“You’ll feel better once you’ve had some fresh air,” her mother consoled Wendy once again, patting her arm and leading her away from where I stood, then guiding her further down the street with him.

“Trust me, darling. Mother knows best. You know I always know what’s right for you, just like I’ll always know what’s best for your daughters.”

Daughters!

“Absolutely right,” he agreed, following quickly behind and putting his hands on my Wendy once he reached her side. I still remember the jealous rage that boiled inside, rushing madly through my veins as I watched them turn the corner and Wendy started to walk out of my life.

Coming back to the present, I focus on my hands, and watch as my knuckles turn white. I grip the sink tighter in anger for not being man enough to go after her. Man enough. A bitter laugh fills the room as I think about that day after all this time.

Sitting, waiting for her, I had turned into a man without her knowing. I had become old enough to be considered grown, yet young enough to still pass for youthful. My body broader, my face more defined, yet I still looked close enough to the way I had when I first left Neverland to be with her. To stay with her. I was unwilling to leave until one day, I could convince her to return with me.

Looking up, I force myself to take a breath as my eyes meet the dark soul staring back at them now. The evil that consumed me when I gave myself over to the inevitable that day. The day I turned away bitterly from what we had and returned to Neverland with the little bit of pixie dust I had left. I’ve never been the same after that day. Never forgotten. And I promised myself right then and there that when I came back to Neverland, I’d never forgive anyone, including myself, for what was lost.

Mother knows best, the thought rings to the forefront of my mind and grabs me back into the past.

This coming from the mother who pushed Wendy and I apart. The one who kept her from me. Night after night when I would go to her window, she’d push me away, tell me Wendy didn’t want to see me. She kept her hidden in that house until that day she emerged a mother. A wife!

“Listen to your husband, Wendy,” I had heard the witch say next just as they walked out of sight, “And everything will finally be right.”