Beetho: I’ve decided to try something a little less Xiaolin Showdown. How’s Disney’s Peter Pan for a change. Tell me what you think, if I should continue or if I should stick to my beloved XS.

Chapter One: Danny’s Turn?

“Nana Two, make sure those two brush their teeth before bed,” reminded Wendy. Jane and Danny pushed back from the dining table and rushed up the stairs.

“I’ll beat you to the sink!” Jane called to her younger brother, only a few steps ahead of her. She was letting him get a head start. It was hardly a fair race, after all. Nana Two nodded her head and slowly trotted up the stairs after the children.

Wendy and her husband Edward sat alone at the table. They cleared the table, sealed the leftovers in containers and put them fridge, and washed the dishes. Outside the kitchen window a couple of Danny’s friends walked by with their parents. Wendy grinned and the sparkle in their eyes’, the laughs they laughed, and the spring in their step. They weren’t much older than her boy, around five years old. It was so easy to believe when you were young.

The children laughed upstairs. The couple could hear the water from the bathroom faucet splash and the pitter-patter of feet in the halls. Nana Two barked and chased them into the nursery for their nightly bedtime story. Jane always enjoyed reciting her adventure in Never Land to Danny. She explained it so well, sometimes the little boy even felt like he had been there with his sister. He wished he had.

Edward came from behind his wife and placed a hand on the small of her back. “Darling?”

She had been staring out the window again and humming ‘The second star to the right shines in the night for you’, thinking of her own adventure to that wondrous place the second star to the right. It was as if it were yesterday she and her brother’s Michael and John soared out over London, passed Big Ben, River Thames, and looked out upon Never Land from those heavenly clouds. Wendy put the wash rag and plate down that she had been holding and laughed out loud to herself as she reminisced almost being shot down and killed by the Lost Boys. Tinker Bell had told them she was a Wendy bird and to shot her down. The envious little fairy was just jealous and she eventually forgave her.

“To tell you that the dreams you plan really do come true.”

“Darling?” Edward said again.

“Yes, dear,” Wendy replied, turning to face him.

“You were thinking about that place again, weren’t you?” He knew of Never Land, Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys, and Captain Hook and Smee. His wife had told him that she had gone there and met them all, along with her brothers. He knew that his daughter Jane also had her own life-changing experience there. Edward was a child trapped in a man’s body and believed his wife and daughter with all his heart. He believed in Peter Pan whether he had met him or not.

Wendy nodded her head and smiled dreamily, thinking of her last encounter with Peter and Tink. They were so shocked to see her all grown up. “Yes, yes I was. Sometimes I wish I could go back. Sometimes . . . sometimes I wished I never grew up and stayed there forever.”

Edward grinned down at her. She said that often, but no matter how honest and sincere she sounded when she said it, he knew Wendy never really meant it. “Stayed in Never Land and miss out on this?” he said teasingly, waving a hand down to himself and the house. They laughed. “Wendy, do you think Danny will ever get his chance?”

“To visit Never Land?” she mused. “I don’t know. I do hope so. Danny dreams of it every night. After hearing Jane’s tale for the first time, he’s been very hopeful that Pete will come back for him.” Wendy laced her fingers with her husband’s and they slowly walked up the stairs together.

“Peter is very unpredictable. He doesn’t know how time changes here compared to there. Nearly forty years went by when he first met Jane, and he thought she was me. Only time will tell when he returns next. After all, he does know about Danny. Maybe he’ll come back soon.”

“But it’s already been a year,” Edward replied. Half way up the stairs Wendy stopped them. She smiled.

“I’m glad to see you’re taking such an interest in all this,” she said sincerely. “Why are you all of a sudden asking about this? What’s gotten you so concerned about whether Danny will ever get a chance to go to Never Land? He’s still young after all. He has plenty of time and his faith is strong.”

Her husband shrugged and pushed her on by the small of her back. “I dunno. I’m not worried that he won’t – not entirely. I should take your word, after all, considering you’ve met the boy and know him better than I ever will.” He paused for a moment as they walked by the nursery with the door left ajar. Inside Nana Two and little Danny sat at the foot of the window seat listening to Jane share her story.

When they got to their room, he resumed speaking. “When the boy turns around after a game of Pan and Hook, whenever he’s comes home from school and Jane’s still not home, when he’s playing with his sock puppets all alone, I see the look in his eyes and it makes me wish Peter Pan would come and take him with him already.”

Wendy smiled reassuringly and put her hand on his shoulder. “His time will come. I’m sure of it.”

***

“. . . And then Hook looms down over me with his sword in his hand, prepared to cut me to ribbons! ‘Give it up, girl!’ he said. But I would not! And remember what I said to him after that? ‘Don’t you see, Hook? You’ll never win! As long as there is—”

“Faith, trust, and pixie dust!” Danny and Jane chorused. Nana Two barked gleefully at all the giggling. “And it’s true! It’s true! Wow, evwytime you tell me the stowy, it makes me wonder what my adventure with Peter will be like!”

Jane laughed and picked up her brother, flipping him upside down and tickling him. “It’ll be wonderful! Mark my words you’ll have a blast. You’ll become a Lost Boy. When you come home our games won’t be games anymore. It’ll be real! No more pretend!” She walked him to his room and tucked him into bed. Nana Two curled up at the foot of his bed in her basket after making sure the room was tidy. Jane kissed her brother goodnight and walked over to the window, drawing back the curtains. She headed for the door.

“Jane . . .” Danny called after her quietly. His sister looked back at him, clutching the door handle in one hand.

“Yes, Danny?”

“When’s he comin’ back for me?”

Jane’s smile vanished and she put some loose strands of hair behind her ears. She hugged the door and swayed with it to and fro before she spoke. “Um . . . I don’t know, Danny. I honestly don’t. But if I knew how to get a hold of Peter I would and call him here as soon as possible!” She tried to sound hopeful and cheerful. Peter was so unpredictable after all.

“Oh.” Danny sighed and pulled the quilt up to his chin. “I wish I was there with you when you went.” Jane smiled him.

“I do to. It would have been fun; the two of us and the Lost Boys and Peter and Tink.” She turned off the lights. “Get some sleep, it’s late. See you in the morning, Danny.”

“Goodnight.”

“Dream of Never Land tonight.”

Jane shut the door to her brother’s room and returned to the nursery. She picked up her Peter Pan doll and walked over to the window. “The second star to the right shines with a light that's rare.” It was unlocked, as usual, and open; the curtains swayed gently in the night breeze. She could image Peter hiding outside on the rooftop, waiting for her to lie down in her bed. When she did he would sneak into her room and wake her up for another adventure. Tinker Bell would be with him. This time she would ask to take Danny. She’d run to his room and wake him up. She’d ask to take Nana Two. If her mum and dad could, she’d take them too.

Jane dressed into her nightgown and climbed into bed. She shut her eyes on the nursery to see Never Land, leaping mermaids, dancing Indians, flying fairies, and the Lost Boys playing hide-and-seek. Peter was right in front of her, waving her hands as if to beg her to join them. In her dreamland she did. Tink gave her pixie dust and she flew off to join them all. It was a magical dream, yet somehow, she was still awake.

Peter would come soon, she knew it. He would come for Danny. She knew it. Danny needed Never Land, He needed that magical childhood experience and Peter would give it to him. For so many nights her little brother had looked out his window to the second star to the right. For so many nights he had hoped dreamed and prayed. He was too faithful to ever give up hope and he was too faithful for Peter to not take to Never Land. “And if it's Never Land you need, it's light will lead you there.”

Beetho: First chapter. Should I continue it?