Disenchantment

Neverland has a beauty I will never grow tired of and I brew with excitement at the thought of showing these children this magical land. I look over at my friends, their small frames looking around in awe. They have never seen a place like this and I can see them shaking with excitement, their eyes wide. The grass grows green and tall, rising up to my knees. The flowers bloom so big I find myself wanting to curl up in them and fall asleep. The river sings as the water rushes by, smelling of vanilla. The siblings hold hands, staring at me, wondering what would happen next. I grin at them. 

 “What do you want to do? We can play in the fields, or go to the lagoon. We can play tricks on the fairies, it’s awfully fun.” 

The siblings just stare at me, too amazed to speak. They step closer together and I laugh. “You can do anything you want! Here you will never grow up, and there is so much we can explore! We can play games with the Indians, or swim with the mermaids!”

A small tear runs down the boy's face. He is so happy he is crying! I practically dance in my boots, feeling giddy.  

The girl finally speaks. “I… I want to see mermaids.” 

“Yes! Yes!! I’ll show you the mermaids, follow me!” I stride through the trees, keeping the sparkling river in my sight. Colorful fish burst from the water and I marvel at their large fins that spread like birds flying in the sky. When they splash down a soft hum fills the wind, like a string of a violin. I look back and my new friends stand there looking around, still unable to comprehend how the trees seem to sparkle in the sunset, their evergreen leaves dancing with the cool wind that caresses my face. I brush my hand against the giant flowers along the ground and they close up, poofing out a pink powder that clings to my clothes. I laugh in delight, breathing in the smell of cotton candy. 

“C’mon! You don’t want to get lost!” I continue through the trees and hear the siblings running after me, the tall grass brushing their legs. 

         They slow when they’re a little ways behind me and I turn around, walking backwards. “So, Henry, you play soccer right?” 

          The little boy looks down shyly and nods his head, his red curls bouncing. The little girl stares straight ahead, her brown hair falling down to her elbows. 

          “And you’re a dancer?” 

        Her eyes shift towards me for a second before returning to the spot in the distance. She says nothing, and I frown, turning back to the front.            

            These children are so much quieter than the others. Do they not like it here? Was it not what they thought it would be? Well, I will show them the wonders of Neverland, so they will never want to leave.

We push through the trees to find a small lagoon, the water clear and glittering from the sunlight. A waterfall connects the river, and the sound of the crashing water fills me with calmness. Under the water I see mermaids swimming and playing around with one another. A few feet from the bank, two mermaids lay out on the rock, brushing their long, colorful hair.

           I turn to see Henry and Willow’s faces, but their expressions never change. Henry looks at the ground, while Willow continues to stare straight ahead. Do they not see the mermaids? Don’t they realize the magic of this place? Where mermaids swim and fairies play, and no pressure of adulthood weighs on their shoulders?

         “Willow? We are here. Those are the mermaids.” I point to the girls on the rock and they wave to me, smiling giddily. Willow turns to the mermaids and I watch her face slowly shift to awe and wonder. 

         “Wow! They’re beautiful! Henry, aren't they beautiful?” She nudges her brother and Henry looks up. He gives a small smile and nods his head. 

         “Did you want to meet them? They are very friendly!” Excitement rushes through my body, making my fingertips tingle. I step towards the kids.

        “Ummm I think we’re good watching from here, they look awfully busy.” 

        “They love the company! Right girls?” The mermaids on the rock giggle and bat their long eyelashes at us. “C’mon it’ll be fun!”

          I grab their hands and gently pull them to the water. We stop at the edge and I look down. The mermaids swim below, smiling up at us. 

        “We can go together. On three. One ...”

        “Wait…”

         My feet start to tingle with excitement, “two…”

         “FAIRIES!!” 

         I look at Willow, puzzled. 

         “We haven’t seen the fairies. I think they would be fun to see.”

          I smile, “Oh, they are. Fairies are so sneaky and clever. You have to be careful with them. C’mon I’ll show you!” 

           I wave to the mermaids who giggle and dive into the lagoon, a rainbow appearing as the sunlight hits the water they splash into the air. 

           We push through the trees and I ask my friends more questions, but they are both so shy it’s hard to get anything out of them. Henry never talks, merely nods or shakes his head. His sister answers the questions but never gives any details, making for a boring conversation. 

Nonetheless, I point to the things around me, hoping to keep them engaged. I want them to love this place as much as I do. A purple possum races through the grass and I gesture to it as it leaps up on the tree and scampers up. When a gillyweed flies through the air I tell the kids to duck down to avoid its sticky legs that catch onto anything. Since they are blind, it’s hard for them to know where they’re flying, I tell them. The kids remain silent and my heart deflates a bit the more I talk.

Eventually I give up trying and we walk in silence. They might be homesick, which is understandable. Soon they will feel at home here like I do and their old life will be nothing but a memory.

            A bright light zips across my vision. “We’re here!” All around us are lights zooming through the trees and bells twinkling in the air, creating a loud, beautiful symphony. The sun is low to the ground now so the glow from the fairies looks absolutely breathtaking.

Another fairy flies past me, and the next one stops in front of my face.

           “Tinkerbell! Meet my new friends. This is Henry and this is Willow!”

           “Hi Tinkerbell.” Willow smiles. 

            Henry looks up and gives a brief nod before returning his eyes back to the ground. What a shy, sweet boy! He’s missing all of the beauty around him!

            Bells jingle from Tink. I translate, “She said she is glad to meet you, and that you look much cleaner than the other kids.”

            Willow’s eyes grow wide and I can see the question forming. 

            “My other friends were captured by the pirates and killed.” I explain, looking down at my hands, sadness overwhelming me as I think of their small faces crying for help. Then I look up at the children and force a smile, “But they will be young forever in heaven!” 

           Willow nods her head, looking down at the ground. Maybe I shouldn’t have told them that. I don’t want them to be afraid. I put my hand on Willow's shoulder and she tenses up. “Don’t worry friend, that won’t happen to you.” I try to smile reassuringly but it doesn’t seem to help.

           “How about we go home! It is a nice little place down that way. The pirates don’t know where it is so they can’t get to us, c’mon!”

We walk through the forest, Tink flying close by, until we reach a large tree, its trunk wider than all the others. I turn to the kids, excited to see their face when I push into the tree trunk to reveal a door. My eyebrows crease with concern when they show no wonder to the magic trick. 

         “Here we are,” I say cheerily, ignoring the disappointment I feel. I hold the door open and the kids walk in slowly. I follow, shutting and locking the door behind me. I wouldn’t want those pirates to come in while we slept. Tinker Bell lights up the dark passage, and I use the glow to find the switch.

           Lightbulbs flicker, revealing a small cot sitting against the wall, and hammocks hanging from the ceiling where Willow and Henry would sleep. Wooden carvings hang on the wall with little quotes etched into them. 

“It isn’t much, but it’s home. Each of you can choose a hammock, they’re rather comfortable.” 

              Neither of them move. I walk behind them and gently push them forward. Willow walks to the hammock on the right, leaving Henry the one on the left. Tinkerbell chatters by my ear, telling me how much quieter and uninteresting these ones are from the last boys. I shush her and go to my own cot. 

           “Goodnight! Tomorrow we can visit the Indians and you can meet my good friend, Tigerlily!” I smile brightly before flipping off the lights. Tinkerbell flies to her own small bed and covers herself with a blanket, diminishing her soft glow. I let myself fall asleep, hoping Willow and Henry are comfortable enough to do the same. 

***

            A loud banging wakes me. I leap to my feet and flip on the lights, hearing a loud voice yelling from outside. Henry and Willow huddle together in a corner of the room, their eyes wide with fright. “Don’t worry, there is another way out.” 

I grab the children’s shoulders and push them a little bit to get them moving. Then I slide my cot aside to reveal a trap door. I pull the door open, gesturing for them to go inside. They stare up at me in fear and another bang erupts from the entrance. I shove Henry and he climbs down the ladder, his body trembling. I follow Willow down, Tinkerbell flying in with me, before shutting the door. The space is dark except for Tink’s glow, but I am prepared. I pull out a small flashlight from the pocket of my pants and point it down the hall. Willow and Henry huddle together. Ivory climbs the walls and smells of mint. The ground is made up of large stones, like the floor of an old castle.

I lead the siblings to a door at the top of some winding stairs. Fresh, cold air greets me and I can’t help but breathe in the smell of cinnamon, my shoulders relaxing. Tinkerbell jingles her bells giddily, flying up into the air and zooming back down to rest on my shoulder. Before I can step out of the passageway, bright lights shine into my eyes. 

            The pirates! I stay in the door, refusing to go any further afraid that Henry and Willow will be taken. 

           “Peter Haydren, where are the children?!” A voice comes from the light, and I squint my eyes to try and see who is speaking.

          “I would never tell you, filthy pirate,” I spit. Tinkerbell stands up and stomps on my shoulder in agreement, her bells fast and angry.

          “We’re down here!,” I hear Willow shout. I look down at her small face and she steps down a step, as if she’s afraid of me. 

         “Mr. Haydren, step away from the stairs.”

        “No!! You’re going to take them away from me!,” I hear my voice squeak a bit, but I remain firm. 

          One of the pirates walks towards me  and I immediately step down, using my body as a shield to protect the kids. I will not let them be taken this time. 

          The pirate's face is dirt filled, his hair messy with leaves. Tinkerbell is about to rush at him, but I stop her with a flick of my hand.

         “Mr. Haydren, if you do not step away, I will have to use this.” He holds his weapon firm, and my eyes grow wide in fear. 

         “Please don’t hurt them!” 

         “We will not hurt them.”

         “But you are going to take them away from me!” Panic bleeds through my voice and I feel tears well up in my eyes. 

        The pirate says nothing, and I quickly turn and run down the stairs, Tinkerbell flying beside me, her bells jingling in my ears. I push the kids back the way we came, ignoring their shouts of protest. I’m about to close the door behind me when a thunderous crack fills my ears, followed by a sharp pang in my leg. I fall to the ground, tumbling down the stairs, the pain growing hot like fire. I close my eyes and when I open them, the hallway is dark and the smell of sewage fills my nose. The ivory that crawled up the walls is replaced by packed dirt. 

             I try to stand but the pain in my leg makes me scream and fall to the ground. The man who fired rushes to my side, speaking fast to the people behind him. I look around for Tinkerbell but her light is nowhere to be seen, her bells no longer jingling. 

          The pain in my leg makes it unbearable to move, allowing the men to lift me onto a stretcher, pulling me out of the tunnel. The air no longer smells like cinnamon, the tree leaves falling down in a way I haven’t seen in a long time. I turn my head to see Willow and Henry curled up in a blanket together, staring at me. A police officer tries to speak to them, but they don’t answer, unable to take their eyes off of me. I see fear in their eyes and realize they are afraid of me. I turn away, looking up at the branches, bare and unmoving, nothing like the majestic trees that danced in the wind. The frosty air bites my skin, and I suddenly wish I had a jacket. 

           The never ending fairytale I created for myself evaporates as the sun peeks through the trees. I squint, trying to find a hint of the world I learned to love, but every trace of my home has vanished. I couldn’t find a single fairy and I knew I would never hear the giggles of the mermaids ever again.

I feel tears stain my cheeks and I turn away from the sunlight that no longer makes the trees sparkle.  My head swirls as I picture the children’s cries in the night as I hold them in the bunker. My stomach churns when I see the little girl's face in the water, her eyes wide with panic as she struggles to make it to the surface. She did not become a mermaid, always giggling and happy, she became… I choke back a sob. The police usher me into the van and I can only look down at the ground, knowing the world will never be the same.