Peter Pan - The Boy Of My Dreams (OUAT)

Chapter 1 - Melody

Melody Lancaster sighed as she finally got home from another day of work. She was actually beginning to miss high school, considering every day of summer break is going to be another day of work. Right now her life is filled with double-shifts and quick lunches; but it will all be worth it when she finally gets the chance to escape this wretched town as she has dreamt of doing for so many years. Melody has never stepped foot outside of Haven. She grew up here, and right from the very beginning she dreaded every day of staying. The sixteen year old remembered when she first came to Haven, she was a very naive nine year old who was excited for her new life. She had been in a foster home since she was a baby, dropped off without a word or a clue of who the mother was. Of course, her new life wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

Sure, Melody has a home and a 'family' of her own. But she doesn't belong. She's the outcast of her family, her school, and sometimes it's like the entire town treated her as she didn't belong. Her two older sisters, Tara and Ashley, made her life a living hell from the very day she arrived. They would bully her, take her things, and spread rumours about her at school and around town. Sometimes the only thing Melody thought was keeping her sane was her little brother, Louis. He was her saviour, her hero of sorts. Every time she's feeling down, which is, admittedly, all the time, he comes to her rescue. The ten year old is always there for her when she needs him. Which is why she's taking him with her.

Melody has a plan. She's going to save up enough money to leave this place; leave all of her misery behind and start a new life. It will be her new beginning that she needed so much. Everything about her plan was perfect; except for Louis. Melody had spent days on end worrying and wondering about what to do when it came to her little brother, when finally she came to the realization that she needed him beside her. It might be selfish, but she could help him too! They could help each other and have the fresh start she always wanted for them, together.

As Melody collapsed on her green single bed, she pulled out a locked brown box from under her bed and pulled the key she always wore around her neck off to unlock it. It was the only thing her mother left with her, a small black key with intricate designs on it. A few years ago, Melody realized that this key was special; it could unlock wonderful things. It hadn't failed yet at unlocking anything she found. When she tried to look up what kind of key it was, she found a legend, a story really, of the skeleton key. It was said that the key could unlock anything the owner wished, as long as the owner's intentions were pure. Melody wasn't sure she believed this story, but she kept her key around her neck from that day on. As Melody stuffed her earnings of the week into her little box and hid it back under her bed, she laid down against her plush pillows and watched the sunlight peer through her yellow drapes and dance around the room. In a few minutes, she finally gave in to her exhaustion and drifted off into a deep sleep.

There was something wet lapping at her feet. Melody slowly opened her eyes to see a beautiful blue sky peering back at her, not a cloud in sight. She clambered to her bare feet and looked upon the sparkling ocean that reflected the sky. Her feet sank into the soft white sand around her as she tasted the salty air and heard the waves lapping against the beach. Tropical birds were singing an island song as they fluttered about the deep green of the jungle behind her. As Melody turned around and looked up at the tall trees, she whispered, "What a beautiful dream...". Wait, dream? Yes it was a dream, she realized. She was aware of everything around her, yet she wasn't really there. As Melody pondered her situation staring out at the ocean, a tingling feeling was prickling her neck, like she was being watched. She whipped around quick enough to see leaves flutter and a path begin to close in the dense jungle in front of her. It only took a second for Melody to start running.