Peter Pan: The Unspoken Truth

Entry #13

Mrs. Mary Darling

THEY have always known that Wendy was a very special child. The minute Mrs. Darling gave birth to her first child, they know that her pale blue eyes were hiding something.

Her Dad being very busy around the post office and journaling business wasn't very much scared of Wendy's behalf. She was very well-behaved and was oddly quiet when she was little.

Naging normal naman ang pagpapalaki nila sa panganay nilang babae hanggang sa pinasok na nga nila ito sa mababang paaralan. Doon na nagsimula ang mga kakaibang pagkilos ni Wendy.

Noong bata pa lamang ito ay may mga kakaibang kinikilos na ito katulad na lamang ng pagiging matatakutin ni Wendy sa pagligo. Ayaw na ayaw niya ito. Nangingisay at nagwawala siya kapag nasa loob na siya ng malaking marmol na banyera.

Panay ang sigaw niya, na para bang ikamamatay niya ang pagbabad sa loob ng malaking banyera.

"Blood, blood, there's blood. Mom, black blood. Mommy please stop!" she always say the same words over and over again everytime she gets bathed. It was always a constant battle with Wendy, when it comes to bath time.

Pero binalewala lamang ito ni Mrs. Darling dahil baka may trauma lang si Wendy sa mga ganitong bahay, sa hindi nila alam na kadahilanan.

Pumasok si Wendy sa mababang paaralan—malapit lamang sa bahay nila. Dinadala siya sa paaralan ni Maggie at binabantayan din siya nito.

Isang araw no'ng naghihintay si Maggie sa labas ng eskwelahan, sa may upuan sa gilid ng lilim ng kahoy. May narinig siyang mga magulang na nagchichismisan tungkol kay Wendy.

"Oh I know, I've seen the child; how absolutely odd she was. My Johnny said she once screamed at him, saying his pencils were covered with blood and that he would die with all those bacterial organisms. She also said he was very dirty with all the crawling things he was bringing." Maggie heard one of the mother's hysterical voice said.

Maggie scooted a bit closer to the voices, she guess, was on the other side of the big tree she was leaning on.

"Goodness gracious, the child literally has problems. She might be a psychopath on the loose. You know that servant of Mrs. Digby?" she heard the woman paused, making Maggie moved much closer.

"The servant had hallucination problems too, that was why the poor lad accidentally poured arsenic on Mr. Halt's tea giving him diarrhea and permanent ulcer disease. Good thing she didn't put a lot." Maggie jumped at the sound of the school bell. The last few words of the gossip was inaudible, but she got the point. 

She rushed to get Wendy—grabbing the poor child's wrist which was still hanging on the straps of her satchel bag. "Where are we going grandma Maggie?" she tried to protest from the hard pull of her grandmother.

Maggie didn't reply, but simply gave Wendy a short worried look. Hindi nito mapagkakaila ang pagdadalawang isip sa bata. Batid niya na kakaiba ito, pero hindi niya alam na ganito na pala ang kahahantungan ng kakaibang kilos ni Wendy noon.

Matagal ng alam ni Maggie ang mga ganitong bagay. Binubugaw ito ng mga tao sa London, bilang iniisip kaagad nila na may sayad ang tao.

Nakakabahalang isipin na baka ito nga mangyari sa kanyang nag-iisang apong si Wendy. Ayaw nitong maging katatawanan ang bata sa lahat ng tao, bilang isang baliw. Kahit na alam niyang hindi ito totoo.

Matalinong bata si Wendy, limang taong gulang pa lang ito ay marunong na itong magbasa. Palagi siyang binabasahan ni Mrs. Darling gabi-gabi kaya nakahiligan din nito ang pagbabasa. Hindi kulang ang mga kaalaman ni Wendy, kaya nga lang ay espesyal ito.

Narating na nila ang bahay. Bilang ang bilis maglakad-takbo ni Maggie habang hila-hila si Wendy sa kanyang likuran.

"Mary, Mary, where are you?" she called on to Mrs. Darling which was baking cookies and making tea in the kitchen.

"I'm here, what is it?" Mrs. Darling was gorgeous as always, with her apron on, neatly tied hair ang curls falling ever so gracefully—framing her face.

Maggie breath in and out a couple of times before speaking, still holding on to Wendy. "Wait, I need to talk to you in private." she said, casting her gaze down to Wendy.

Pinasadahan ni Mrs. Darling ng tingin ang kanyang anak bago tinignang muli si Maggie sa mata. "Well uhm, Wendy sweetheart would like some cookies?" wika ni Mrs. Darling sabay yuko at bigay ng cookie kay Wendy.

Ipinatong nito ang kanyang kamay sa ulo ni Wendy. "Here's a deal. Why don't you go to your room and do your homework for a moment while Mommy finishes up these cookies. Later I'll bring some up for you." she explained.

Tumango-tango naman si Wendy at tumalikod na para kaagad na tahakin ang hagdanan. "Careful on the stairs darling. Don't run." pasigaw pero mahinhin paring tugon ni Mrs. Darling.

Bumalik ang tingin niya kay Maggie na ngayon ay nakaupo na sa harap ng lamesa ng dining room.

"What is it?" mahinang tanong ni Mrs. Darling sabay lapag ng isang basong tsaa sa harap ni Maggie.

"I think we really need to homeschool Wendy. I heard mothers complaining about her weird behavior earlier." Maggie explained, taking a sip of her tea in the process.

Mrs. Darling studied Maggie's face in confusion. "What do you mean weird?" she asked.

"One child detailed to his mother what Wendy said, she said to him that he could die from the bacterias she saw was seeing crawling on his things." Maggie exclaimed looking intensely on Mrs. Darling's eyes.

"And you suggest homeschooling her?" Maggie immediately answered with a nod.

They were stuck there weighing the consequences if ever they need to homeschool Wendy. She was always okay with being alone but it could be very bad for her condition too if they isolated her.

The odds were decided quite faster than expected. And once that school year of 1909-1910 ended, Wendy was homeschooled by her mother later on.

The homeschooling was actually good for Wendy making the next year somehow like the old days. Yet things became a bit topsy-turvy again after they knew Mrs. Darling was pregnant with Michael in her stomach.

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A/N: I am planning to enter this story in wattys2020 so fingers crossed for kasipagan para matapos ko po 'to. Laban lang, stay safe everyone.