to believe they are going to drown me.

She continues to smile, almost like she's giggling silently. The waves crash against the rock but she manages to stay stationary in the water.

"Are you going to drown me?" I ask.

She doesn't answer, just continues to smile. I catch a glance back to the shore. I won't make it back; that is if she is trying to kill me.

She cocks her head to the side, then turns around to face the sea. She looks out at it for a few seconds before turning back to me, grinning, and bobbing back underwater.

I stand up on the rock, and spin around, looking for her in the water. She is not there. I can't figure out if she is good or evil.

"Do come down from there." Pan Flute behind me demands.

I violently turn to face him, my feet slipping on the rock.

I pause and stare at him. "No."

He struts closer to me. "Don't tell me I broke you already. Come down now, it's not safe up there."