My Darling Pan
Written By Grace Franks
Based on the Works of J. M. Barrie
My name is Wendy Moira Angela Darling, and when I was twelve I ran away with a boy, named Peter Pan. Now many of you know the story; the one I told J. M, Barrie, however, I told James that my two little brothers came to Neverland with me. That I can tell you was a lie, along with many other things. I am here to tell you the truth and along with it uncover some secrets I have been keeping for a very long time. My name is Mrs. Peter Pan, and this is the untold story of Neverland.
Our story begins on a night like any other, the moon shone high in the night sky and the stars watched over the children like guardian angels. Mother was reading a book to my two brothers, John and Michael, while I made up a story in my head. My brothers laughed so I turned and saw Nana licking Mothers face. Normally you would find it odd; your nurse licking you mothers cheek, however not many families have a dog as their nurse. Thats when I saw it, right in the corner of my eye. it was only for a second but I swore I saw a boy looking in through the window. Now it could not be a street beggar, as many might of thought it would be, because the nursery is on the second floor of the house. No street beggar could ever climb that high. As soon as I saw the boy though, he was gone. I did not even get a good look at him. The only thing I did remember were his brown eyes staring at me as though I would disappear if he looked away. I realised I must have been still thinking about my story and my imagination must have slipped into reality, so I did not tell Mother about the boy for all she would do is worry. Once Mother had said goodnight my brothers and I fell off to sleep. Yet the boy at the window creeped into my dreams and his piercing brown eyes haunted me throughout the night.
A whole week passed before I saw the boy again. It was during the night as well; though this time he came inside through the nursery window. I pretended to be asleep so the boy did not notice me staring at him. He was strange, he did not wear what young men wore, he did not walk as young men walked, and from the look of it he still had all his baby teeth. As the minutes ticked by the boy looked through my drawers, in my dollhouse, and under my brothers beds; he was looking for something but I did not know what. Eventually he left the same way he entered and I was left with thoughts of a boy clad in dirt and wearing an outfit fashioned out of autumn leaves that rustled as he walked.
The night on which the first of many of my adventures have said to take place was the night I learned of the boy with the brown eyes name. I lay awake in my bed as Nana howled from outside in the garden. Nana broke the rules today so Father punished her by making her sleep outside. I wondered if Mother and Father were having a pleasant time at the ball they were attending. When the nursery window started to open I was given quite the shock. For it was not the boy but a small figure surrounded by light that was lifting the window. The harder I looked the more I noticed about the strange figure. It was only about three feet tall and its shaggy blonde hair fell across its dirty face. you could even say it was a dragonfly if you weren’t looking hard enough. The dragonfly was very furtive as it flew into the nursery and searched the room thoroughly. Whatever it was looking for it seemed it had not found it for it made the most high pitched sound I have ever heard. I writhe at the sound and a shiver runs up my spine.
Not soon after that the boy walked in, no not walked flew. I do not know how I have not noticed it before but this boy actually flies. He talks to the dragonfly and heads off into the hallway where he searches through the chest of drawers where my mother keeps all her linen. Suddenly what looks to be a shadow flies out of one of the drawers. The boy grabs the shadow by the foot at tackles it to the floor of the nursery. He sits just below my bed now, trying to get the shadow attached to him. I realised it must be his shadow for he has not got one. I finally muster up the courage to speak to the boy.
“Boy, what are you doing on my floor may I ask?” I say calmly even though my heart races faster than a cheetah chasing a gazelle across the African plains.
“I’m trying to get my shadow to stick but no matter what I do it does not work” The boy replies.
“I could sew it for you” I say a bit too quickly.
“ Okay, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try”
As soon as he says that I am off to the chest of drawers to get our sewing box. I sit back down beside him on the nursery floor and bring out a needle and some string. I thread the string through the needle and get to work. In less than three minutes the shadow is attached to the boy and his grin grows immensely that it almost reaches those bright brown eyes of his.
“Oh the cleverness of me!” He exclaims.
“Of course I did nothing”
“Well you did a little”
“goodnight then” I climb into bed and close my eyes. I hear the rustling of the leaves of his outfit and hear him whisper in my ear.
“ My name is Peter by the way. Peter Pan.” I sit up nearly knocking him in the face on the way up.
“My name is Wendy Moira Angela Darling, it is nice to meet you Peter. Pray where is your mother Peter?”
“ I don’t have a mother”
“Father?”
“I have no father either Wendy”
“why Peter?”
“ I heard them once talking of when I should become a man, so I ran away. That is when I found Tink.”
“Tink?”
“Yes my fairy Tinkerbell. She is awfully fast and likes to hide from me when I am not looking.”
“But Peter there is no such thing as” Before I can finish my sentence Peter has a hand over my mouth and I am pushed up against the wall.
“Do not ever say that, for every time someone says that a fairy somewhere drops down dead.” At that exact second the dragonfly I saw earlier flies out from its hiding spot and rests upon Peter’s shoulder. It is then that I realise it is not a dragonfly but the fairy Peter talked about. Tinkerbell. I take a closer look and see a girl with pointed ears and a sharp and prominent face that looks as though it was made of glass and would break at the lightest of touches.
“Wendy run away with me.” Peter says dissipating my daydream of glass fairies and dragonflies.
“ What did you say Peter?!”
“Runaway with me, runaway with me to Neverland”
“What on Earth is Neverland?”
“ Neverland is where I live, it’s a place where you never have to grow up and you don’t have any parents telling you what to do! We just have to fly to the second star to the left then it is straight on until morning.” Peter said it with such passion I could almost see it bursting out through his beautiful eyes.
“ Though I do not know how to fly Peter”
“I shall teach you, I will even let you bring your brothers along with you!” My brothers, I had almost forgot about them. Should I wake them and tell John and Michael that there is a boy here who is to teach us to fly? No, I do not want them to get in the way of me having fun with Peter as younger brothers usually do.
“Teach me to fly Peter! You do not need to take my brothers as they will not appreciate you as much as I do.” I hope I sounded convincing enough that he will not question my motives as why I do not want my brothers with me.
“Well then Wendy Darling just take my hand and I shall teach you to fly with the winds!” I place my hand in his and feel his calluses rub against my soft skin. Our hands fit perfectly together as if we were made and cut from the same fabric. The fairy Tinkerbell shoots me a look and I shy away from her. Peter puts his other hand in his pocket and produces a handful of golden dust. “fairy dust” He whispers in my ear. Peter blows it softly on me and slowly I begin to rise. Before I know it I am touching the ceiling. I hear the sound of the front door opening and I know that it must be my mother and father back from the ball.
“We have to leave now, my mother and father will come up any second to check on me and my two brothers, take me to Neverland Peter.” I say hurriedly.
“Okay Wendy. Next stop Neverland!” And with that we were off flying across London just as my parents walked in the nursery and found me missing. What an adventurous night this has been. Peter guides me through alleyways and buildings, and saves me from hitting Big Ben while I was too busy gazing at the splendor of it all.
We flew throughout the night and only rested on a cloud to gaze at the beautiful sunrise. It was only until we shot through the atmosphere and were then in space that I realised how far Peter’s home was from mine. Peter shot me a mischievous smile and when he turned around to look where he was going again we started travelling at the speed of light. We looked like shooting stars as fairy dust fell off of us as we raced through the stars. Once we started to slow down I noticed a small orange planet glowing in the distance. Surrounding it was a ring of gold dust of what I can only suspect to be fairy dust. This must be Neverland. I have never seen such a beautiful thing in all my life.
Now most of what I told James Barrie about Pirates and Indians, Mermaids and Fairies, Lost Boys and crocodiles was all true. What I didn’t tell James however was that the pirates were jolly fellows that loved a good laugh, that the Mermaids told you your fortune for a something nice in return, and the crocodile didn’t eat Captain Hook’s right hand, no he lost it cooking a mighty fine stew. He just said it was the crocodile to make him look more fierce to his shipmates. And the biggest secret of all, The Lost Boys. I told James Barrie that the boys fell out of their prams when the nurse wasn’t looking. That is a complete and utter lie. Peter and I stole them.
This might come as quite a shock so I shall tell you how this happened. All of these happenings began once I had been in Neverland for six years. Peter and I had explored every part on Neverland together and uncovered secrets that had been hidden for many years. It was three days before my eighteenth birthday and I already knew what my wish would be, for although I said to James that you do not age in Neverland, that does not happen until you reach the age of twenty. All I wanted for my birthday was for Peter to say he loves me, over these five years my feelings for Peter had grown. He had become more than a friend to me, he had become the one I thought about all day and all I could think of as I fell asleep. I did not tell Peter of my wish because he was always talking about a girl named Tiger Lily and I would not get in the way of his happiness. Well the night before my birthday Peter took me down to the small ravine where we used to throw rocks and see whose would reach to bottom first. He took my hands in his; our callouses rubbing against each other and then Peter began to speak.
“ Wendy, now that are to come of age tomorrow, I shall like to announce my feelings towards you. I have known you since you were not yet even thirteen. A girl who sewed a shadow back on to a boy who creeped into your house in the middle of the night. I know I have not always been the kindest of people. I have used you as a target when my anger boils up to the point where I cannot contain it. You just stood there and took it. When Tiger Lily was close to death from a crocodile bite you held me in your arms as I cried. I love you Wendy Moira Angela Darling and I always have. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I know that one life in Neverland is forever in another. Marry me Wendy and we shall live the most spectacular life filled with pirates and Indians where no one has to tell us that we are too young or naïve. Marry me Wendy and we shall rule Neverland together!” All I can do not to scream with joy is to look into those coffee coloured eyes that are bursting with light as Peter gets more excited with every word he speaks. He truly is a wondrous being, Peter, you can tell everything he is thinking through his eyes. Most would say its a weakness, I say it is a strength.
“Peter Pan, before you give yourself a stroke please calm yourself down!” You can see the light drain from his eyes as he realises I am speaking.
“I truly am speechless at what you say Peter, and all I can think is ‘Why did you not announce you feelings sooner?!’ The light in his eyes returns as I speak.
“Really Wendy?”
“Yes, I love you too Peter. I always have; did you know I pretended I was asleep the nights you came in through the window just so I could stare at you and those magnificent eyes of yours.”
“ I know. Because I did the same thing when you fell asleep in the willow tree every night for six years. I watched the way your brunette hair fell across your face, and the way the moonlight shines off your soft face like starlight.” the thought of him watching me sleep makes me blush. “I love the way you blush at the most innocent of things and the way your eyebrows weave together as you puzzle over questions you do not know the answer to. Marry me Wendy.”
“Okay”
The wedding came two weeks later, I wore a dress woven of white lilies and silk stolen from a house in London. My hair was pinned up with pearls Peter found in a chest in a hidden cave. Everyone in Neverland attended. As I walked up the aisle Peter turned around and his face lit up, and from that moment I knew my life would never see a bad day again. Peter and I said our vows, put a ring on each others fingers that we found while running away from a crocodile, and then the minister spoke in a placid tone, as if he had said it many times before and was sick of his job.
“I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Pan, you may now kiss the bride.”
For a second all we do is stare at each other, not knowing exactly what to do, for we had never kissed before. Then before I had time to react Peter leaned in and placed his lips on mine; and it was magic. I did not know how long the kiss lasted but I do know that I had never felt that happy in all my life. A year past and we were as happy as ever, though we thought it was time we had a child. The only way you can have a child in Neverland is to steal it from Earth. So that is what we did, we stole six baby boys and took them as our own. Their names were Tootles, Nibs, Slightly, Curly, and the Twins. Peter and I loved them dearly.
Though one disastrous night, it was stormy outside so Peter went out to check on all of the Indians to see if they were okay. Peter always did that for he worries a lot. Hours must have past and I was terribly stressed he never spent that long outside he knew how dangerous it was to stay out in the storms long. Suddenly two days had passed and there was no sign of him, the Indian villagers told me that he did not come and check on them that night with the storm. He didn’t even make it to the village. When finally a year passed I had to finally give up and agree that he must have died. And for a year after that I sat at home crying. We were meant to have a forever, yet he only gave me nine years.
It was Nibs who brought up going back to London. I agreed because everything I looked at reminded me of Peter. The fairies guided us back to London and I guided my six boys to my old home. Mother and Father were gone but Michael still lived there. He did not know who I was at first but after some persuading he eventually figured out it was me. Michael let me live in his house for as long as I needed. It was at one of my brothers balls that I told J. M. Barrie of my tales. He put on a play about it the very next month. I stayed in Michael's house for three years until one day when I heard a knock on the door.
“Hello?” I said looking through the peephole. All I could see was the back of a mans body. He wore a top hat and a fine tailored suit that fit him well. Though when he turned around I almost fainted.
“Hello Wendy” Although his voice had deepened and he had grown a beard I know those eyes anywhere.
“Hello Peter.”
It turned out Peter had survived the storm but had been drifted out to sea in a strong wave that tore over the land. All of his fairy dust had floated away so he could not fly back to me. He was stranded on an island for forty-nine months. Once the Pirates had found him and he had regained his strength he came straight to London to find me.
We decided to stay in London and live out the rest of our days there. We saw our boys grow up and become men, and we saw our grandchildren become adults as well. Once it was finally time for us to go we made one last trip to Neverland with the help from Tink. Though as I told you before everyone stays at the age twenty in Neverland; so when we arrived we were not the old and wrinkly selves we were before we left. We were the mischievous and young versions we had once been seventy years ago. I guess I really did get my forever Peter talked about. Neverland was the greatest gift I ever received from my darling Pan.
The End.
