Neverland

Chapter 2

“They wear the skins of the bears slain by themselves, in which they are so round and furry that when they fall they roll.”

…

We go now, to a land far away from Chicago where a boy named Peter was playing with his friends, the Lost Boys.

Now these aren’t the lost boys that you remember from all the stories that you have heard about our friend Peter. You see, a little over a hundred years ago, the Lost Boys, Slightly, Nibs, Tootles, Curly, and the Twins moved to England to live with the very dear, Wendy Darling. Slightly married a noblewoman and became a lord, he thought this to be a triumphant task and wore his title proudly. Slightly was the boy that Peter dreaded losing the most because he was the first to arrive in Neverland after Peter, so they were very good friends. Nibs grew up and had a family and worked in an office, Tootles became a judge, Curly married a fine woman and had a beautiful family, and all of their children had hair like their father’s. He worked in an office also. Then there were the beloved Twins. They both were married and had families and they both worked in an office. All of our dear Lost Boys often dreamt about the adventures that they were missing out on and all the fun times that they left behind them. On their death beds, every single one of them, though they loved their families, regretted leaving their true home; Neverland.

Now, in this story, we have the new Lost Boys.

Shortly after the first Lost Boys left Neverland, babies weren’t falling out of their prams like they used to, they were becoming smarter. Peter found himself having to go to England to look for boys, mostly orphans, to take back with him.

There’s a boy who was born with the name Wes, but Peter swept him away from an orphanage and called him Sachet. Sachet was a smart boy and an excellent hunter. He was also the cockiest. Just because he thought he was the oldest of the Lost Boys and the most handsome. The boys had a contest one day to see which one of them was the most handsome. Peter won because he was the leader. But Sachet won second place because he told the boys that girls loved his blue eyes. None of the Lost Boys really cared whether or not a girl thought they were handsome or not, they each loved to win contests. Sachet reminded Peter so much of Slightly.

Then there’s a boy who was previously known as Aiden. After being brought to Neverland by Peter he was quickly renamed to Dodo. You see, Dodo was not the brightest boy and the other boys always gave him a hard time about it. Once he mistook a maple leaf with poison oak and was sick for a week. He was also the sweetest lost boy, and had the worst of luck. Peter often thought of Tootles when he looked at Dodo.

Next we see Tiny. His name in “The England World” was Avery. He was the youngest of the bunch so the name stuck. More often than not, Tiny would talk to himself, or who he called, “his bunch.” (The equivalent of what we call imaginary friends) It reminded Peter of the Twins and how they often finished each others sentences.

Next came Copper. When the boy formally known as Zachary came to the boys they had such a hard time finding a suitable name because Zachary just would not cut it. Then one day, he saved Dodo from a copper-head snake, therefore he became known as Copper. He was the bravest of the boys and claimed that he would do anything for their fearless leader, Peter. But Peter told him that he would never have to worry about having to save him because he could get out of any situation. Copper’s great bravery often reminded Peter of Nibs.

Then came the fateful day when Peter would find the last new Lost Boy. He was flying over an orphanage, looking for boys that fit the guidelines of a Lost Boy. He had to be brave, courageous, and witty. One day, he found Curly. Yes, Curly, just Curly. He had no other name that he knew of. When Peter met the boy he asked, “What do you call yourself?” “Curly.” “Curly. I had a friend once called Curly.” “What happened to him?” “He grew old, and foolish, so he died.” “Oh.” That was all that it took to convince Curly to join Peter. Of course, Curly reminded Peter a great much of the original Curly.

Now don’t get me wrong, Peter was very fond of his new Lost Boys, but something just never felt the same, and nothing ever would.

Back to the story that I was telling. Peter and the boys were playing in their underground abode when suddenly Peter stopped them.  “Quiet boys, somethin’ is comin’.”

“Is it pirates?”

“Naw…”

“Wolves?”

“Nuh uh”

“Is it-“ before he could finish his sentence, a beautiful princess stuck her head down the hole that led to the secret entrance of the boys home and shouted, “Boo!” The boys were scared senseless! Poor Copper pulled out his dagger and held it out in front of him to protect him self. Curly shrieked and jumped five feet into the air, bumping his head on the rocky ceiling. Sachet fell backwards and created a domino effect knocking over Dodo, and Tiny.

Peter and the princess stood laughing at what had just happened.

“Tiger Lily!” said Tiny, as he stood up and brushed off his clothes.

“Peter you knew it was her the whole time!” scolded Curly, rubbing the top of his head.

“You didn’t tell us jus’ so you could scare us!” said Copper, putting his knife back into his pocket.

Tiger Lily was still laughing as she lowered herself into the entrance way. Peter slapped his knee in amusement. “You boys scare too easily! Don’t be cross, have some fun!” he said as he jumped up and clicked his heels together.