Of course, he tried the zipline first: he ran up the slope, grabbed the handholds on the line that looked like a creeper, kicked himself off the ground and was off into the air. He flew like Peter Pan! It was a glorious feeling.
\n\u201cI’m going to bring the boys over here and this will be our Neverland,\u201d he thought.
\nHe had already slipped the rope for the sixth time when, after kicking off, he noticed that someone was waiting for him at the end of the track. It was a dog. He was small, friendly, and his tail was wagging. Peter was glad to see it. When he landed, he stepped up to pet the dog, but then human voices struck his ears. He spotted a tall girl and two boys his own age over at the slide. Suddenly, his courage failed him.
\n\u201cThey can’t see me here! If they find out that I escaped from the neighbouring house, I could get in trouble!\u201d
\nHe began to run away, but then the dog, who had been wagging his tail, started to bark excitedly, and the girl and the two boys turned towards them. As he started running, the dog grabbed the sweater he had tied around his waist. Peter freed himself, but the sweater remained in the dog’s mouth.” “Peter could not sleep at all that night. When at dawn he finally dozed off, he dreamed he could slip under the fence into the playground, but that his shadow got stuck in the hole, caught upon the fence. He then got through without being seen, as invisible as a ghost. Whenever he slid down the zipline, the dog would be waiting there, but he didn\u2019t make a sound or wag his tail, he couldn\u2019t see him at all. The three children, the girl and the two boys, while they looked towards him, couldn\u2019t see him either. It was a strange feeling, both good and bad \u2013 he was happy, because if they couldn’t see him, he could do whatever he wanted, slide down the zipline as many times as he felt like. He could as well stay there on the playground forever. And yet it was a painful, lost and very lonely feeling. He wanted the dog to wag its tail and run to him, and he wanted to talk with the strange children.
\nHe woke up alarmed and sweating. Although he had been frightened by the dream, he decided to go back to the playground. He had to get his sweater back \u2013 he always wore it when they played football outside. Miss Tinkerbell would notice that it was gone and he wouldn’t know what to say. He couldn\u2019t tell the truth, but he could not lie either. Not to his teacher.” “\u201cI was hoping you’d come over today as well\u201d.
\nPeter turned around, startled, when the kind voice and a hand reached out to him, but his fear was dissolved by the warm, friendly smile of the girl. It was the tall girl from the previous day, but the two younger boys were not with her this time.
\n\u201cDon’t worry, I won’t tell anyone you came through there,\u201d she said encouragingly, nodding her head towards the fence. \u201cI just want to give you your sweater back. Unfortunately, Nana chewed it a bit, I had to wash it. Do you want to come over to get it? We live right here, next to the playground\u201d.
\nPeter still hadn’t answered, just stared in silence as she held out her hand:
\n\u201cI’m Wendy. My real name is Vali, but my friends all call me Wendy\u201d.
\nPeter swallowed and shyly returned the handshake.
\n\u201cPeter Pan,\u201d as soon as he said it, he was alarmed. This clever, grown-up girl would laugh at him.
\nExcept she didn’t laugh, there was only surprised curiosity in her eyes, then a soft, caring smile. Peter was very grateful, he felt that although they had only just met, this girl understood him.” “Wendy lived close to the playground, so they quickly reached her home.
\n\u201cIs this a football jersey?\u201d Wendy asked, running a finger over the big twelve on the sweater as she took it from the dryer.
\n\u201cYes,\u201d Peter said proudly, \u201cMiss Tinkerbell, my Teacher sewed it on for me\u201d.
\n\u201cMiss Tinkerbell?\u201d
\n\u201cMiss Maria is our gym teacher. My friends and I call her that because she wears jingling bracelets all the time and she looks like Tinkerbell, the fairy from Peter Pan\u201d.
\n\u201cSo that’s your favourite story,\u201d Wendy smiled, \u201cand why number twelve?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause I am twelve years old\u201d.
\n\u201cBut you can\u2019t be forever. Soon you will be thirteen. What then?\u201d
\n\u201cI don’t know, I don’t want to be thirteen\u201d said Peter defiantly.
\n\u201cWhy not?\u201d
\n\u201cBecause thirteen-year-old boys are weird. And they are evil\u201d.
\n\u201cEvil?\u201d
\n\u201cYes. There is a thirteen-year-old boy, Rob, in the team we are about to play a match against. He’s always teasing me, although he used to be nice. He’s become really full of himself since he started playing football with the big boys. Even his voice has changed terribly\u201d.
\nWendy laughed.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s mutating\u201d.
\n\u201cYes,\u201d nodded Peter, \u201che is a mutant!\u201d
\n\u201cHe’s not a mutant\u201d. Wendy could barely speak, she was laughing so much. \u201cHe’s mutating. It’s what they call it when boys get a deeper voice\u201d. ” “\u201cHis voice didn’t change because he became mean,\u201d Wendy continued with a smile.
\n\u201cBut he still turned evil,\u201d objected Peter. \u201cWe were friends, and he went over to the enemy side. Just because they are bigger and cooler, he doesn’t even really like them\u201d.
\n\u201cSo, do you feel betrayed?\u201d Wendy asked.
\n\u201cYes. What if the same happens with the others as well? When everyone grows up and becomes evil, everyone would switch to the other team. What if I\u2026\u201d.
\n\u201cYou will not turn evil. Nobody is evil, Rob is not evil either. He’s just… just looking for his place\u201d.
\n\u201cWell, he\u2019s looking in the wrong place\u201d.
\n\u201cMaybe in time he’ll find his way back to you,\u201d Wendy said with a smile, \u201cbut you have to do your part\u201d.
\nPeter listened respectfully to Wendy, but he didn’t really believe that he and Rob could ever be friends again. It hurt him terribly that Rob, with whom he had practiced so many tricks together, was now playing against him and using the skills they developed together in the Pirates’ team. That he, to whom he first spoke about Peter Pan, now mocks him for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1177,"template":"","class_list":["post-1179","story","type-story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n