Neverland

I stomped up to my room and slammed the door. I threw myself onto the bed, tears began to stream down my cheeks. I sobbed into my pillow.

“Don’t you slam that door, young man!” My mother shouted from downstairs. “You stay up there until you can learn to behave yourself!”

I punched at my pillow angrily. She was always so mean to me! I didn’t want to go to stupid Johnny Davis’ tenth birthday, so why did she make me? Tommy, he was nice enough to invite you, it would be rude not to go. I’m sure he’d be sad. So what? I didn’t even like Johnny.

He was always trying to hang around me and be my friend, but I didn’t want to be his friend. He always played in the dirt during recess, and he smelled like tuna fish. He was weird. Why did I have to be his friend just because no one else would? I didn’t want to go to the stupid party, but she made me. He kept hanging around me and bothering me. I begged Mom about a hundred times to take me home, but she wouldn’t. Tommy, don’t be rude. We just got here.

The last straw was when we were eating the cake. Stupid Johnny wanted to sit right next to me. He kept talking with his mouth full, spitting cake all over me and my piece. Finally, I had enough. I took my spit-covered piece of cake and shoved it right in his stupid face. That made him shut up. At least until he started crying like a baby. 

Of course, his mom rushed over, and my mom dragged me away and started yelling at me in front of everyone.

“Tommy, why would you do that?!” She screamed. “What’s wrong with you? Go apologize to Johnny right now!”

“No!” I shouted. “I don’t like him! This party is stupid, and he’s stupid, and I want to go home!”

Well, this made stupid, crybaby Johnny cry more and my mom did finally drag me out of the house. When we got home she started yelling at me about being mean and that I had ruined Johnny’s birthday, then she spanked me! It was her fault! If she didn’t make me go, I wouldn’t have done it. 

I sniffled on my bed. I glanced over at my nightstand, my favorite book was still there: Walt Disney’s Peter Pan. The Lost Boys never had to go to stupid birthday parties. They never had to go to school, or brush their teeth, or get yelled at. I wanted to be a Lost Boy.

An idea popped into my head. I jumped off the bed and ran into my closet. It was piled full of toys and old clothes. I climbed in and shut the door behind me. I hid under some old sweaters and comic books. I’d stay here all day, and when Mom came up later to check on me she’d see I was gone. Maybe she’d think I ran away. Then she would be the one crying and feeling bad about what she did. I giggled a little thinking about getting her back for being so mean.

Suddenly, I heard another giggle next to me. I gasped and turned. A tiny, green creature, only about a foot high, was standing on a pile of legos. It wore a tattered white shirt and brown pants, on its feet were old leather shoes. It looked like a little pirate. Its nose and ears were both large, the ears were slightly pointed near the top, and little black eyes twinkled out from the head. It gave me a smile, yellow-brown teeth shone out at me. It was covered in small warts like a frog and was completely bald except for a couple white hairs poking out here and there. A tiny gold crown sat on its head. 

“Well, hello there,” it said cheerfully. “I am Erlking! King of the fairies! Who are you? What brings you to my kingdom this fine day?”

“T-T-Tommy!" I stuttered out, not sure if what I was seeing was real. "This-this is my closet.”

“Closet?” He said, looking around, confused. “Oh my, I guess it is. I must have gotten lost on my way back home. I wondered why it looked so strange here.”

He was an ugly little creature, but he seemed friendly. He was just lost. Where did he come from though?

“Where is your home?” I asked. “How did you get here?”

“The door, of course,” he said laughing.

Erlking pointed into the dark corner of my closet. In the faint light of the closet, I saw a small wooden door. It had carvings of flowers and fairies all over it. Was this always here? I crawled over and looked at it closer.

“Where does it go?” I asked.

“To Neverland, of course.”

“Neverland!” I shouted.

He nodded and gave me another big smile. I couldn’t believe it, this couldn’t be real. Neverland? With the beautiful mermaids, and the pirates, and Peter Pan and all the Lost Boys? Was it really real? And all this time the way there was just inside my closet! 

I turned back to the little man. I looked at the crown on his head. He said he was king of the fairies, but…

“You don’t really look like a fairy,” I said.

He frowned and crossed his arms. “That’s not very fair. Not all fairies look the same. Do all humans look the same?”

I looked down guiltily. I guess he was right. People always looked really different, why couldn’t fairies? I looked at the door again. He wasn’t human for sure, and I was pretty sure he was real, so that meant Neverland had to be real too. After all, why would he lie to some boy in a closet?

“Would you like to visit my kingdom?” He asked.

I started beaming. “Yes, yes please,” I begged. “I want to go to Neverland! I want to stay a kid forever, and play all day, and be a Lost Boy!”

His eyes grew wide. Then a huge smile filled his face, it was so big it almost looked like it wouldn’t fit his head.

“A Lost Boy? Why didn’t you say so?!” Erlking asked excitedly. “The fairies love turning humans into Lost Boys! We’ll have a feast tonight and you’ll be a Lost Boy by tomorrow morning!”

I was so excited I was bouncing. I crawled over to the door and threw it open. A soft, salty breeze blew past me. I looked through the door, my jaw dropped. It was real. It was really real.

The door was hanging in the middle of the sky. A huge ocean was spread all around, and just a little bit ahead was a giant island. Neverland. I tried crawling through the door but Erlking tugged on my sleeve desperately.

“Wait, wait!” He shouted. “You need fairy dust or else you’ll fall into the ocean!”

Oh, right. Fairy dust and happy thoughts are how to fly, or else people just fall. I turned to him. He reached into a little pouch on his side and pulled out a handful of sparkly sand. He blew it onto me gently. It tickled my nose, but other than that I didn’t feel different.

“Now, think happy and jump!” He shouted.

I turned to the door and took a deep breath. Peter Pan, Neverland, becoming a Lost Boy. Happy and free to play forever and ever. I smiled and leaped through the door. I squished my eyes closed tight as I jumped, but I didn’t feel myself falling. I opened my eyes and gasped. I was really flying! I turned back to the door. Erlking flew through, shutting the door behind him. He gave me another big smile and took my hand.

“Come on, Tommy. It’s this way,” he said, gently tugging my hand and guiding me toward the island.

I looked at the ground below as we flew. It was really real. A huge pirate ship was sailing in the middle of the ocean, I saw the pretty mermaids splashing near the shores, and I saw flashes of light that dashed around through the trees. Fairies.

Erlking led me far past all of this, into the forest. Up ahead I saw a humongous tree, far bigger than any others in the forest. He flew us to the very top branches. A hollow horn rested between a Y-shaped stick. Erlking let go of my hand and walked over to the horn. He put his lips to it and blew hard. The small horn made a very big sound. It echoed all around the island and made the birds rush from the trees. He turned back to me.

“Alerting the other fairies,” he said, smiling.

Sure enough, I saw hundreds of small lights rushing towards the tree. It was beautiful, magical. I couldn’t believe I was really here. He grabbed my hand again and led me down through the branches. In the trunk of the tree was a small staircase. It was tight, I had to lean down, but I could make it through. As we reached the bottom Erlking threw open a large wooden door. On the other side was a huge room. 

It looked like a castle! The ceilings were high and the room was wide. Hundreds and hundreds of long tables filled the room. Each one was piled high with delicious-looking food. The fairies fluttered around them, I could hear their voices mumbling excitedly. Like he said, the fairies all looked different. Some were beautiful and flying like Tinkerbell, but others were colorful and walking like Erlking.

He tugged at my hand again and led me to the front of the room. It was another giant table, piled with food, but this one had a small throne in front of it. Like all the other fairy things it was wooden and carved full of beautiful flowers. He sat on the throne and clapped his hands together. A swarm of a dozen walking fairies appeared, carrying a small stool. They set it next to Erlking before bowing and going back to their tables. Erlking patted the stool.

“Come, Tommy!” He said happily. “You are our guest of honor tonight. Please sit while I inform the fairies of your arrival.”

I sat down next to him. Erlking nodded and smiled before standing on his throne and once again clapping his hands. He clapped loudly until the whole room became quiet. The fairies all turned to him excitedly.

“My fellow fairies,” Erlking roared cheerfully, “tonight I would like to introduce you to a very special guest. This is Tommy!” He gestured to me grandly. “Tommy is a human, but no ordinary human. No, Tommy has asked us to help him become a Lost Boy!”

The fairies all began to shout and cheer excitedly. I smiled. They all seemed so happy to help me become a Lost Boy. I hoped they would still want to spend time with me after. The fairies were nice, I would love to spend forever playing with them. Erlking clapped his hands again to silence the room. 

“Now, my fellow fairies, let’s prepare for our feast!” He shouted. He turned to me as they cheered again. “Tommy, the fairies will help prepare you, and after the feast, you’ll be a Lost Boy.”

I beamed from ear to ear. I was so excited I was bouncing in my chair. A swarm of flying fairies danced toward me. They circled above my head sprinkling pixie dust. I smiled and thought of my happy Lost Boy thoughts. Then a group of the walking fairies began to approach me. I was getting so anxious I stopped bouncing in my chair. It was like I couldn’t move. 

Suddenly, I realized I couldn’t move. I tried to move my arms, nothing. I tried to stand up, nothing. I couldn’t even turn to look at Erlking. I felt a wave of nausea run through me as I noticed several of the walking fairies carrying knives by their sides.

“Er-Erlking!” I shouted. I was happy to know I could still talk.

Erlking stepped onto the table and stood in front of me. From his pouch, he pulled out a knife of his own. He gave me another big smile, but this time it didn’t seem so friendly. I tried to struggle, but my body was still frozen.

“What’s going on?!” I cried desperately. “I thought you were going to help me be a Lost Boy!”

Erlking cocked his head to the side and frowned.

“We are though,” he said, confused. Suddenly, realization came across his face. He sighed and shook his head. “Oh, you’re one of those Disney boys. Oh, no, no, no. Tommy, that's just a children's story. Don’t you know how Lost Boys are really made?”

I tried to shake my head but I still couldn’t move. I was too terrified to ask. Erlking leaned in close and an evil grin spread across his face.

“They kill them, Tommy.”

Erlking lifted his knife slowly. It glistened menacingly, it matched the glimmer in his eyes. As the other walking fairies approached they all snickered and raised their knives too. The fairies behind them were whispering anxiously, some licked their lips hungrily.

“Welcome to Neverland, Tommy,” Erlking said cheerfully. “I’m so glad we could help you become a Lost Boy.”