1
“Watch this!”
Maggie Hart threw her arms in front of her as the wind rushed forward. As if the sky heeded her command, the air acted as turbines on either side of her frame, funneling her through a misty cloud as though she was made of nothing at all. The cloud dissipated at her touch, leaving the smallest droplets of water against her bare arms. Her turquoise dress flew behind her like a cape, long thick strands of rusty brown hair mingling along with it.
In the same fashion she had done many times before, Maggie slowly lowered her arms and the wind calmed down. She simply coursed through the sky effortlessly, the breeze gentle and kind along her skin. As if there was music playing in only her ears, Maggie twirled, ducked, and weaved. The sky carried her along the way, not daring to let her fall.
If someone had come to Maggie weeks ago at her old bakery, telling her that she would soon be flying effortlessly through the bright blue sky of Neverland, she would have probably laughed in their face. To her, Neverland was simply a far off place of a child’s dreams. It couldn’t have been real, not even in a world where magic lurked around every corner. But there it was,directly beneath her, and it had granted her the greatest wish she had carried close to her heart for a very long time.
Maggie rolled along the breeze until she faced the company of men following close behind her. At the head of the posse, a man taller than six feet with sun-kissed hair and deeply bronzed skin watched with a dutiful eye. Sharp blue eyes that were as ethereal as the sky above clung to her for longer than she expected, long enough to pull a warm blush across her face, one that wasn’t simply a product of the sun’s persistent gaze.
Peter Pan.
The man of myths, the man of legends, the man of fairytales. Around a month ago, Peter Pan arrived at Maggie’s hovel of a workplace to take her back to Neverland with him. What she took as a blatant kidnapping was simply the solution to a problem for Neverland’s playsome King. Peter brought Maggie to Neverland with the intention of keeping her there, feeding all the island’s inhabitants with the best food he could find.
Sure, the thought was a nice one, but Maggie would never forget how stunted she was by his effortless proposition. Her, ripped from the world she knew, expected to be the sole cook for an island full of mythical creatures she couldn’t even begin to imagine?
Maggie felt herself grin helplessly as she turned back around.
Things didn’t turn out to be as bad as she expected it to. The island was large but it wasn’t like she truly fedeverymouth there was to feed. Some of Neverland’s natives were…secluded, as Peter liked to say. Only some came to try her treats.
What’s more, she lived in the most exciting treehouse she’d ever seen. Not only was every room imaginable available for her to peruse, but it gave plenty of space for her loyal cat companion, Sunny, to aimlessly explore. The dream she always had to open a bakery of her own still lingered in the back of her mind, but Neverland managed to provide an answer for that, too. Peterand his Lost Boys built a restaurant at the base of the treehouse, giving Maggie ample space to serve as many of the island’s inhabitants as she could.
And it wasn’t like there was no answer to their problems. The Everything Plant that once fed them all still failed to produce fruit, even after the work they did weeks ago. Nevertheless, Maggie was far more determined than before to see them healthy again.
Maggie peered at the island ahead, the rushing waves lapping noisily against the ragged shores. Back in her land, she never quite felt like there was a need for her. Magic was outlawed long ago by the humans, and she wielded it like it was a part of her. Even the baked goods she thought could simply bring a smile to people’s faces wasn’t enough.
Well, it wasn’t enough until Neverland.
“C’mon, Magpie!” One of the Lost Boys, Dash by the sound of the hearty laugh that followed, shot in front of her, simply a blur with his unmatched speed. He paused about a yard away, blonde hair pulled into a messy bun at the back of his head. “Don’t tell me that’s all you got!”
Maggie grinned. “Believe me,” she shouted back as the other Lost Boys gathered behind her alongside their King, “You haven’t seen anything yet!”
She bent her knees sharply before shooting off like a fiery rocket. The wind rushed on either side of her in an explosive manner, the funnel of air almost so sharp it sliced the ends of her wavy hair. The world around her blurred for a moment as she pulled her arms forward, pushing through the wind as though she coursed through a rowdy sea. Perhaps she could have stopped there, simply sizing up Dash with her speed, but where was the fun in that?
The island sharpened beneath her as she dove. Emerald green treetops appeared within a second, but it was hardlyenough to stop her. Maggie shot into one of the trees, feeling the dew covered leaves gently caress her skin. Branches and twigs stuck into her hair but she could hardly care enough to pluck them out. She erupted through the next tree top like a dolphin, a splattering of leaves coming along with her. Behind her, the Lost Boys whooped and hollered as they quickly followed, using the path she made.
Maggie flipped into the air once more, coming to a slow stop high above Neverland. She gazed over the island fondly, catching her breath while imagining the next way to lose it all over again.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person laugh as much as you have today, Magpie.” Scamp hovered beside her, long strands of dark hair framing his handsome face.
She blushed and fought the urge to cover her mouth with the back of her hand. “Oh, I doubt that,” Maggie replied in a murmur.
“No, no,” another Lost Boy called out as they hovered around in the air. Twitch waggled a finger in the air like a scolding parent. “Scamp’s got a point, now.”
Maggie crossed her arms. “Oh, really?”
“You weren’t ever this happy when you first arrived,” Twitch continued.
Dusty, his soft eyes holding onto her in a gentle way, ran his pale hand through the coarse and fiery ringlets at the top of his head. “I’d have to agree,” he said with a shrug. “A-And according to Peter –”
Neverland’s King appeared on his left like a shadow. He smirked as he draped one arm across the young Lost Boy’s shoulders. The look of a trickster clung to Peter’s handsome face, bringing a sort of youthfulness to him. “According to Peter what?”
Dusty gulped. “M-Maggie never smiled in the human world. Never smiled and never laughed.”
Maggie simply sighed. If there was one thing she could firmly say about the Lost Boys, it was that they all carried hearts of gold. Ever since she first arrived, all they cared about was her happiness. They wished to give her the things she had always wanted, giving her more reasons to remain in the one place they thought made her happy. It was the kindest thing she had ever seen, and the most naive.
She gave them all a smile. “I am happy.”
