Shouting from the hallway pulled the girl out of
sleep. Her deep blue eyes revealed themselves under tired lids. The sapphire
orbs flickered over to a clock on her white nightstand. Small glowing numbers
revealed that it was just past midnight. She rolled over in her bed, pulling
the covers closer. The annual scolding of her mother towards her drunken father
slipped under the bedroom door. The 8 year old could hear the constant
screaming and profanity through the thin walls. She willed the fighting away. This
had been going on so long; the girl had no tears left to shed over the matter.
A soft tapping came from the direction of the window. Sitting up abruptly, she
strained to see outside
A smile of pearled white teeth stared at her
through the glass. Bright, playful green eyes sparkled with amusement. A
tangled mop of reddish brown hair sat under an olive green cap with a red
feather. A boy, maybe 15 or 16 years old, hovered outside of her window. And
yes, I did say hovered. The girl's room sat on the third floor of an old
apartment complex. The boy tapped again, and motioned for her to open the
window. Returning the wide smile, she happily obliged. Sliding the window pane
upwards, she watched in wonder as her visitor floated into the room. Hearing
the arguing going on in the other room, the boy frowned. Touching down onto the
carpeted floor, he crossed his arms. "Are they really doing this
again?" He questioned. His emerald irises held their playful spark, but
the rest of his expression was carved in disapproval.
Sighing, the girl nodded. Crouching next to her
bed, she pulled out a pair of worn sneakers and placed them on her feet.
Slipping on a dark blue sweater off of her floor, the girl tied back her
tangled blonde hair. She grabbed a small tearing backpack off of her dresser
and slung it over one shoulder. "Can we go? Please?" She whispered,
just loud enough so that the other could hear. Her wide blue eyes stared up at
the teenager hopefully.
The boy looked around for a moment, as if looking
for something. Realizing that it was not there, he sighed. Placing a palm on
his forehead, he looked at the girl apologetically. "I forgot, Tinks
didn't want to come. She is kind of tired of flying back and forth. So...no
Pixie dust this time. Sorry, Casey."
The girl, Casey, smiled and shook her head.
"That's okay. We still have the faith and trust part, right?"
His smile popped up again. "Yeah. Besides, I
can always carry you. We're only flying up to the stars." Turning his back
to her, the boy crouched down. He motioned for her to climb up onto his back,
and she did. Wrapping her small arms around his shoulders, Casey held on tight.
Trotting over to the window, her friend placed one leg on the wooden frame.
Reinforcing his hold on the girl, he jumped.
For a second, they were falling as quickly as a
stone would in water. The wind whipped Casey's ponytail up so that it was a
vertical pillar of gold. Her companion's hat almost flew off of his head. At
the last possible moment, he pulled up. The girl's heart dropped to her stomach
as they soared through the air. The city slowly faded away below them. Within a
few minutes, it was nothing more than a small cluster of lights. Her grip
tightened around the magical being, but not out of fear. Casey loved the
feeling of flying.
As they picked up speed, she recognized the
familiar rushing of stars as they ascended. The roaring of the wind blasted in
her ears like the howling of some kind of monster. It soon got to the point
where she wanted to cover her ears, but knew that if she let go then she would
fall. They were now going so fast that the stars were just a white blur, there
seemed to be no empty space between. "Close your eyes!" Her friend
shouted. His voice could barely be heard over the screaming of the air. Nodding
slightly, Casey squeezed her eyes shut. This was her least favorite part of the
flight, The Flash. At least, that's what the teen called it.
From what she had heard, no human should ever see it.
It was like a sonic blast of light that was more intense than the sun. Under
her eyelids, the girl could see a bright burst of red light. An intense heat
washed over her, almost hot enough to physically burn her. But as suddenly as
it had come, the Flash ended. A constant ringing sounded in her ears as
they slowed down. Blinking a few times, it took a while for her blue eyes to
adjust.
It was morning; the sun was just coming up over the
ocean. The sparkling blue and green waters housed playful dolphins that jumped
up every few seconds. In the center of the deep sea sat an island. The small
fortress of land looked as though a large sea monster had taken several bites
out if the edges in a crude attempt to make a 6 pointed star. Its many bays
opened their mouths to the ocean. The tall cone of an old volcano sat in the
center. Green forests covered almost every meter of the island. Mountain ranges
traced the outline of the land. As the two descended towards the forest, Casey
could make out a pirate ship in the cove. Its magnificent white sails were
lowered so that they did not pull the vessel away from its anchor. The polished
surface of the decks held several pirates. All filthy and muscled in ways that
shouldn't be humanly possible. A figure clad in red could be seen near the
helm. He seemed to be staring up at them.
The boy whisked them past the cove and towards an
old tree near the volcano. Vines and moss covered the surface of the plant,
acting as a natural camouflage. Touching down onto the ground, he gently placed
Casey on her feet and winked. Clearing his throat, the boy deepened his voice
to resemble a grown man's. "Here it is, Smee! Peter's hideout! We've
finally found it, and I shall claim it for my own!" Almost immediately, a
group of boys tumbled out of several rotted cavities and knotholes. They all
brandished different sorts of melee weapons; ranging from slingshots to clubs
with rusted nails in them. The small crowd howled like Indians, looking around
for a certain pirate and his men. Spotting the teenager, the boys all lowered
their weapons.
"God, Peter!" A boy with curly brown hair
spoke up. He was a bit on the large side, and wore a stained cotton shirt and
torn slacks. A wooden club sat in his hand; its rounded tip almost touched the
ground. His large hazel eyes barely peeked out under his chubby cheeks. He
couldn't have been older than 10.”Don't scare us like that!"
Casey couldn't contain her laughter. Doubling over,
she clutched her stomach and burst into a silent giggle fit. A few strands of
blond hair fell into her face as she did so. The teenager, Peter, chuckled
lightly.
As if just realizing she was there, the other boys
crowded around her. Suddenly surrounded by the Lost Boys, the girl tried to
keep up with all of the different conversations that they sparked up. The
voices seemed to buzz around here; they were talking all at once. Save a small
6 year old with jet black hair, as he was mute and had never talked a day in
his life. But the silent boy was tugging on the sleeve of her jacket, quietly
asking for her attention.
"Where have you been?" "Why did you
leave?" "Can I show you this cool trick later?" "Casey, did
you bring me anything?" By the time Peter whistled and told them all to
shut up, the girl's head was already swimming from the attention. At home and
at school, she was always ignored or teased for being strange. She had no
friends there, and tended to play by herself at recess. But here, in Neverland,
Casey was never left alone. She always had someone to talk to or something to
do. The perks of being the only Lost Girl. She wished that she could stay there
forever. Unfortunately, that was impossible.
For some reason, the island didn't allow her to
stay for more than a week at a time. Luckily, that was the equivalent of one
night back home, so there was rarely any hassle or calling of the authorities
by her parents. Only a few times her mother had noticed that Casey wasn't
nearby; and had finished filling in a missing persons report by the time she
got back. But, in order to "recharge" enough to be able to return,
the girl had to spend a normal week in her world. So, her time in Neverland
never seemed to be enough. This had been going on for the last 2 years, after
Peter had somehow found her trying to run away from home. And the others didn't
seem to have aged a day.
"Alright!" Pan shouted. The remaining
murmurs from the boys died down immediately. Compared to the other Lost Boys,
Peter was by far the oldest. He towered over the rest of them. The closest one
to his age was probably Slightly. The boy was around 13 with bright yellow hair
that seemed almost unnatural. His yellowish brown eyes and scrunched up face
gave him the appearance of a fox. Slightly almost matched Peter in height as
well.
"We'll have time to catch up with our friend
later." The leader announced. His right hand rested itself on the hilt of
a dagger. The weapon lay in a leather sheath that was strapped to his waist.
"The old Codfish had found his treasure again! And we need to steal it
back." The rest of the boys cheered, waving their makeshift weapons in the
air. Casey couldn't help but smile. This time, Peter had promised that she
would be able to join in. This was going to be great.
