Finding Darla
"Wait, you are how old?" Darla asked as she walked along the curb of the street.
"Well I suppose I'm 20 in this realm."
"What do you mean this realm?"
"You wanna go somewhere with me?" Peter liked this girl, she was direct and seemed fun. But he didn't know if he liked all her questions.
"You are a complete stranger who doesn't give straight answers and you want me to go somewhere with you?"
"Yeah." Her question is so obvious, Peter thought as he positioned himself right in front of her. Why wouldn't she want to go somewhere with him?
"Where?"
"Neverland."
"Like the fairy tale?" Her voice mocked Peter.
"Yeah, Neverland." Peter looked her straight in the eyes and tried to urge her to believe him.
"Neverland," she repeated.
"Yes..." maybe Peter didn't want to show this person Neverland.
"Well I have work tomorrow..." she said with fake concern.
"If you come with me you will be in a place where dreams are born and time, time is never planned."
"Sounds like an interesting place to be when the World Series is going on."
"The world what?" Peter questioned
"How on earth would I know when to put WGN on?" She laughed as her eyes grazed over him.
"Never mind, you don't understand." Peter said giving up on the girl. "You couldn't possibly even imagine all the fun you might have outside of the world you leave behind."
He sat down on the curb and she did the same looking over at him skeptically. It had been a while since he brought anyone back to Neverland, let alone a girl, a woman. She isn't the one Peter decided and started to turn away from her.
"Ok," she finally said and stood up and straightened, as she looked to the sky. "Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning right?" Peter opened his mouth to speak, she knows the story, she doesn't believe it though.
"Yes." Peter's voice stayed bitter and harsh, she was still mocking him.
"Let's go then," she said and bent over to tie her shoes laces tighter. "Should we sprinkle a little pixie dust on us and get on up there?!" She was laughing well, trying to contain her laughter but failing. Fine she wants to play it this way Peter thought as he watched her. Peter rose suddenly and grasped her hand pulling her with him. She stumbled to keep up with his pace. Then Peter stopped right in the middle of the empty street, right on the corner of Peach circle and Daisy drive.
"Okay," she spoke slowly and started to giggle again, but before she could say anything else Peter put his fingers in his lips and blew. The whistle sounded like magic to his ears as he heard Tinkerbell coming.
"You ready to go for a whirl?!"
"Oh yeah," her voice was still sarcastic and she expected Peter to give up this charade. But she would see soon enough that this fantasy was real, Peter thought as Tinkerbell grew nearer.
"Hey Tink," Peter said as her green glow appeared before him. Only now as Darla noticed the small glowing figure did her smile fade and eyes grow in wonder. "Tink this is Darla. Darla, this is Tink." Tink fluttered up to Darla's face and Darla leaned back in shock, horror, and confusion. Her face looked pale making Tink back off a bit and land gently on Peter's shoulder. "You ready Darla?" She was still speechless. "Okay Tink, let's go." Tinkerbell bounced up and down around Peter and then begrudgingly to Darla. The lost boys' pizza would have to wait.
"Think happy thoughts?" Darla said rolling her eyes, she thought this was all just some sort of trick.
"Think happy thoughts." Peter said mimicking her taunting expression. Peter thought of how much the lost kids would love Darla and her toothy smile and he started to rise and at that so did she.
"Peter," she said softly as her feet moved from the ground. "You weren't lying?" her voice cracked and faltered.
"No, no I wasn't. And I won't lie to you. Ever." She looked to Peter with a small smile and the corners of her lips grow until her smile was as large as the stars themselves.
"What do you mean this is all real?" Tinkerbell had disappeared and although the flight was remarkable Darla couldn't believe what just happened. It couldn't be real. "Did you drug me?" she demanded as she looked to Peter, anger filled her once joyous face.
"You do remember flying here don't you?" Peter was so confused, first she was embracing the thought of Neverland being real and now she was accusing him of drugging her?!
"Yeah..." She said slowly turning in a circle trying to figure out what part of Chicago they were flying over. "But, people can't fly, it is science and God didn't create people to fly on their own." She stopped turning and looked to Peter who still thought her logic was ridiculous and was laughing her at confusion. "Scientists invented planes so people can fly with assistance."
"Fairy dust and happy thoughts are assistance." Darla gave Peter a look of annoyance. She was a girl of logic and reason and fairy dust and flying seemed ludicrous to her. Real or not she had it set in her mind what was real and what wasn't.
"You know what I mean or maybe you don't. You really believe that you are Peter Pan? Like The Peter Pan?"
"I don't just believe it Darla, I am him. I am the one, the only Peter Parker Pan."
"Ha!" Darla burst out laughing. "Peter Parker Pan?" She couldn't keep a straight face. "So you are a fairy tale character and a super hero."
"Well I do fight pirates and-"
"Peter Parker is spider man... a fictional character just like Peter Pan... just," Darla's words drifted off when a short wide boy with berries plastered all over his face came flying out of a tree and plummeting down on his big bum.
"Wendy?" The little boy asked as he jumped up shaking his butt free of dirt.
"No," Darla stuttered as he approached her.
"No little John, Wendy is long, long gone and you know that." John nodded but he didn't take his eyes off of Darla. "Wendy went back home... this is Darla."
"A new Wendy?" He asked still obviously confused.
"No," Darla said, smiling down at the boy. All seriousness now gone, Darla decided she was going to play along with this stupid game they were playing. "But I would love to be the new Wendy." Peter rose a brow, arched in confusion but pleasantly surprised. "Little John?"
"Yes, new Wendy?"
"Call me Darla though, not Wendy."
"Darla," he repeated "like the Darlings. Darla, Darling, Darla, Darling, Darla-" Darla put a hand on John's shoulder silencing him, his face lit with a smile at her touch. Darla looked back to Peter with a look of bewilderment. He had everyone here playing his game of Peter Pan and the lost boys?
"Now," Darla gave the kids a devious smile. "Where are those pirates, I need to help to save Neverland!" She announced, putting her hands on her hips examining the area of lush green trees and vibrant flowers.
"Neverland is in danger?" Little Johns wide brown eyes bolted to Peter for reassurance.
"No, Neverland is fine. Darla is just..." he looked to Darla who was laughing quietly to herself. "Darla is just being mean, and we don't need her here. She is not the new Wendy. There will never be another Wendy." Darla stopped laughing and acted offended.
"Are you insulting my lack of fictionality?"
"Time to go," Peter said reaching for Darla's muscular arm but she pulled it away from him moving swiftly through the trees. She was going to explore this fake land. Where had he taken her? Darla thought as she looked around the area and saw that something about this place was unlike any place she had ever been. The trees where much taller and some had holes, large enough for people to fit through. The flowers were neon and their shapes were unlike any flower Darla had ever seen and she knew a lot of flowers; her mother worked at a botanical garden.
The further she moved she saw more and more of what seemed to be an elaborate Neverland impersonation. Peter rushed behind her but kept his distance observing her reaction to a real mermaid and what she thought of Neverland.
"Hello little darling," a silky voice said causing Darla to jump back stepping into a mud puddle.
"Fantastic," Darla said pulling her foot out, Peter snickered.
"Who are you?" The voice asked. Darla looked around but still didn't see anyone. The silky smooth voice turned sour and bitter. "I said who are you? What are you doing here? How did you get here?"
"For starters," Darla said spinning around still attempting to find the voice. "I don't know where 'here' is. Peter Pan..." Darla laughed saying his name aloud "you know the fictional character?! Well, he drugged me and brought me here. I think I want to go home, but this place..." she held her arms out wide admiring her surroundings. "This place is beautiful, where are we?" Peter leaned against the old willow crossing his foot over his leg and his short blonde hair flicking in the slight breeze.
"Oh, so you're a friend of Peter's?"
"Well, I don't know if I would say friend..." Darla said still unable to find the mysterious voice.
"I love Peter," the voice said suddenly, harshly, "and you can't have him."
"I don't want-" but before Darla could explain she was drenched with salt water. Peter burst out laughing, she turned her sights on him and was about to charge him, make him take her home, but she saw where the water had come from. A mermaid, a beautiful golden tailed creature whipping her tail up once again to smack Darla with more of her bath water.
"He is mine." She stated plainly, her voice wasn't filled with anger or desire but fact. This mermaid would have him one way or another.
"YOU CAN HAVE HIM!" Darla barked taking off her jacket and whipping it free of water. "I want to go home." But she didn't, she wanted to get closer to see if this was real, this couldn't be real. But, her whole self was covered in salt water and she smelled of fish. But still she wanted to pull at the mermaids tail and reveal the fraud under the tail. She wanted to bring all these children home because it was much too late for them to be playing in the forest.
"You don't like it here?" the mermaid asked, her voice went back to smooth and silky as she brushed out her hair with a purple shell.
"Oh, I love it here" Darla wasn't getting anywhere by yelling, so soft sarcasm was her last resort. "I love being splashed by monsters in bikinis and watching children fall from the sky. I also love being drugged and brought to strange lands. It's great here." Peter saw that she was upset and knew that he had to return her soon. Any longer in Neverland and she might try and kill him. And besides, it was a long ride back to Chicago and he didn't want her to entirely hate him.