PROLOGUE
Have you ever wished for something so hard, that it solidified into something almost tangible? That is how Peter, or Pete as he was known as much later on, came into existence. One moment he wasn’t and the next minute he was. Simple as that. This wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. Wishes ARE powerful things after all. This story isn’t just about Peter… Pete though. It is about him and the girl who created him.
Her name was Grace. She was seven the first time she thought of Peter. Alone after the death of her beloved mother, she needed a true friend, someone that could understand her better than anyone she had yet or ever would meet. That was the first time she thought of the young boy. Someone tall and lean, a year older than her with shaggy dark brown hair and brooding hazel eyes. He held her and let her cry on his shoulder all that night and he didn’t leave her side until her father called her for school the next morning.
and then he was gone. When she wasn’t thinking of him, it was like he didn’t exist. It wasn’t anything painful or scary… he just suddenly wasn’t. It wasn’t the last time he would be though, for Grace needed him more and more. Her father slowly started losing his grip on reality and turned to alcohol to fix the hurt. In doing this he hurt Grace and he hurt her in more ways than one. Peter was shocked at the purple blotches on her jaw and shoulders the second time she called for him to come to her. Her daddy had hit her, she told him. He was confused. He didn’t have a daddy but he was under the impression that they were not supposed to do that to their children. This was the first time he realized that having parents was probably something he should be happy to go without having. He tried to nuzzle away the pain and once again stayed with her until she had to get up and go to school then, he ceased to be.
The third time she needed him was the first time she saw Neverland. It wasn’t up in the sky, second star to the right and straight on till morning. Peter couldn’t fly. He was simply a boy. A wonderfully amazing yet simple boy. The Neverland was that place right smack dab in between the place where you were fully awake and totally asleep. It hovered on that border, welcoming those that had just slipped into a peaceful slumber and guarding those who’d been there while they slept. He knew she would be safe there. “Grace…” He whispered, brushing a few wispy strands of hair from her face. “Come with me.”
“Where to?” Her voice shook.
“To the Neverlands… You’ll be safe there…” His hazel green eyes pierced her blue ones, begging her silently to come and escape, even if it couldn’t be forever. She adjusted her white cotton night gown, pulled on a pair of knee length socks with black and white stripes, and climbed into her favorite pair of boots before up at him and taking his hand.
As she got older, she never trusted anyone the way she trusted Peter.
“Take me to the Neverland…” He can hear the tears in her voice, the need for escape. He wrapped his arms around her, being careful of the bruises that not only littered her shoulders but her back now as well, and whispered softly in her hear.
“Wish Grace… Wish with all your heart.” And wish she did.
and as quick as a fervent wish, they were there. The colors were a little bit brighter, the air was a little bit easier to breathe, and everything felt so safe. She looked over at him. He was smiling, the wind blowing his shaggy locks around his face, causing his to-large shirt to billow slightly around his skinny body. She bit her lip and then took off, running down a path to the right of them. He followed, grinning at her sudden exuberance. They ran, they played, they explored, they laughed. They did everything children were supposed to do until a gruff voice in the distance called Grace’s name. She stopped her giggling and looked up at the sky, her smile quickly dropping off her face.
“Peter…” She clung to his hand and he sighed.
“You have to go back Grace… just for a while. But you can come back tomorrow, and the day after, and… for as long as you want okay? I’ll come back and get you.”
“Promise…?” She looked up at him, eyes wide and hopeful.
He grinned his ever cocky grin and nodded, crossing his heart with his pinkie. “Cross my heart Grace… I would never forget about you.” He hugged her gently before she was jerked out of the Neverland and into the real world by her father. Pete kept his promise and came back day after day, and day after day, the would run through the Neverland, having the grandest of adventures. The little girl with blond hair and big eyes, running around in her nightgown and a pair of fairy wings Peter had made for her. They had fun, just like kids were supposed to do and even when her dad became unbearable in the real world, she would always have Peter to come to and after a while, there was a feeling that was more than friendship between them. They were falling in love.
Peter tried to figure out a way to tell her and he thought he’d figured out a grand way to tell her in a way she’d like but she didn’t call for him…. she didn’t call for him that night or the night after that or the night after that.
Grace had to grow up like all children did. She had to grow up, even though it was a few years to early for her to do so properly. She was fourteen and starting to realize that the boy she dreamed up was just that, a dream, and that he couldn’t save her from her problems at home. She would have to take care of herself because she was the only person she could truly trust. She left behind her fantasy world and began to live in the real world, doing the things real people were supposed to do.
Instead of vanishing into nothingness, Peter stayed solid and real. He didn’t vanish into the wispy fog of not existing… See, Grace had wanted him to be real so much that in a way, he was. He couldn’t leave the Neverland but he was just as real as you and I. He grew, just like Grace did, and took in the boys that had become personified in the minds of their creator and then discarded. He didn’t know if she’d ever really remember him again, but he’d wait there on the border of asleep and awake, no matter what… just like he promised to do.
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