I Dream of Fairies and of You | Peter Pan (2003)

i. stuck

Instead, the blonde passed by groups of girls who gossiped and spoke of boys to one another, hoping to court the young man of a wealthy family to bring a higher status to their family name. Others were talking about men they had already managed to snag and were set for life.

As for Clarisse; she had no such luck due to her family history.

Once her mother had given birth to her beautiful baby, she had unexpectedly fled one fateful night, leaving Clarisse's father, Edward Wood, alone to care for her. That was enough to get the town talking about the broken family, even though Clarisse and her father's relationship was far from broken. At the time, he was heartbroken that the love of his life had left him, but as he admired the baby that had laid in his arms, little noises coming out of her mouth, he knew that his love for her overwhelmed the pain. With that love rushing through his soul, he knew that he would do anything and everything to bring her up to have a decent life and in the end, he did a wonderful job. Clarisse had been surrounded by so much love and care during her younger years, even if her father had to work extra hours at the bank in order to provide for the two.

It wasn't until Clarisse had turned eleven that the medical issues began to quickly progress for him. At first, it was just a headache or a backache. Something a warm towel or a bath could fix. But then it progressed to the point where her father couldn't work anymore. Eventually, a doctor was brought in only to reveal that he was suffering from a weak heart.

Her father died that year surrounded by the little family he had. Of course, he wouldn't leave Clarisse alone, so in his will, his brother was left to care for the young girl and to receive the funds necessarily saved for her. In the end, that money obviously wasn't used for its intended purposes. William Wood had spent a decent sum of the money on gambling at things like horse races and lost a decent sum of it. Along with that, he never really liked his niece. All she brought was shame to the Wood family name ever since she was born. William never did anything to hide this distaste from her.

And so, now sixteen, even walking through the schoolyard with all the mannerisms a young woman should, she knew small glances were being sent her way, only for all of their minds to be reminded of the girl without a mother or father, and the girl who had, unwittingly, made potential suitors shy away from pursuing her hand.

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"The Pythagoras theorem," Clarisse answered with confidence in her arithmancy lesson. There was definitely a reason she was able to take the pleasure of a middle-class private school without the lightness in her pockets being felt. With her seemingly advanced mind, the professors knew from the young woman's marks that she would be a wonderful addition to their class, "was at first used by the Pythagoreans, then by Plato, then by Aristotle."

The blonde's cheeks heated up slightly at the focus obviously centered around her, but luckily, her professor nodded and continued with the lesson, sending a warning glance at her for nodding off. It wasn't even that Clarisse wanted to fall asleep in class! She always slept well through the night but recently, her body had always felt the need to sleep and dream. Today the urge to close her eyes had become so strong it hurt to keep them open, so she let them close against her will and found herself back on top of a boulder that overlooked a vast ocean. It seems I am back on this beach from my dreams...

And with that thought in mind, Clarisse took a quick peek at the blue waters, only to find a peculiar ship resting far away in the deep waters. Strange... that's never been there before- A rustling in the jungle leaves behind her turned her attention away. "Is anybody there?"

There was no response. The young woman was about to ignore it when the sounds of movement came again. Her curiosity took over, and she made her way off the boulder towards the place where golden met green. She inched her way towards one large palm leaf seemed to move on its own accord. Reaching her hand out, she touched the leaf, ready to shift it to reveal whatever laid behind it- SNAP!