Never Grow Old - Peter Pan

Chapter 2

Noah winced when his shirt scratched his back irritably again.  Scowling, he lay back on his bed springs; trying to avoid resting on his back, he lay uncomfortably on his side but was still able to see the ceiling. 

Bored, he puffed out his cheeks and tried to remember just a slither of a memory of his mother. He couldn't picture her eyes or her hair, he could just about remember a warm smile that created a tight knot in his chest. Why did she leave him here? 

After, he tried to remember his father. Somehow he began to think of the sea. He sighed with longing and imagined the cool tide reaching his bare feet. 

Everyone else was fast asleep, knowing they would need the rest for the next day in hell. Noah was gazing at the ceiling when he suddenly heard a shuffle. Quickly, his head snapped around to see the cause of the noise but found nothing. Noah took deep breaths to sooth his racing heart that pounded in his chest like a caged animal. 

You're just hearing things Noah. He thought to himself. Stop being paranoid. 

He heard it again, except this time it was louder. Instead of brushing it aside, Noah sat up and peered around the room. As he gazed all he could see - and he couldn't see much in the dark - were the bodies of boys lying asleep in their beds or rather bed frames. His wondering eyes stopped and the window where he swore he saw a shadowy form disappear. 

With furrowed eyebrows, Noah slipped from his bed frame and tiptoed over to the window. On his way, he stubbed his toe on one of the boy's beds and cursed underneath his breath, cautious not to wake anyone. Finally, with no more struggles (except the throbbing in his toe) he made it to the window and carefully opened the latch. He took a deep breath and shoved his head out of the window. 

All he could see was the dark night sky and smoke coming out of the chimneys of London. The fowl stench hit him like a punch to the face causing Noah to cringe away. Faintly, he could hear the traffic from the long hour workers finally travelling home.

Disappointed, Noah sighed and closed the window. He painfully lay back down in his bed and imagined what it would be like to have a family - how different it would be to his life now. However, he didn't wish for that life, in fact, all he wished for was to go to the seaside.