Never Grow Up

A secret hideout that never made it to Disney stands in a fallen-down oak tree, not easily seen by outsiders, and only Peter knew about this one. Peter was a 10-year-old boy who wore a green tunic cap with a crimson, cardinal, cherry feather. Peter stands with his smile, staring happily at the 16-year-old in front of him. “You grew up,” Peter smiles as he circles his prey, throwing his knife and catching it with one hand. “I promised I didn’t mean to, Peter.” He laughs in the boy's face. A drop of sweat hits the floor. Peter takes his knife to the boy's throat and starts to work his way down, ripping into the clothes, making sure to just pinch the skin here and there to make the blood smear down the boy's shirt.

The boy looks around and runs to the bookcase and grabs a book just as his clothes separate to the ground. He stands there with no pants and his top split down the front. Peter looks him up and down. He wipes the knife down on the back of the boy's shirt, grabs the boy by the hair, and puts him on the clock. Tick Tock, Peter pulls down on a branch; the boy goes down. A crack as his lifeless body hits the water.

“Peter Pan has brought some children over to his hideout and, well, one of them is coming of age a week today.” This gets the captain's attention; he storms into his office, grabs a long scroll, and lays it out onto his desk.

He looks at the map and adds three pins—blue, white, and pink—next to the green. He scans the map and stabs a red pin into the map at Mermaid Lagoon. He starts plotting a plan to save the Darling children and save them from the mercy of Peter Pan.

Peter wanders through the woods when he hears singing. He heads towards that jarring sound of "Happy Birthday." He arrives at a mad hatter's tea party. A banner saying "Happy 16th Birthday May" hangs swaying between two trees. They look in terror, panic crossing their faces. “You all are going to make me late.” All the people over 16 make a line like prisoners in chains. The children hide in the trees. Peter leads the way; he barks for them to come in when the clock chimes.

The birthday girl slides first. Peter takes a birthday candle, shoving it inside her eyes, pushing till they pop. He brings them out, and he pulls the tree branch, throwing the girl’s eyes as a starter, then pushing the girl to let the crocodiles finish with icing. Next was someone who looked old enough to be a mother, a normal mother, even Peter’s mother. He hands her a drink, which she downs. She looks at him as smoke ejects out of every hole in her body, and Peter checked. Down, down, down she goes. Peter invites the next two together.

“Whichever one of you survives can stay alive.” The boys face each other, begging each other, till one grabs Peter’s knife and stabs his brother 10 times in the heart. The blood splatters onto Peter’s face. Peter pulls on the branch as they both go into the unknown. He wipes his face with his finger and lets it slip into his mouth. The crocodile's jaw snaps shut. Peter flies out of his hideout towards the mermaid lagoon.

The pirates leave their ship on the edge of Mermaid Lagoon and sneak into the cove. Jagged rocks come face to face. The moon casts a ghostly glow-like presence on the rocks. Peter flies in from the open cracks in the roof, followed by a tired, zombified Tinker Bell with a blonde bun, a green dress, wings looking fragile, and 3 children. Michael is a 6-year-old boy, his bare feet and a torn nightshirt, his baggy scarf hardly shows a piece of color. John Michael, his 9-year-old brother, his feet covered in splinters and bruises, his nightshirt only starting to fray, but his waistcoat torn and scratched. The eldest child was Wendy Darling, nearly 16, whose slippers are now more brown than white, her nightdress ripped at the bottom, her hair falling out, and yet they were all so hypnotized by everything.

They land on the rock in the center. “Oh, Peter, it’s so amazing.” Peter smirks at himself. The pirates exchange a glance, the understanding between them sealed. Smee heads underneath the lagoon, while the others all dodge around the edge, keeping out of sight. Captain Hook keeps his current position. "Why don’t you go swimming, Wendy? The mermaids would love it,” Peter laughs.

At a water splash, all the mermaids dive like apex predators towards their prey. Hook watches as Peter entertains the boys with Tinker Bell. She glances at Hook and nods.

Peter grins, “tick, tock, tick tock,” and Hook’s face paled. Peter knew. In a flash, Tinker Bell grabs both boys and takes them to the pirate ship.

The eerie moonlight casts long shadows across the jagged cliffs as Captain Hook and Peter Pan clash in a wild frenzy. The rocks catching under their feet, with one swipe of the sword, blood squirts out of Hook's good hand.

James stands in the secret hideout. A leaf crunches behind him. He falls to his knees and begs Peter to let him go back home to see his sister. Peter laughs at him, grabs the dagger, and slices it through his hand. "Goodbye, James.” He pulls the tree branch, and James falls, his hand landing in a tick-tocking mouth. He manages to swim to shore.

“You codfish!” Hook screams. A drop ripples into the water. A haunting chill thrills and hovers in the air. “Tick tock goes the alarm clock.” Peter swings his dagger, taunting Hook's every nerve.

Hook turns his head to Peter and raises his sword. He slashes Peter's face, catching his cheek. The flesh holding on by a thread, Peter pushes his sword into Captain Hook, making him stumble and fall into the water with a snap of a jaw encasing Hook into his mouth. Peter glares at a mermaid who fixes his face, and he poses like a hero on a trophy.

“I’ll take the story from here.”

All children, except one, grow up...