Never Land

Chapter One

            Wendy woke laying on the ground, her skin itching from the grass that surrounded her.  She turned her head to the side as a groan left her lips from the amount of pain she was in. Her body felt like it was hit with a ton of bricks or even worse, had fallen from a skyscraper and landed directly on the concrete sidewalk. She patted the ground beneath her, her hands touching twigs and berries. Opening her eyes slightly, her blurred vision stilled focusing on the berry she held between her fingers. Rolling the berry between her index finger and thumb confusion ran through her. Why was she holding a berry? Where were there any berries near her? Letting the berry fall from her grasp she sat up taking in her surroundings. Fear easily consumed her, taking over her confusion as she turned in circles staring at the various tree’s surrounding her, birds chirps flowing through the air. The trees stood tall, branches of leaves creating canopies above her head while the clouds looked soft as cotton balls. Returning her gaze to her level she jumped clutching her hand against her chest as seven pairs of eyes filled with curiosity stared back at her.

            Wendy looked at the group of boys who stood in front of her blocking her path, returning their gaze with her own looks of curiosity. Each boy had a different look and age to them but all shared similar clothing style;  a plain t-shirt, sleeves rolled to their shoulders and jeans that were rolled at their ankles or a few inches below their knee.  “Hi,” Wendy said, her voice raspy, while her fingers played with the hem of her sleeve. Neither one of the boys bothered to reply to her. “Do you know where I am?” she asked with hopeful eyes, her gaze lingering between each boy; one who looked to be around twelve with red curly hair and brown eyes whose cheeks were bright red, another resembling a thirteen year old with brown hair and brown eyes,  a fourteen year old with blond hair and green eyes, another fourteen year old with curly blond hair and brown eyes, two twins who appeared to be about sixteen, both with black hair and brown eyes, and the eldest looking one, around the age seventeen with brown hair and hazel eyes. “Where are you?” the eldest boy chuckled, “how do you not know?” Wendy looked at the boy with confusion, “I don’t think I’d be asking if I did know.” The youngest boy looked at Wendy and whispered to the blond hair boy beside him, loud enough for everyone to hear “she’s pretty.” Wendy smiled softy, giggling quiet to herself while the eldest glared down at the youngest for opening his mouth. “What do we do with her?” one of the twins asked the eldest, looking between him and Wendy. Wendy stood in her spot, ignoring the boys discussion by watching the tree’s ripple in the wind and kicking the sticks around her feet. “Take her to Pan,” he said turning his back to them leading the way into the forest, “he’ll know what to do.” Wendy’s eyes followed the boy through the brush of the trees and bushes, her gaze landing on the five boys who were waiting for her. “Come on lady,” one of the twins said nodding his head in the direction of the disappearing boy. Wendy scrunched her nose in disgust walking towards the boys, “my name’s Wendy, not lady, lady makes me sound old.” The other boys chuckled at her reply and made their way into the forest with Wendy at tow.        

            Walking through the forest Wendy couldn’t help but smile to herself as she took in the nature beside her. Sure, she was confused and scared as to where she was, for she had no idea how she ended up in this place but all of her worry was put at bay. Something about being wherever she was made her feel calm and at peace, she couldn’t help but feel happy and curious as to where she was at. Leaves blew in the air, while trees danced their branches flowing in the wind. Various light glowed in between branches of darkness, flickering around in different colors matching faint ringing sounds. The boys in front of Wendy talked amongst each other, cracking jokes and laughing, often causing one of them to trip over a root resulting in various forms of laughter. Wendy looked down at her hand which was being pulled by the youngest boy of the group. His hand seemed tiny compared to hers, his nails chewed down to the quick which were covered in dirt. “Can you tell me where I am?” Wendy asked the boy as they continued to walk along the trail, “No, Fox will get mad.” Her eyebrows furrowed at his response, “Fox?” Pulling on Wendy’s arm to go faster the boy quickened his pace to keep up with the older boys, “yes, Fox he’s older, Pan puts him in charge when he isn’t around.” “And who are you?” she asked, trailing the boy. “Me,” he said, “I’m Curly,” he smiled big showing his straight white teeth, his cheeks turning an even brighter red. Curly turned back towards the other boys following them to the end of the trail, “stand here,” he whispered to Wendy, pointing to the spot behind the boys. “Fox, there you guys are!” a voice yelled, “where were you?” Scratching his head, Fox left the group walking towards the figure whom was standing on a tree branch, “Pan,” he paused, “we found something in the forest.” Pan’s eyebrows shot up in excitement, amusement as he jumped down from the branch, smoothly landing on the ground “really? What is it?” “Well I wouldn’t really call it an it,” Fox mumbled to himself turning around nodding to the boys to show Pan what was behind them. The twins stood to the side while Curly pushed Wendy out of hiding towards Pan. Pan’s eyes widened as if they were going to pop out of his head, his mouth opening forming a perfect ‘o’ shape, “Wendy?” Wendy’s facial expressions matched Pan’s, her heart beating rapidly against her chest which she was sure could be possibly heard throughout the forest. She took a step closer to the boy her shock easily turning into happiness, her lips forming into a smile, “Peter?”