20??: Neverland | Glowfic Constellation

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There’s a very old story about Neverland. It is a wild place, where mermaids chant and children run free. In the first stories, written down or shared in whispered snatches, death stayed far away from Neverland. Age, too. No child sickened, or succumbed to wounds or curiosity (or loathing, or betrayal, or-). This was, of course, because adults thought violence and loss were harsh and new concepts for children, which has never been true.

Later, the stories got harder to hear, and adults said they had written them for each other, which was also untrue but comforting. Children killed in these stories, and they died, and there were no mermaids on the islands they burned so the children chanted in their place.

Even later, the stories stopped. The old ones were bastardized - made palatable - stripped of their heartbeats to myth and reference. The new ones: taught in schools, so children would despise their trappings and not otherwise yearn for them. But still, there came the darkling whispers, on those schoolyard islands and graphite chants.

There’s an old story about Neverland. This isn’t it.

"Let's run away," she says, so they do.

They are eight and seven, they boy and the girl, and they have just heard of a magical island where there are no adults allowed and no rules to follow. It is warm there, and food is plentiful, and they will never have to grow up. The boy tells his mother he is going to find Neverland, and live there forever and ever, and she smiles and makes sure he packs a toothbrush and extra underwear.

The girl, who watches her family with quiet dark eyes and sees them watching her back, says nothing and takes nothing. She is going to Neverland, but that is not for them to know, and not for them to try to prevent.

The ley line takes them to a sandy beach, where it is night. The girl looks at the stars, and finds them recognizably unfamiliar. The boy looks at the underbrush, and finds something moving there, and grabs the girl's arm to get her attention.

A tiger emerges from the shadows, as tall as they are at the shoulder. The boy tries not to panic; the girl sees the telltale glowing band on the tiger's tail and shakes the boy's grip off.

"Welcome to Neverland," the tiger says, and the boy finally realizes it is a robot, and will not hurt them. "You may stay here as long as you need."