#askbox request

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Searching for Clovers

It was an ordinary day in Never Land, and on ordinary days in Never Land, Peter Pan and the Lost Boys always find something fun to get up to. This particular day, Cubby had gotten the notion to look for four-leaf clovers. Peter of course made a challenge out of it, and whichever Lost Boy found the most four-leaf clovers would be the winner.

The boys had started out in the forest, but had ended up strolling off in completely different directions, to the point where they were scattered all about the island, some in places where clovers certainly wouldn’t be found.

This story, however, is about Slightly, the oldest of the Lost Boys, right after Peter. On his hunt for four-leaf clovers, Slightly had ended up in the Native Encampment. He strolled all through the village, and his eyes were glued to the ground as he scanned every patch of grass for clovers. 

He didn’t seem to notice a girl of similar age watching him keenly while she worked on weaving something on a loom, a blanket, perhaps. She noticed him as soon as he entered the village. It was hard to miss a lanky boy with a shock of blonde hair, wearing a fox-fur outfit. He was unusual, and, honestly, she thought he was cute.

“I got one!” Slightly blurted out in joy as he held up a freshly-plucked four-leaf clover. It was only then that he realized the other boys were nowhere around him. But he did notice a pretty girl looking at him. He gulped, composing himself a little, and smiled at her. “Oh, hi! Sorry to bother you. I’m hunting for four-leaf clovers!”

The girl giggled softly, and brushed her long, black hair over her shoulders. She stopped her work and smiled at him, glad that he’d struck up a conversation. “That sounds like fun! I see you’ve found one. Have you found any others?” 

“Uh-huh!” Slightly came closer and showed her the fistful of four-leaf clovers. “I got most of ‘em in the forest. We’re having a contest with Pan! Whoever collects the most wins… And I just might be the winner!” He jabbed a thumb right into his chest for emphasis. 

The girl was very charmed. “That’s wonderful! By the way, what’s your name?” 

“Oh, sorry, I’m Slightly!” He smiled brightly at her.

“Hello, Slightly. My name is Willow,” she replied. Then, looking around quickly to make sure no one seemed to notice if she’d slip away, she leaned closer to him and added, “Would it be fair if I helped you to look for the clovers?”

The boy blushed a little. This pretty girl wanted to help him win the contest? He wasn’t sure if this was within the rules, but how could he say no? “Sure! I don’t see why not!” 

“Excellent!” Willow stood and joined him, leaving her work behind for now. She slipped her arm into his. “Lead the way, Slightly!” 

With that, the two new friends ran back into the forest to search for clovers together.

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The Truth

It was dusk by the time that the boys finally all made it back to Hangman’s Tree, and now it was time to determine who was the winner. Cubby had found seven, there were six between the Twins, Nibs had found eight, And Tootles, bless his heart, had only found one. As for Peter, he’d found ten, and Slightly, well, he came home with fifteen!

    Peter was in disbelief. “Fifteen! Gosh, how’d you find so many?!” 

    Slightly felt his face becoming a bit red as he tried to speak. “Well, I ended up by Tiger Lily’s village, and I met this girl– her name’s Willow– and she helped me find ‘em!”

    “Aehhh, that’s no fair!” Peter waved a hand dismissively. “How many’d you have before she started helping you?”

    “I don’t remember, maybe eight?” Slightly replied. 

    “Then I think that means I’m the real winner!” Peter decided, jutting out his chin with a proud grin on his face. 

    “That’s okay with me,” Slightly nodded. He didn’t really mind if he didn’t win. He was just happy to have met Willow.

    The other boys picked up on how much he seemed to like this girl. Cubby spoke up, nudging Slightly in the ribs. “Are you gonna go see her again?”

    “Maybe,” the fox-eared boy replied.

    “What does she look like?” Nibs asked.

    “Well, she’s got pretty black hair, like raven’s feathers, and it’s real long! Her eyes are really pretty too. Brown like a chestnut!”

    “My eyes look like that too!” Peter chimed in, pointing at his eyes, as he wanted some attention. He hadn’t really gotten much adulation for being the real winner of the contest. 

    “I think Slightly likes her!” Nibs said in a sing-song voice that only made Slightly blush harder. “Ooooh!” All the other Lost Boys teased.

“Pshaw,” Slightly waved away the notion and turned his back to the others, crossing his lanky arms over his chest. Did he like her? He hadn’t felt so embarrassed about someone pointing out that he liked something before. Slightly liked apples, but the thought of apples certainly didn’t make him blush like this!

Although he himself had a hard time grappling with the feelings he had for Wendy, Peter recognized and understood what Slightly was going through. He couldn’t tease him about this. Peter thought fast and snapped his fingers. “Hey men! I think I hear a coyote outside. Why don’t you go out and see if you can find it.”

“Yeah!” “Alright!” “Woo-hoo!” The boys quickly gathered their tools and ran outside to see the coyote. There was none. But before Slightly could go with the others, Peter stopped him.

The redheaded boy scratched at the back of his neck as he tried to think of the right thing to say. “Hey, uh, Slightly? Don’t let ‘em bother you, okay? I think it’s nice that you like Willow. It’s always good to make a new friend!” 

Peter was very comforting, and Slightly really appreciated it. He felt like he could be honest with Peter. “You mean, it’s okay if I like her?”

“Of course!” Peter grinned. “Just don’t go running off with her forever. After all, you’re a Lost Boy!”

Slightly smiled brightly at hearing this. “Yes, Pan!”

Just then, the others came trickling back in. “Aw, there weren’t any coyotes out there!” Cubby pouted. “But I did find a cricket.” He carefully revealed the small insect, cupped in his chubby palms. 

    Before he could flinch, Nibs took the cricket and threw it at Tootles. The cricket chirped and quickly hopped away, leaving the boys in its dust.

    “Hey!!” Cubby shouted in frustration. 

    Peter laughed out loud. “We can have a cricket-catching contest tomorrow!”

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The Little Fox

The next day, after the boys had finished their cricket-catching contest (Nibs had won), Slightly slipped away that evening to see Willow again. Luckily, he found her at her loom again. 

    “Hi, Willow!” He greeted her with a genuine smile.

    Her face lit up with joy as she looked up to see him. “Slightly! Good evening!” She continued working at her loom. “My blanket is almost finished. It will only be another minute.”

    “That’s okay, take your time,” he assured her. Slightly took a seat nearby. “We, uh, we won the contest yesterday! Isn’t that great?”

    “Oh! That is great! I’m so happy!” Willow replied, with a little squeal in her voice. “I think we make a good team,” she added, as she continued to work the loom.

    Slightly felt himself blushing again. “Yeah, heheh, we do!” He bit his lip and looked away for a moment, then found himself intrigued by the loom. “You’re really good at that.”

    “Thank you! I could teach you, if you wanted to learn,” she offered. Willow was finishing off the blanket now. It was beautiful, yellow for the most part, with a woven red and blue pattern throughout. 

    “That might be fun!” Slightly replied. 

    Willow took the finished blanket off of the loom and draped it delicately over the blonde boy’s shoulders. It was getting a little chilly. “Come with me.”

    The two walked to a peak by the edge of the encampment and took a seat. Slightly, not wanting Willow to be cold, put the blanket over her shoulders as well. It was just the right size for both of them to share. 

    She smiled and sat close to him. “You can see many stars from here,” Willow explained, gazing up at the stars. Sure, Never Land was on the Second Star to the Right, but you could see all the other stars from it, too! She pointed to a certain spot in the heavens. “That there, that is called Aquila! It’s an eagle.” 

    It took him a moment, but squinting at the stars, Slightly was able to make out the constellation that she was talking about. “Oh yeah! That’s neat!”

    “And this one, right over here,” the girl pointed to a different section of stars, “is Vulpecula. Do you see what it is?”

    Slightly squinted again. The constellations weren’t always easy to make out, and it certainly took some imagination to fill in the lines. “I’m not too sure…”

    “It’s the Little Fox.” Willow looked at him now. “That constellation, that one is for you.”

    Slightly’s smile brightened tenfold as he saw what she was talking about. It was simply perfect for him. “Oh!! I see it now!” He looked to Willow, who seemed just as happy as he was. “Thank you, Willow. I never would’a known I had my own constellation, if it weren’t for you.”

    They sat a while longer, with Willow pointing out constellations, and Slightly telling her related stories every once in a while. Eventually, Slightly realized it was time to go home for the night. He walked Willow back to her tipi. 

    “I had a really great time with you, Willow. Let’s do this again.” He went to hand her back the beautiful blanket she had made, but she stopped him.