Disclaimer: Peter Pan, all characters, places, and related terms belong to J.M. Barrie, and Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and Revolution Studios.

Happily Ever After

"Once upon a time," her mother would start each night, the storybook resting on her lap, while she and her brothers sat at her feet. "There was a girl named Cinderella, who so ever wished to attend the royal ball... But a servant girl such as she would never be allowed inside. On the night of the ball, however, a magical woman appeared by the kitchen fire - her fairy godmother! With a wave of her magic wand she transformed a pumpkin into a grand coach, four mice into horses, and lizards into a coachman and footmen. And - with a final wave - changed Cinderellas rags into the most beautiful dress you can imagine."

"Not as beautiful as your lavender dress, Mother!" she would always say, and be rewarded with a gentle, tender smile that drew attention to the hidden kiss tucked away in the right hand corner, before her mother dropped her eyes back to the book.

"Cinderella rode to the palace, her face smiling, eyes sparkling, and heart beating fast with excitement. When she arrived at the ball, the prince himself handed her down and led her into the brightly lit ballroom. She danced the night away, the prince always at her side, his smile and eyes gentle..."

"...Cinderella flew through the air," she said, spreading her arms like a bird, "far from all things ugly and ordinary. When she landed at the ball, she found herself most impertinently surrounded by pirates!"

She started telling stories at school during lunch. That first time the rapt expressions on her friends' face become puzzled as they listened to her.

"There was Alf Mason, so ugly his mother sold him for a bottle of Muscat. Bill Jukes, every inch of him tattooed."

Her listeners shifted uncomfortably, glancing at each other then back to her, animating with her hands.

"And worst of them all...Hook! With eyes blue as forget-me-nots, save when he clawed your belly with the iron hook he has...instead of a right hand, at which time...his eyes turn red." Her lips curled at the chorus of gasps and wide eyes that stared at her. She continued, "'Girlie,' said Hook, 'we have come for ye glass slippers.' 'Who be you to order me about and call me "girlie"?' demanded she, bringing forth her sword. Then the brave Cinderella settled the matter once and for all, defeating Hook and the pirates!"

She had been puzzled when she was questioned for adding pirates, and not even having Cinderella marry the prince in the end. Why was the fairy tale so different?

The girl had smiled and shrugged. Why not? Perhaps Cinderella had secretly wished for more than just a dazzling ball, to leave her stepfamily and have marvelous adventures. Not find true love.

Wendy continued to transform fairy tales into adventures. Snow White was captured by pirates when she was playing hostess to an old woman selling apples, who in turn were defeated by the brave dwarfs. Sleeping Beauty sailed with Aladdin to find the Fountain of Youth guarded, according to legend, by a dangerous scoundrel called Red Beard. Donkeyskin, desiring to explore more of the world, left the farm before she could be summoned to try on the prince's ring.

As time went on, the girl's audience grew thinner and thinner until finally only one tiny classmate listened to her each afternoon. Yet the little one always regarded her with a puzzled air, not able to fully understand or appreciate these new tales. Other girls laughed at Wendy, calling her silly and strange. Their teasing and mockery rolled off Wendy like water drops.

Of course they could not understand why she preferred adventures to fairy tales. She did not fully understand it all herself, only that it was true. She longed to have an adventure of her own: to explore strange places, find buried treasure, fight pirates. Perhaps to be part of a band that fought evildoers; though the only girl, she would be considered one of the boys, respected and just as skillful with her sword as they.

So one night, when she woke up to find a queer boy trying to attach his shadow to his foot with soap, excitement flooded the girl. Maybe, she thought as she sewed the shadow for him, taking in the green leaves, windblown curls, twinkling eyes. She listened with wonder and awe as he described his home, his Lost Boys. Maybe, the word brushed her mind, and she pictured herself by his side, both of them brandishing swords. Perhaps he would enable her to have her long desired adventures.

"I've come to listen to the stories. Like the one about the prince who couldn't find the lady who wore the glass slippers."

"Cinderella! Peter, he found her," Wendy said as she came towards him. "And they," her voice trailed off, the excitement left her face as she stopped a handbreadth away from the boy. "They..."

She was drowning in pools of the deepest blue, and she saw herself spinning, spinning, spinning, her hand held securely in his as his first teeth came out and he drew her closer to him... Was that how it happened to Snow White, to Cinderella? Blinking, she realized Peter was still waiting, his expression a mixture of expectation and confusion. "They lived happily ever after," she finished, instead of relating the other ending she had at first intended, her cheeks warming.

"I knew it," the boy rolled his eyes and smiled slightly.

Wendy's heart thumped against her chest, and she suddenly felt shy as she hesitantly told Peter she would like to give him a "thimble." And as she boldly stepped closer to show him what a "thimble" was, she wished this was the beginning of her fairy tale.

THE END