✨ / YOUTH

1. you cannot change him. he wears his confidence as his armor, carves swords out of his sharp tongue, feigns ignorance when it works best for him. he is not stupid, but he is just a boy. 

2. the world is his stage. peter pan’s imagination sprouts flowers, and when he offers you the bouquet, accept them. curtsy, pull the cotton folds of your nightgown like an accordion. don’t worry, he can hear it — he always does. to love peter pan, you must play with him. laughter is the first step in staying a child forever.

3. you must become a wonderful storyteller, and you must tell them to him — read them backwards, forwards, recite them as you drift to sleep and continue in the morning. cinderella, sleeping beauty, snow white — he wants them with all the greed of a little boy. alter the endings — stories where princesses gut the villains like fish right alongside the prince. and no one falls in love, but they live happily ever after regardless. you have to pretend it doesn’t bother you.

4. understand he will not love you back. well ––––– he says he doesn’t know what love is (there is that willful ignorance, you realize.) love is something for adults, apparently — he’ll have absolutely no part in it. but you catch the smiles, the admiration, his very own brand of boyish kindness. understand it’s all he has wants to give. for a while, it should be enough.

THE STORY BEGINS LIKE THIS  /  VERSES ! 

001. MAIN.  proud and insolent youth.  for hundreds of years , peter’s many tales and adventures would often begin here ; these are the stories that mothers would tell their children and the very stories he finds himself perched outside countless windows to listen in on. in his main verse,  pan is only a boy ; a fairytale given to the second star to the right.  and while he may become a distant memory , an urban myth , to those who grows up —  peter pan will always remember.

002. PRE-DARLING.  all children - except one.  there is a particular window that he became quite fond of and peter , in his curious little way , would often find time to sit upon it and listen in on his own tales told by what appeared to be a young mother. she was wonderful at telling stories ; especially about pirates and fairies and a world he thought he knew by heart. 

003. POST-DARLING.   absence makes the heart grow fonder.  there is a loneliness that trickled into existence after his adventures with the darling children ; one that he hadn’t been aware of previously. yet still – he is peter pan. he may sulk and reminisce in those happy days, but he will forever remain content with remaining as the forever boy. however , that certainly doesn’t stop him from paying his favorite window a visit from time to time – if only to ensure that a certain ladybird has not forgotten about him either. 

ALTERNATE ADVENTURES  /  AUs !

004. DARLING EVER AFTER.   to live would be an awfully big adventure.   the mother had extended a hand and there had been a lull within him that couldn’t be contained. what did he miss , with all those years he’s spent upon the star ?  how many more adventures were waiting for him , within a certain life that he forbade himself to ever entertain ?  he saw , then , the faces of the lost boys ; the knowing yet still hopeful look given by the darling children.  something had shifted.  and just like that , he dared to venture forward and allowed for the window to close behind him. 

      *☆  —-  ‘   every  child  is  affected  thus  the  first  time  he  is  treated  unfairly.  all  he  thinks  he  has  a  right  to  is  fairness.  after  you  have  been  unfair  to  him  ,  he  will  love  you  again  ,  but  he  will  never  afterwards  be  quite  the  same  boy.  no  one  ever  gets  over  the  first  unfairness   ; ’

                                               ‘    no  one  except  peter.    ’

------ ' there ! ' he saw it then -- eyes alight and feet gliding along the humid thick air of the late evening as he tracks it ; that dark figure moving along the patterned walls as if it could so easily evade the attention of the youth.

but nay -- such efforts would prove fruitless.

in a fluid movement, pan's hand would shoot outward, grabbing hold of a slim nearby object ( he cares not what it was ) and shoots it forward --- aimed at the door nearest to his mimic -- his shadow. ' why, don't just stand there ! ' he beckons at the other ; an excited beam crossing his previous façade with body poised like a leopard on the hunt as he darts across the room. ' help me catch it ! '

❛  it was wrong of me to assume you're ever gonna change.  ❜ ❛  that's it? it was all just a lie?  ❜ ❛  shame on me for thinking you were a good person.  ❜ ❛  you're gonna pay for what you did to me.  ❜ ❛  you didn't hear a word of what i just said, did you?  ❜ ❛  believe me, you weren't my first choice either.  ❜ ❛  if you've got a problem with the way i handle things, just say so.  ❜ ❛  do you think we're gonna survive this?  ❜ ❛  what's your problem?!  ❜ ❛  will you please slow down a little?  ❜ ❛  i can't believe you would do something like that.  ❜ ❛  did it mean anything to you?  ❜ ❛  i'm never gonna be good enough for you.  ❜ ❛  we were just fooling ourselves this whole time.  ❜ ❛  i'm sorry, i didn't know where else to go.  ❜ ❛  i don't want to argue with you anymore.  ❜ ❛  fine. you were right, and i was wrong. happy now?  ❜ ❛  this day feels like it's never gonna end.  ❜ ❛  i didn't think you'd care so much.  ❜ ❛  this must be like the first time you were nice to me.  ❜ ❛  out of all the people here, why do i have to be stuck with you?  ❜ ❛  do you want to go on a date with me?  ❜ ❛  honestly, i don't think i wanna leave the house today.  ❜ ❛  were you ever planning on telling me about all of this?  ❜ ❛  i wish i had another choice.  ❜ ❛  don't flatter yourself, a fifth-grader could've done this as well.  ❜ ❛  you're the most insufferable person i have ever met.  ❜ ❛  here, you look like you need this more than me right now.  ❜ ❛  oh, just so you know, i don't ever lose this game.  ❜ ❛  just let me sleep for five more minutes.  ❜ ❛  alright, is there anything else we have to do before they arrive?  ❜ ❛  do you believe in ghosts?  ❜ ❛  i wish we had more time together.  ❜ ❛  you don't have to leave just yet ... you could stay the night if you wanted to.  ❜ ❛  where are you taking me?  ❜ ❛  trust me, this is the last thing i want to do.  ❜ ❛  i need more time to think about what i want.  ❜ ❛  why didn't you say anything earlier? we could've avoided this whole mess.  ❜ ❛  i don't feel so good, i think i may be getting sick.  ❜ ❛  help me! please!  ❜

      *☆  —-  ‘   every  child  is  affected  thus  the  first  time  he  is  treated  unfairly.  all  he  thinks  he  has  a  right  to  is  fairness.  after  you  have  been  unfair  to  him  ,  he  will  love  you  again  ,  but  he  will  never  afterwards  be  quite  the  same  boy.  no  one  ever  gets  over  the  first  unfairness   ; ’

                                               ‘    no  one  except  peter.    ’