Peter by day, Pan by night

Chapter 10

        When I open my eyes, he is gone and next to my foot is a bar of white soap and a large, clean towel. Where does he get this stuff? Does he make them? Or bring them from my world?

       Peter Pan is more powerful than I had first thought. And he is kinder too.

**

        I have never felt cleaner. My hair falls down my back in limp, wet curls. The blue dress twirls around my knees with each step I take. The scent of soap lingers on my skin.

        I peer into the clear water and watch my reflection ripple. I wonder what Peter will think.

        Peter materializes next to me. "You called?"

        "Stop doing that!" I scream. "Besides, I didn't call you."

        "Oh, sorry. I heard you think my name and..."

        I blush, how could I have forgotten so easily? "Stop reading my mind."

        "It's not like that. I can't help it. When a lost boy-or girl-says my name or thinks it, I can hear it. It is part of the magic. Part of being Peter Pan." He moves in front of me. His eyes trace my dress. "You look pretty."

        "Thank you. For everything." It might be because I am wearing a dress that should belong to a princess, but I suddenly realize he is several inches taller than me. I'm rather tall for a girl, which has helped scare off silly boys, but usually I feel awkward. But now as I look up at him, I feel like a lady for the first time in my life. "You're tall for a boy."

        "Not that tall." Peter smirks.

         Tall enough. Heat whispers across my cheeks and I shift my eyes away. The sun is already shifting towards the horizon. Where has this day gone? I shouldn't have wasted the morning. "What time is it?"

        He laughs. "Time doesn't exist here."

        "Oh, I forgot." I bite my cheek.

        "It is about late afternoon."

        Only a few more hours. "So if you don't have time, then how can you have days and nights?"

        "Well, it is almost like repeating the same day over and over. No seasons or changes. Neverland is always like this, caught somewhere between spring and summer."

        "I love it." I feel the sun warm on my skin and glance over the forest that will always be green. "But there is also something sad about it. I've grown up under Time's rule and now...I-I almost miss home."

        "What home? You never had one. Your world is broken, Wendy."

        "Yes, but it is real."

        "Are you saying Neverland isn't?"

        "This place is made of dreams and magic, but dreams are only supposed to last the night and magic is what stories are made of."

        "Even if nothing else here is real, I am real. I am standing right here before you. And I am real."

        "But how can I believe it? I know that any moment now I will wake up. Or you will send me back."

        Peter rubs his eyes. "I have no choice. If you stay here, something bad will happen. You will get hurt. I can't-I can't let that happen."

        "What about you and the lost boys? If it's not safe for me, then it isn't for you either. Besides, won't it be awfully boring living forever in the same old place?"

        "Your world has been the 'same old place' for thousands of years, it is just bigger. We can make our own adventures. And don't worry about us. Kelvin will be fine. He is a true lost boy. I would know, since I was the first lost boy."

        I narrow my eyes. "But that isn't all you are. Who are you, Peter Pan? Who are you really?"

        "I told you before-"

        "You aren't a monster. Now tell me the truth." I shake away the memory of his anger in the treehouse.

        "Fine, I am Neverland." Peter shifts his eyes away from me and I wonder if it means he's lying.

        "But then what is Neverland?"

        "It is a dream. Not mine, not yours. But the forgotten dream of the world."

        What? I massage my forehead. "I don't understand. You told me you were real-"

        "I am."

        "-but now you tell me this is all just a dream."

        Peter sits down in the air again and leans toward me. "You see, in your world, which used to be my world too, from the time they are old enough to talk, children pretend to be adults. They call it a game or their imagination. But it gets worst. You don't know what is coming, but I have seen glimpses of the future. Children aren't even children anymore. They grow up too fast."

        "So, you and the lost boys would rather not grow up at all."

        "Yes. It may not be what was meant to happen, but it is better than the alternative."

        "The alternative-as in getting old and dying." What would it be like to stay here? If there was no darkness, no curse, no danger. Would I be willing to never get a day older? Never turn from sixteen to seventeen? "You would rather live forever in one moment then live your life? I don't know if I can do that."

        "Oh." Peter nods his head. "Well, you won't have to. You're going back tonight." He holds up a hand, "And don't even try to change my mind."

        I fold my arms. "Yesterday, Bert told me that you would keep no girl in Neverland against her will."

        "What he says is true."

        "You won't keep me here against my will, but you will send me away against my will?"

        "To protect you, yes."