Embracing Darkness

Wendy awoke to bright sunlight in her eyes, and sat up slowly. A damp chill ran through her, as she became conscious of the fact that she was no longer in the tropical climate of Neverland., No, this was the cold of England, and she recognized her former home immediately. When she stood up from the park bench on which she had been lying, she saw her house in front of her, only it had changed a great deal. While curtains had graced the inside frames of the windows and storm shutters flanked the outside panes of the home in which she had grown up, the house in front of her had no such decoration. The shutters hung loosely and were missing alltogether in some places. A dark grime covered the inside glass, making it impossible to see inside. As Wendy moved closer, jaw dropped in disbelief, she became aware of a large pile of rubble that spilled out into the street behind the brick building. Moving along the sidewalk next to her clearly uninhabitated home, Wendy fought a feeling of panic that welled up in her throat when she saw that the back of the house had been completely destroyed, and left a gaping hole where part of their roof had been. The building behind their house no longer stood, its bricks heaped on the ground along with those that once made up the back wall of her own room. To her horror, she slowly became aware that the majority of buildings within close distance of the place where she had grown up were in similar states of destruction. Wendy collapsed into a heap of sobs, realizing that she was suddenly alone in what felt like a different world. When a man hurried past, she called out to him.

"Sir! Please sir, what in heavens name has happened here?" She cried out. The man stared at her in disbelief for a moment, before softening enough to answer her as he would a simple child.

"The War ma'am. Most of the people that lived around here have left the city altogether to escape the air raids

"But my mother, my father, my brothers? Where might they be?" She asked, now wondering how much time had passed while she was away.

"Most likely gone. Those that werent injured or killed took everything they had and fled. How were you not aware of this?" The man waited for a response, but Wendy could do nothing but sob brokenly.

"Miss, can I take you somewhere? Miss?" The man asked, then shook his head in disbelief as the young woman in front of him only cried, ignoring his offer of assistance. He hurried on his way, assuming she was off in the head. He left the broken woman kneeling where she was, crying on her knees in front of the war-torn building.

After what felt like hours, Wendy climbed slowly to her feet and steeled herself to collect what little provisions she could find and seek shelter for the night. When she entered the rubble of her house though, she slowly became aware that very little of the once grand house remained undestroyed. Neverland seemed now but only a distant dream in the face of her new reality. She was poor and alone, and now forced live in the partially covered basement of her former home.