Chasing Neverland: A Retelling | ✔️

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Days turned into weeks after Evelyn was laid to rest. The Darling's worked hard to bring normalcy back into their home, but Wendy knew that things would never quite be the same, at least not for her.

She was beginning to give up hope of making contact with Evelyn as Wendy had not yet received any kind of sign to indicate she was okay and in a better place. Wendy knew in her heart Evelyn would make good on their promise to each other if she was able to.

Maybe you are only able to come back if you are stuck somewhere in between, Wendy often wondered. She didn't want her friend to be stuck anywhere so she held on tight to the dream that there was a God and a heaven and that Evelyn was too content to leave, even to keep a promise to her friend.

Maybe she's someone's guardian angel, Wendy feverishly hoped.

Each day faded into the next and nothing seemed to keep Wendy's mind busy. She tried not to think of Evelyn all the time, but memories and questions consumed her.

She spent most of her days painting on the big white wall in her bedroom, the one her Dad had prepared for her. But she found that all of her artwork turned into pictures of Evelyn...as she was when she was alive, and then how Wendy imagined her now, as an angel. She would paint Evelyn with colorful wings, adorned with the most intricate designs. Every day after she finished her school work, she would lock herself in her room and work on her murals for hours.

Her doctors had decided to switch up her medications a bit because her blood counts were still not where they hoped they would be. The new meds made Wendy feel sick to her stomach. Her nausea medication was her best friend these days, and she had lost some weight from not eating much.

Sometimes, Wendy would think about her life before she had gotten sick. It made her sad to know how much she had changed over the past year. She'd always taken such pride in her appearance. Not that she was the most beautiful girl at her school, but she knew she was attractive. Wendy never wore much makeup; the truth was she didn't need to. She'd always possessed a healthy glow about her, pink cheeks and bright blue eyes framed by long black eyelashes, and a beautiful smile with full lips and thick brown, sun kissed hair.

She stood in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom and stared at her reflection. Her cheeks were more hollow-looking these days and her eyes were an empty shade of blue.

Now the only glow I have is from constant nausea, she mused sullenly.

But the hardest blow for her was her hair. Wendy touched the long caramel locks that fell in soft waves around her shoulders and gently gave them a tug, revealing her smooth head underneath.

Slowly, she ran her hand over her bare skin. It was still such a shock to see herself that way. The doctors had warned her that she would probably lose her hair with the chemo treatments, but nothing could have prepared her for it actually happening.

Her parents were very supportive, telling her that she looked beautiful either way, but she had chosen to get a wig anyway, and only took it off in the privacy of her own room. She didn't want anyone to see her with no hair - she felt like it was a constant reminder of her illness.

Wendy's eyes filled with tears as she stared at herself in the mirror. She felt as if her old life was a dream that had never really happened. Almost as though there was no such thing as life before leukemia, only life after.

Her family tried to carry on with everyday things like normal. They made sure to always be in present at John's after-school activities, and they continued to cheer Michael on at his sporting events. They also carried on with their tradition of family game night every Friday, and would picnic at the lake when Wendy was feeling up to it. But Wendy's predicament was always looming overhead, like a big black cloud ready to burst.