Peter Pan and Me

I was unceremoniously thrown into the same cell as Je'ne. By a worm
encrusted zombie. "You alright?"
"Yeah. I'm sorry you got caught."
"Who me?" I chided him, trying to sound cheerful, "I live for this."
"Do you indeed?" Graham said, trotting back and forth along the cell's
length.
"Yeah," I said, holding the bars, "Which is more than I can say for your
friend there. Former crew member, isn't he? Killed by Peter or he looks so
lowly maybe he was killed by one of the littler Lost Boys."
"Hold thy tongue or I shall hold it for you," Graham said, "After I cut it
...no, wait. Maybe I shall let him hold it for you...as he pulls it from your
mouth."
I looked over the zombie. "First rate, he's not. I mean the living dead?
What'd you do make a deal with the devil? Been there, not done that."
"Where is that boy?" Graham looked around.
"Is that your plan?" I gawked. "Lure Peter into an enclosed cell like this
one?"
"He'll come. You are here."
"You know little of Peter Pan. Now, Captain Hook then again, HE was a real
adversary. He knew Peter well. Peter could almost count on Hook to just about
defeat and kill him. Come within inches of his life...but you?"
"Shut up!"
"Ohhhh, Wooden Bodied Graham Cracker."
Graham's face lit up. "He IS here."
I began to sweat. It was Peter's voice, alright. "Peter, you imbecile."
"I'm here, alright," Peter's voice said.
"Where? Where?" Graham removed his sword and swung his axe arm.
"Peg arm, look out the window." Peter was there, or rather just his
face, as he hovered horizontally so his tail and legs were behind him and could
not be seen. "You have what I want and I have what you want."
"What do you have that I want?"
"Luck....I have luck. And I know what bad luck you have or will have if you
continue to hold my friends."
Above, the Vikings tossed spears at Peter but he caught two of the spears
and flung them back. One Viking ducked, "The Pan's right. My aim is never that
off."
"Mine either!"
A third said, "It must be that girl. We have to get her off this ship."
"Oh, come on, Graham, we have no need for this stand off..." Peter smiled
through the bars, holding onto them.
Graham swung his axe at the bars, ripping them. Peter, of course, jumped
back, laughed, and flew a bit away. Then he turned and flew straight back at the
window. "I shall kill your friend, Chase ! NOW!"
Hanna was suddenly at the door, "You will do no such thing, captain."
"What are you doing down here? Didn't my men lock you in your room?"
"They did but I escaped through the window!" Hanna smiled. "I can climb
like a turtle, too. Even though I'm becoming a woman."
"Oh, I'm surrounded by fools, fairies, and imbeciles! Talon, Malice! Take
this girl back to her quarters."
"I will go and stay there, captain, but please, please, do not kill the one
called Chase."
I noticed Je'ne's name did not come up as a candidate for slaughter. It was
because Captain Graham had plans for him.
Talon came to the room with Malice. The two Vikings looked nervous. "Please,
missy, come back with us."
"Oh, okay." She said. She screamed when she turned and saw the zombie
Strang standing in the corner. "What's that?" The zombie moved at her. She
screamed again and fainted.
Peter, outside the window, again, laughed as Malice and Talon caught her in
their arms and began to carry her out. "Bad bad luck, you are all in for it
soon!"
"What do you suggest?" Talon asked.
"Keep your tongue in your mouth!" Graham said.
I spoke up, "You have tongue on the mind..."
Peter murmured, "Kinda like you, last night, uh, Chase?"
"Peter, be quiet!"
"Chase, shut up!"
"No, you shut up!"
"NO, I won't. You stow the gab!"
Graham yelled over us, "IF I MAY stop this lover's quarrel for a moment!"
"Your men are nervous, sir. I say you can win the pretty maiden, the Lost
Boy Je'ne there, and my love Chase...squarely and fairly..."
My eyebrow went up. What was he planning now, my little minx? "Peter....you..."

"I shall challenge thee before all thy men..." Peter looked up at the men
gathered on deck, crowding to see him.
"A challenge? How nice." Graham motioned to the zombie as Peter looked up
at the Viking men. In the shadows, it shuffled forward, came toward the
window, reaching. "What do you have in mind?"
"I shall shoot an apple off Chase's head. If I do without harming even a
hair on his brown/black fluff...then I get Je'ne and Chase's freedom..."
Je'ne called forth, "And the turtle girl, too, Peter..."
"And the turtle girl, too, Peter...I mean what's her name?" Peter asked.
"Hanna," Je'ne called out, "Hanna. It's a lovely name," he added,
saying it to no one in particular.
"Deal."
"Viking word of honor."
"Peter, you can't trust him!" That was me.
"Chase," Peter said, "Trust is trust. Faith is faith. A man's word is his
word. A Viking's word more so. More so than a pirate's or an Indian's... so,
fair captain, shall I shalack your arms on it?" He laughed.
"Oh yes, but if you lose, not only does your Chase die but I get to carve
you alive."
"Deal!"
"Shake on it!" Graham put out a wooden hand, putting his sword in its
sheath.
Peter put his hand out. "Peter, be careful! Be careful!" I yelled.
Peter puffed, tut tutted me away, and waved his hand at my warnings. "Get
him," to the zombie, Graham whispered that. To Peter, he said, "My word on it.
" He put his hand out and Peter took it and shook it. "Now, get him!" The
zombie lunged at Peter's arm but Peter had a toy buzzer in his hand and as
Graham shook the hand, the toy buzzer went off and shocked Graham, who let go,
yelling. Peter laughed heartily and the zombie lunging, nearly had Peter's
neck.
But Peter moved back in the air, his hands free, "In the first sunrise, we
shall conduct our challenge, unkind sir!" As Peter moved back, the shambling
zombie lunged out the window. Peter's feet moved to walk on it and kicked it
as they did so, connecting harshly to the monster. It plunged to the water
and once there, the mermaids used their harpoons and pitchforks on it to tear
it apart. Graham looked at his hand and then at the water.
"Foul thing!"
Peter flew nearby the Viking's head, "Yes, it was."
"Not IT! YOU!" Graham snorted. "Tomorrow then. It shall be your undoing."
"I hate to brag..."
"WHAT?" I yelled. "Since when?"
"...but I am the best archer in Neverland and ...if I may say so myself..."
"No, you may not..." I said. Of course, I was not the least bit worried
about Peter shooting an apple off my head. I knew he could do it. I was more
worried about the plans Graham was making to make Peter mess up or to betray his
word that he gave Peter. For Peter Pan was still a little boy at heart and
once a word was given, he believed it. He forgot the many times Hook, Kickai,
and other enemies had given and broken their word. Each infraction was a new
one for him, the old ones forgotten, the new ones a shock to him. As would be
this one. But what was it going to be?
"I shall return!" Peter said, "Sunrise, wood body!"
Graham stormed and wanted to kill me then and there but he calmed himself
down. "Captain, captain," I said, more serious now. "I don't' understand why
you...well, I understand why you keep the Valkeries and why you want the
turtle girl, they are supposed to bring you good luck. The flying ladies, of
course, can go on missions for you...and you still want your son Scen. But why hold
Je'ne and I?"
"Isn't it obvious? Even to a bunch of rag muffins like you?"
"Oh, that again, revenge." I guessed. "Old hat...by the way, Vikings don'
t really wear horns, do they?"
"No, but if we chat any longer, you shall be seeing mine!" Graham turned
to go.
Before he was out the door, I asked, "Soooo, when do we get bathroom breaks?"

I sighed as he left.
Peter flew off into the night, laughing. The fairy boy was suddenly with
him. "A monster? Now? Have you seen it? No? Ahh, there're hundreds of monsters
in Neverland. This one will just have to wait, Oliveer. I have more important
things to do and you can help me." The fairy shook its head no but then
as Peter grabbed it up and whispered to it, it smiled, laughed, and flew off.

Later that night, Talon was coming up onto deck again. He had a huge mug in
his hand and began to drink from it. "Oh, the girl makes me nervous. She's
nice enough but..." He drank some more.
Malice came up from below, behind him. "I know it. Our relief is on watch
now. They will take the blame if she transforms and becomes a turtle again. How
fast can a turtle and a girl be? She's a girl, right? They're slower than
turtles!" He laughed.
Peter was flying above them, and angered. He whispered to no one, "Girls
may be many things but slow they are not!" he dropped two bars of soap
before the feet of Talon, who walked right onto the pair and as they were dipped
in salt water just moments before, Talon slipped and fell. He fell back onto
Malice, who fell back down the steps. Talon landed with his mug on his head,
mead pouring down. Peter almost laughed out loud but covered his own mouth.
Another Viking came over to the pair, "What's going on here?"
"It's having that girl on board, First we lose the zombie, then we can't
hit the Pan god...with dozens of spears, now this!"
"She wants out," Malice said, getting back up.
Peter flew to a rack of spears and chopped his sword at the holder bars over
them. He jutted straight back up into the air. The Viking looked at the
other two, "That's silly talk. Stow it or..." Suddenly the spears all fell off
the rack and rolled at them, tripping him up. Cannon balls were loose too and
rolled at them. This new Viking yelled and ran. Talon saw the balls coming
at him and he followed, still protecting his precious mug. Malice closed the
door to the lower area but the balls rolled and smashed right through the
door. He was screaming for his life.
Peter flew overhead and released a huge bag of feathers and turtle shells. "
Okay, turtled and feathered...."
In the turtle shells were turtle poop. These landed first and the lighter
feathers made their way onto the Vikings on deck. Soon all were covered in
turtle poop, feathers sticking to it...and their skin. Graham came up from another
door and looked at the deck. There were dozens of turtle shells on the deck. "
What's going on here?!!!"
"It's the girl, sir, you have to let the Pan take her if he wins. She's
angry or something."
"Tis true, sir. We have had nothing but bad luck since she came on board."
"She's good luck, you morons! Good luck! Got that?"
Suddenly several loud splashes happened. Peter was releasing all the
rowboats from the sides. Cutting them with swords. Flying to the next one and
cutting the next. "I have all the fun."
"It's him, you idiots, him. The Pan himself is doing it."
"We ain't seen him, captain, not at all."
"He's camouflaged or something..."
"Sir, all our rowboats are out to sea."
"Well, recover them, you ...get them back!"
"How sir?"
"Swim to them if you have to but get them!"
"Yes sir. We'll fight the mermaids if we have to."
The weapons locker burst open and the swords all came flying out. "Peter Pan
is there!" but it was the fairy boy, having flown through the key hole,
lighting up the door knob, and opening the doors, after having tipped every
weapon off its stand, sprinkling the weapons with a very special fairy dust. The
swords flew at the men. Most of them dove off the side of the ship. Graham
hit a few swords away using his own sword. He also used his axe arm to knock
some swords away. "If I find out it was you, Pan!"
The fairy boy swooped down, picked up the two bars of soap. It was
struggling with the heavy bars...heavy for it. It was also cursing Peter Pan for making
it do this. But soon...
The fairy boy rejoined Peter in the air. Peter put some soap in a bucket he
had and then dropped the bucket...which held soup. Peter made sure it would hit
Graham sideways so that it rained into Graham's eyes. Peter said to the
fairy boy, "Hot or not you ask? Not hot, I say. Oh the soup...that's not hot, but
neither is he..."
Talon, nearby, said, "It...it smells like turtle soup!"
"This reminds me of how I've not eaten..." Graham said.
Peter laughed as he flew off, having to re-cover his mouth with his hands.
The fairy boy followed him.
It was at times such as these that my love for Peter had to carry me
through. As I sat in a dingy barred cage with a boy who was unsure whether or not
he wanted to grow up and love a girl, who was at times, a turtle and needed
him---possibly using him?---while the manboy of my dreams bargained with my
life, shooting an apple off my head no less...I thought of the alternatives...a
normal life on Earth. A life where I didn't want to be gay, didn't want to be
a part of the gay community, especially where I lived. It was all pomp and
circumstance with them...one shallowness after another. Sure, I was as shallow
as the next gay boy but I needed a relationship along with great looks, blue
eyes, blond hair, any color hair really, and a hot body with fantastic abs. I
wanted more than just a serious of make out sessions, staring at go go boys,
strippers, and anonymous sex. Truth is, I never made out with a guy before
Peter and never had sex ...with anyone...before Peter and no doubt would not in
future. Only Peter was for me. All I wanted was him. The unfulfilled life I
lead in the Real World couldn't compare to this, even this night, lasting as it
did forever in a dank cell that I'm sure someone went to the bathroom in
previously to us. Zombies with worms on their bodies, suspicious turtle girls,
and boys...what more could I ask for? As long as we have each other...sad little
song from a sad little sitcom...what show was that? I remember hot Kurt Cameron
was in it. I think he's a born again Christian now. You know the kind? They
tell you are going to hell while also shunning you as a person...very
unChrist-like I'd say. Christ fled to the sinners...in that sense, He was always with
me. And I'm sure even if Peter didn't know it, He was with Peter too, for I
doubt there was a bigger sinner than Peter Pan.
The next morning as the suns came up over Neverland, all orange and yellow
and red and the heat had never been worse..., well, not as bad as that whole
Seth-Devil thing...I was roughly taken up to the deck. Graham told Je'ne, "You,
my boy, shall not be dragged up. For you are my guest." He took Je'ne up
with him and when they emerged onto the deck, two other Vikings had Hannah,
holding her by the arms. "See...her beauty..." Graham raised an eyebrow as Je'ne
moved over to Hannah.
"You take your hands off her!" Je'ne yelled and grabbed their arms off
her. The two Vikings looked at Graham and he gave them an okay nod unbeknownst
to Je'ne. He also moved over to Je'ne, "She may be free to move about the
deck...however, your enjoyment of her relies on you...making your choice."
"Choice?"
"You know the one."
"Leaving Peter and growing up..."
I, who was being chained to the side of a wooden wall on the ship, yelled, "
He means growing old, Je'ne, do you want to grow old?"
"I..." Je'ne fumbled.
"Take your time. As she grows up, and finds another to take your place...she
will become a full fledged human female...if you don't grow up, you can't keep
pace with her."
I called as Malice put a blindfold on him, "Je'ne, he's right. You have to
make up your mind. Bailey did it. He's grown up now. He's adult. Do you want
to have the pleasures of a real world or the pleasures of Peter?"
"I've..." Je'ne looked at Hannah, who just smiled dumbly, and he moved over
to me to talk, eyeing Malice and the nearby Talon. "I've..." He whispered, "I
've just never experienced what it's like to have pleasures of the grown up
world..."
"I have." I gasped, "And it's nothing compared to this. Nothing else
compares."
"For you. Even if I decided to try it, do you really think Peter would come
back for me and make me young again, like he did for you. Do you know how
many people Peter has made young again, how many adults, how many?" I opened
my mouth to speak but before I could answer, Je'ne answered. "One...you. How
many Lost Boys have grown up, changed their minds and wanted to become lost
little boys again, and then Peter returned to them and made them young again?
None. You are the only one that Peter ever worked that kind of magic on. I
think you won him over the moment he saw you. It's so funny, an adult won
Peter. You. For you have Peter's heart. I don't. Nor do I think I want it."
"Maybe it's because you're not g..."
"Want what?" Peter landed, soft footed, bare footed, next to them.
I looked, "Peter, uhm, can we just get this nonsense over with so I can get
outta here..."
"So WE can get out of here." Peter said.
Noticing Peter had included him in on the escape, Je'ne gulped, "Of...of
course...all of us..."
"And it's not nonsense." Peter moved off, "I bid thee good morning,
Captain No Arms..."
"You shall use our arrows and our bow," Graham nodded to two more
Vikings and they gave him the bow and arrows.
Peter pushed the extra arrows back to the Vikings who handed them to him. "I
shall need only one."
"One?" Graham gasped, "That wasn't part of our ...you can have as many as
six tries..."
"I shant need six," Peter puffed out his chest, "But first, my audience
awaits...are they safe as well until the contest is over?"
"Aye!" Graham said.
Peter whistled and Landen, holding Jennie and Bo, floated down to the deck.
"Hi."
The others followed: Rollin, Aoi, and Sole. They cheered on Peter with
whoops, cat calls, and the like. Aoi whistled.
Sigh. Talon put an apple on my head. I murmured, "I hope there's no worms
in it."
Talon put a calloused hand on my bare shoulder, "Aye, naught. For there'll
be plenty of worms in you soon enough..."
Peter looked at the arrow and the bow. "It looks sturdy enough for this
NONSENSE..." Peter emphasized the last word so that I could hear it. Was he going
to...naw, he wouldn't be that mean, would he? Of course not. Shoot me just
for calling his plan nonsense. Some plan. I'd rather have had an old fashioned
rescue but considering the last time when like three of us got killed...this
would suffice.
Peter tested the arrow in the bow, "Straight enough..."
Graham yelled, "There be no trick! Shoot, enough stalling for time."
"Stalling?" Peter felt wounded. "I don't stall."
"Just shoot the fucking thing!" I called, "I wanna see your face again,"
I added, more calmly, embarrassed by my first outburst.
As Peter drew the bow, his ribs sticking out, his hot abs sticking in,
Graham put a hand on Peter's arrow, "To prove there is no trick, first, let my
men try..."
"What?" Peter and I both said.
I gasped, "That wasn't part of the plan..."
"If any of them kill Chase..." Peter said, "I shall be very angry..."
"What?" I gawked. "That's some comfort..."
Graham said, "And I shall severely reprimand them verbally..."
"What?" I balked. "That's making me feel quite secure..."
Talon stepped up and took the arrow and bow. Peter smiled, "Remember Hannah
is on board..." Talon sweated and fired. It hit to the left of the apple. I
heard it. I had to resist moving at all, for even in chains I could dally to
the left or the right. The chain was from hip to hip, cold to the touch at
first, then sorta warm on my bare lower belly. Another chain held my left foot
to the deck. I could move my body somewhat. It was mostly so that I could not
fly away. But now it was me sweating. Malice laughed as he took up the bow,
Peter eyeing him suspiciously. "Malice, malice will be your name in the dim
after life of the Turtle gods..." Malice missed also. I didn't move this time
and was proud of myself that I did not. About 16 Vikings tried, all missed. "I
'm bored of this game. I want to go now."
"And deprive me of my turn?" Graham said.
Malice came up behind Graham, "Captain, fear not, the turtle girl is
protecting him. Our luck be bad because-eth because of her being on board. We should
free her now."
"Get off me," Graham said, even though Malice had not touched him.
Graham looked at Hannah, who smiled vacantly at him. He swallowed, shook his
head, and told himself nah. He couldn't get the image of a turtle out of his
mind. A giant one. A flying one. Fire coming from its orifices. He shook his
head. I looked at the arrow point. Graham pulled it back. It then came
forward. I watched as the point grew and grew as though sailing in slow motion. It
grew because it was coming closer and closer to me. To right between my
eyes!