Return of the Queen

Epilogue

You wake up slowly to the sounds of birds chirping overhead. The ocean breeze wafts over you engulfing your every sense. You turn away from the blinding sunlight to face large trees and the entrance to a forest.

The forest seems to call to you, the branches slowly swaying in the wind.

The breeze moves over you again, and this time, you hear a gentle melody. Something so melodic and so gentle, the sound of a distant flute echoing around you.

You feel it pulling at you, at your very core, pushing you forward. On wobbly legs, you stand and take your first steps towards the outline of trees.

Your bare feet trudge through sand and grass and mud, stepping over overgrown roots and ducking under low hanging branches. All the while your eyes and heart never stray.

You can still feel it, tugging at your every bone and muscle, telling you to keep going. You don't know what it is, but you know that it's a feeling you have to follow.

Something is there, something is waiting.

The wind picks up again and you hear the music echo all around you as the world shakes violently. The sound lingers on your eardrums, making you deaf to any other noise.

You push forward and as your head turns to see where you're at, you trip over a large rock.

Before you even look up, you can tell you're being watched, you can feel the dozens of eyes staring at you.

You see a pair of worn out boots step up towards you, and a hand reaches out.

Grasping it, you steady yourself, your gaze drifting to the tall blonde boy who helped you up.

You're in a clearing now, that much you can tell, and you're surrounded by boys and girls of all ages.

But they're not looking at you.

Your heart hammers in your chest and you breathe out, slowly turning your body around to look up the large tree you just passed.

A shadow passes over your vision as someone lands immediately in front of you.

The crouching girl stands up, a mass of fiery red hair spread wildly around her face and a silver flute in her hand.

She looks around you to the blonde boy, "Is it my turn to do the honors?"

You hear him scoff, "It always is."

She looks at you, right in the eyes, and you can feel it again. That infinite tug at your heart that makes every breath an endless labor, that feeling of purpose, of excitement, of undeniable peace.

She speaks again and holds out her empty hand to you.

"Welcome to Neverland."