Mrs Darling knew that when you play during the day the Neverland isn’t scary at all But night was a different matter altogether Two minutes before you fall asleep it becomes all too real That was why they had night-lights Sometimes when the children slept Mrs Darling would find things she couldn’t understand One especially confusing thing was the name Peter She knew of no Peter and yet he was always present in the children’s minds Mrs Darling would question Wendy But who is he Why he’s Peter Pan Mother Wendy would respond Mrs Darling soon remembered a Peter Pan from when she was younger He had said he lived with the fairies He explained that when a child dies he would go partway with them to heaven so they wouldn’t be afraid She had believed him at the time but now that she was a grown sensible woman she doubted whether such a person really existed 8
Besides she said to Wendy he would be grown up by now Oh no Mother He isn’t grown up Wendy wasn’t sure how she knew She just knew When Mrs Darling told her husband about Peter he smiled Mark my word it’s some nonsense Nana put into their minds No worries It will blow over But it would not blow over One morning Wendy looked over some leaves that she found by the nursery window I do believe it’s that Peter Pan again Whatever do you mean Wendy Mrs Darling asked Wendy explained quite calmly that Peter Pan had come into the nursery and played his pipes for her by the foot of the bed Although she never woke up she just knew I think he comes in through the window Mrs Darling was sure Wendy must have been dreaming After all the nursery was three floors up On the other hand where did the 9
leaves come from Mrs Darling realized leaves like that didn’t exist in England In the end she decided that Wendy must have been dreaming But Wendy wasn’t dreaming The very next night proved to be the beginning of Wendy John and Michael’s adventures On this particular night Nana had the evening off Mrs Darling bathed the children told them stories and watched them drift off to sleep It wasn’t long before Mrs Darling fell asleep too While she slept she dreamed that the children had gone to the Neverland and were peering down on her The dream itself wasn’t dreary but she awoke to a light flickering in the room Next to the light she discovered a boy and knew at once it was Peter Pan Then Peter Pan spied Mrs Darling When he realized she was a grown-up he gnashed his little teeth at her 10
chapter 2 The Shadow Mrs Darling screamed Nana returning from her evening out walked in the room and jumped toward the boy It was too late The boy had leaped through the open window Mrs Darling screamed once more Surely a boy couldn’t survive the fall to the ground below She ran down to the street and searched for him His little body wasn’t there As she looked up at the window she noticed a shooting star in the sky When she returned to the nursery she saw Nana holding the boy’s shadow in her mouth It hadn’t had time to escape through the window and had snapped off 11
