Forgotten Lost Boy

Chapter 5 | The Storyteller

Minhyun did not release your hand until you were all safely back in the hideout, but when he did, your fingers instantly began to tingle from the lack of warmth and you wished very much that he had not let go. Feeling a little embarrassed by the thought, you began to busy yourself by helping comfort the Lost Boys, some of whom were growing increasingly restless by all the current events.

"Did you see how the croc disappeared though?" Tums began, pacing back and forth, his curly locks bouncing upon his head. "And the ship and...what will be next, Min? Will the entire island disappear?" There were cries and shouts all around as all the Lost Boys began to grow hysterical, some running around, others sitting and crying in their beds and the rest clinging on to one another quietly, unable to comprehend just how dire the situation was.

"We won't let the island disappear," Minhyun told Tums, gently placing his arm around the younger boy's shoulder. "Don't lose hope yet. We'll find Peter, for sure," Minhyun smiled at him and a small smile grew on Tums's face, clearly reassured by Minhyun's hopeful words.

"I want Peter back," Munt quietly stated as he crawled under his blankets, his canopy bed swaying gently from his weight.

"Me too," Crabs nodded as he began sucking his thumb in a child-like manner, his happy disposition dampened. "Peter would know how to fix things."

"And he will," you gently told him before addressing all the Lost Boys. "We'll find Peter for sure and restore Neverland to its true form, I promise."

"A lady's promise is 'er word,' Lofty told the others. "Per'aps he'll be back in the morn."
"That's right!" Tums sat upon his bed of leaves, removing the dagger at his belt as he did so. "Maybe if we fall asleep now like good children, we'll wake tomorrow and find this has all been a bad dream."
"A bad dream?" Munt repeated.

"A bad dream! That's all this is!" Minhyun repeated, trying his best to convince them all to ease their worries.

"How about a story to help you all fall asleep?" At the mention of a story, all the Lost Boys perked up and immediately settled in their beds. "You should tell them the story you always used to tell me when we were younger," Minhyun turned to you as he sat down upon one of the tree trunk stools, "The one about the Princess and her glass heart."

"A princess?" Crabs perked up. "Is she a lovely princess?"
"All princesses are lovely princesses," Tums told him in a matter-of-fact manner.

"But why does she have a glass heart?" Munt asked as he pulled his blanket up to his small freckled nose.

You glanced across at Minhyun, surprised by his request, his brown eyes sparkling, eagerly waiting for you to tell the tale. Once again, there was a memory there of you both having spent time together when you were younger yet you could not recall it whatsoever. Why had you forgotten all these happy times which you had spent with the boy next door? Where had those memories disappeared to? Had you just been too young to remember them the way Minhyun did? You just could not make sense of it, no matter how hard you tried.

"Once upon a time," you began as you sat upon the stool beside Minhyun. "There lived a beautiful, kind and intelligent Princess and inside of her, her heart was made of glass. She had been born this way, her fragile heart beating inside of her, a constant reminder of how she was different to everyone else. Everyone in the palace treated her with so much care, doting on her constantly that she began to feel smothered. They never let her out of their sight, in fear that she might fall and tragically break her heart. She was hardly allowed to do anything in the palace and she began to grow restless and sad, feeling like she had no purpose. After all, what good was a life lived without taking risks and having adventures?"