Peter Pan - Remastered

  All children, except one, must grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and Wendy Angela Darling was no exception. She knew she’d have to become an adult at the early age of two, when her mom melancholically exclaimed “Oh, why can’t you remain like this forever!”. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.

  On the chilly night our story took place, in buttoned-up Edwardian London, Wendy was, as per usual, mesmerizing her younger brothers John and Michael with tales of swordplay, swashbuckling and Captain Hook, the legendary pirate who apparently feared no one besides a ticking clock.

  Ironically, a clock was ticking for Wendy, too. Her father had decreed that it was finally time for her to grow up: after that one last night, no more stories. She was to be groomed for womanhood and marriage by strict Aunt Millicent, and to lead a separate life from her brothers. 

  Unknown to the Darlings, Peter Pan loved Wendy's stories too, and, every night, he would travel a great distance to hear them. That day, however, when coming into their nursery accompanied by his loyal fairy - Tinker Bell - his goal was to find his lost shadow, which had been stolen the night before by Nana, the family’s nursing dog. 

  He looked everywhere and anywhere, finally founding it trapped in a drawer. But his troubles did not end there: Peter encountered himself in a terribly frustrating situation, as he had been able to catch the shadow but could not stick it back to himself. Angry at his own impotence, he made such a fuss that Wendy - and, consequently, John and Michael - woke up, which led to the most extraordinary event the world had ever witnessed.

 Truth be told, children have the strangest adventures without being troubled by them, for what troubles a grown-up  will never trouble a child. Therefore, at the promise of the sight of mermaids, fairies, pirates, indians and all sorts of magical things, the three siblings allowed Peter to sprinkle them with pixie dust and followed him out the window, swooping over London's moonlit rooftops as they left their house, life and family behind. Like a small flock of birds, they went “second to the right, and straight on till morning”, ending up in the magical Neverland.

  Just for some context, Neverland is a place free of rules and grown-up’s concerns, but it’s also home for tremendous dangers, as the pirates are as blood-thirsty as Wendy’s stories portrayed them; the mermaids are actually more deadly than beautiful and the indians are much more fond of rudimentary weapons than of outsiders.

  Going back to our story, it was in this island that Peter Pan introduced the Darlings to the Lost Boys (his crew of children who had deserted their homes) and the famous Captain Hook. Of course he did not think about how that could endanger them, as his only concern was to always have fun. 

  Time went by and the three siblings spent every minute on the edge, either unconscious or unbothered  by the fact that their lives were constantly by a thread. Wendy was falling for both Pan and the fairytale-like land, but she soon understood that Peter, as a child who would never grow up, was incapable of deep feelings.

  Meantime, Tinker Bell was not very happy with the closeness between Wendy and her beloved boy, despite knowing that he - theoretically - could not love someone. She only had in mind that she had been left aside, casted away by an angry Peter Pan. You see, the problem is, as fairies are such tiny little creatures, they can only feel one thing at once. So Tink was full of jealousy, which left no room for any rationality nor kindness.

  These negative feelings lead her to turn to Hook seeking for comfort, since he seemed to be truly interested in her well being. Lost and alone, Tinker Bell ended up telling the pirate where Peter’s secret hideout was located, right before being shoved into a kerosene lamp.

  Having finally had access to the information he so desperately had sought for years, Hook acted quickly, capturing Wendy, John, Michael and all the Lost Boys as an unaware Pan slept peacefully. A glass of poison was left by the boy’s bedside table, so he’d face a fatal fate as soon as he woke up.

  While the children were being taken as hostages, Tinker Bell managed to escape and reach the hideout right on time, saving a sleepy Peter by drinking the devilish drink before his lips could even touch it. As her light slowly faded away, the child finally comprehended what was going on, and, heartbroken for seeing his oldest friend die for him, he was hit by the cruelty of reality and experienced true desperation for the very first time.

  I’m most sad to tell you that everything seemed to be over. Neverland’s skies were becoming pitch black as Captain Hook made Wendy walk the plank, much to her and her friends’ horror. However, Peter Pan surprised everyone once again with his unpredictability, by showing up at the very last minute alongside - surprise, surprise - none other than Tinker Bell herself!

  Peter’s faith in magic had brought the fairy back to life, just as the lack of one’s belief in the fantastic can kill a magical creature. Encouraging his crew to recklessly grab weapons and fight for their freedom (despite being aware that some of them were about five years old) he defeated the pirates and finished the job by feeding Hook to the ticking crocodile. At last, the mad man’s reign of terror had come to an end.

  Meanwhile, Mr. and Mrs. Darling had been left alone for all those days, worried sick about their children and where they could possibly have run off to. London had never looked so scary, big or tricky before, and Mrs Darling hadn’t closed nor left the nursing room’s window since their disappearance. She had aged so much in such a short amount of time, her eyes just two small fading stars, tired of looking outside, awaiting the return of her little ones. The poor woman kept seeing them in her troubled dreams, only to wake up sobbing to the dreadful realization that they were nowhere to be seen. As for Mr Darling, he would barely speak a word, and would spent more time going to the police looking for any sort of news than at work. He was struggling to live with himself because he felt he was the one to blame for his kids’ runaway...

  Back to Neverland, after the terribly dangerous fight, Wendy, John and Michael realized they did, indeed, miss home - their true home - and all that came along with it: Mother, Nana, their toys and even Dad, with his ever so grumpy facial expression. So they asked an astonished Peter if they could possibly return, followed by a choir of every single Lost Boy, who also wanted so very badly to feel loved by a family once again. 

  “As you wish”, said the one they all looked up. And they sailed the sky back to jolly old London.

  As the No. 14  became closer and closer, Peter gazed down sadly at his excited peers. Why they were leaving him, that, he could not understand, since he believed he was just as fond of them as the “mother” they all sought.

  The time to say goodbye finally came. One by one, they took turns saying fair wells to their eternal captain and his sparkling fairy. Then came Wendy’s turn.

  “I’m sorry I have to leave you, Peter, but, you see, all children must grow up”, said the little girl, quoting something she once had heard her father say. 

  “I see”. Peter was way too proud to show how much the whole situation affected him, so he just crossed his arms over his chest in a childish way, slightly lifting his chin up. 

  Wendy sighed. “All children must indeed grow up, except one”. Taking one last look at the boy she had learned to love, she decided to give him a quick thimble before running to her brothers’ side, ready to go back to her real life.

  Followed by the scared Lost Boys, the three siblings floated their way down to their window’s sill. As their bare feet touched the freezing cold snow, they visualized a sleeping Mr and Mrs Darling, laid down on their daughter’s bed, the bedsheets clearly marked with dried tears.

  “Mother?”, whispered John.

  “Father?”, whispered Michael, holding on tight onto his dirty teddy bear.

  “We’re home”, whispered Wendy, climbing onto the bed and hugging them.

  And so did the Lost Boys and Michael and John, and they all laid in a far too small bed for so many people.

  When the Darlings woke up, there could not have been a lovelier sight; but there was none to see it except a strange boy who was staring in at the window. He had ecstasies innumerable that other children could never know; but he was looking at the one joy from which he would be forever barred.

  Needless to say that, although the immense joy lasted for more than a while, then came the time of punishment. Yes, punishment. For the children had willingly left home with a stranger, at the promise of something that could very well not be true, alongside having done all sorts of things Mrs Darling considered dangerous and inappropriate for someone their age (or for anyone in general, honestly).

  So they were all forbidden of eating dessert for a whole year - Lost Boys included, since they had showed up with no previous notice. To an adult, this might not sound like a very bad punishment, but, to a child, there is no more horrifying thing.

  Besides that, the nursing room’s window was ordered to always be firmly closed, from the second they set foot into the house. Plus, Peter had to enter through the front door, if he was to visit them from times to times. But there was no need for this last rule, as Peter did not come over again.

  Years went by and the children grew up, knowing not to trust and talk to strangers or leave home at night without telling a soul. They too had their babies, and lived in houses with big -but always closed - windows in the nursing rooms. Besides having learned from their mistakes, they did not want to be deprived from desserts ever again, that’s for sure.

  It seems like our story has come to an end dear reader. It is time for us to go our separate ways... I guess one might wonder if anything at all remained the same. For once, the stories did, because stories never really change. Peter Pan did too, of course. And children from all over the world also remained as gay, innocent and heartless as children have always been and will always be.