Neverland (Based on the movie Pan)

Pirates

One Year Later

You've gotten used to the disgusting food and the uncomfortable cot. The witch still hasn't gotten you the proper bed she promised. Your old clothes have been switched out for a rough canvas shirt and pants. Your warm wool jacket was replaced with a dark green cotton one that doesn't keep the cold out. The one upside of the new outfit was the shoes. You had received sturdy leather lace-up boots which you liked very much. The outfit was in good shape, not ripped or worn-out yet, like some of the boys' clothing. No one had realized you were a girl yet, and you were only eleven, so you had a few more years before your chest gave it away. You liked your new life, and there was only one worry. Some of the boys had been disappearing during the night. You weren't precisely terrified, you just really did not want to find out first hand where the missing children went.

After curfew, you lay awake in bed. You have a feeling that someone is watching you. Click. Rip. Muffled yell. Silence. You sit bolt upright just in time to see a child ripped from his bed. Click. A man dropped down from the ceiling on a rope. He snatched another child and zipped back up through the roof. You stare in awe as pandemonium ensues, masked men zipping up and down through the ceiling, snatching children. The entire orphanage is awake, running around the room, yelling their lungs out and trying to avoid being snatched. Click. You look around for the source of the last click. You are yanked from your bed and up through the roof. You yell as loud as you can, and a hand clamps over your mouth. "No yelling, boy!" A gruff voice whispers in your ear. You are dumped on a hard wooden floor. You sit up and rub your shoulder where it hit the ground. When you look around, your mouth drops open. You are sitting in the middle of a huge pirate ship. A pirate ship that is floating in midair. "Whoa!" you gasp, staring around at your unbelievable surroundings.

Your next thought is "I need to get off this ship!" You vault over the rail and start climbing down a rope dangling off the side. You're almost to the ground when the rope is reeled in. You look up and see a man hauling you in. You reach the end of the rope, but it's no use. The ground is too far away to jump. The man pulls the rope in, and you along with it. He grabs your arm and drags you over the rail onto the ship. He throws you down the stairs and into the belly of the ship, where all the children are safely stowed away. locking the door behind you. You sit on the floor amongst the other children, who are in various stages of shock, fear, anger, and mortification.  

Eventually, the door opens again, and a man herds all the children onto the deck.  You hear chanting, a loud chorus of children's voices mixed with adults'. The ship is gliding through a stone tunnel just big enough for the ship to sail through. There is light at the end, and the closer you get to the tunnel entrance the louder the singing gets. The ship's crew is also chanting, but you don't care enough to listen to the words. When the ship exits the tunnel, you see a deep valley riddled with holes. It's a mining camp of some sort, with hundreds and hundreds of boys of all ages clustered around the valley. "Kneel!" The crew yells, so you do. You don't want to, but you've always learned that a good first impression makes a difference. "He is the pirate all pirates fear!" The man says. "The original nightmare, the man they call Blackbeard!!" 

Coming around the corner is another flying pirate ship. The man standing on it is terrifying. He is dressed in some sort of fearsome black armor on top, and poofy black pantaloons. You almost laugh at his atrocious choice of outfit, but you decide it will only cause you trouble. He is muttering the words of the song, moving swiftly through the large crew of his ship. He walks out onto a platform sticking out from the side of the ship. Everyone immediately goes silent. No one has even dared to breathe. "Welcome to... NEVERLAND!!!!" Blackbeard shrieks and the valley erupts in cheers. "Sweet, gentle children..." Blackbeard croons "You who weep molten pearls of innocent tears... dry them, dear neighbors, for I have sprung you from life's cruel dungeon..." You roll your eyes. He had not saved you from any dungeon. He had taken you from your warm bed in the middle of the night and brought you to this dung heap of a mine. "And hereby grant you LIBERTY!" You are annoyed at this man for making him seem like the situation you are in is a good one. "Suffer no more! Come onto me, you are home!" This is not my home! you think angrily. And I was never suffering in the first place.  

"Here you join orphans alike from every corner of the globe. Every race and color. Every age and era. You are pioneers, brave creators of a new society, for this, my poppets, is a land of opportunity!" The pirates cheer, but the orphans down below stay quiet. They've obviously not enjoyed their time in the mines. Their faces are covered in grime, their clothes ripped to tatters from years of hard work. "But justice is divine. My rules are so simple you could write them on a pig's ear." He laughs. "In fact, I have!" One of the pirates hands him a disgusting pink pig's ear, and you make a puking gesture. "Rule number one," Blackbeard says. "Those who work with bright, honest vigor will be rewarded with prizes, trophies, and confectionery." The valley erupts in cheers again, only to be silenced by Blackbeard. "Rule number two. Those who fail to work hard. Those who skive and malinger will hereby know the brooding majesty of my disapproval! Mark me well, I know no pity, no second chances, I don't do mercy. But remember! Don't forget!" He growls menacingly. "To help yourself to lots and lots of jolly old fun!" He laughs at the end. "And yet again, WELCOME TO NEVERLAND!!!!!!!"