We are the LOST GIRLS

𝔽𝕒𝕚𝕥𝕙: 𝔽𝕠𝕣 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤

"All you need is faith, trust, and a little bit of pixie dust!"

***

The stars were unusually dim tonight.

I sighed. The city was blanketed in a layer of smog, nothing short of what I'd expected on a damp spring evening. Even then, masked by the mysterious white tufts of air, the stars would twinkle in delight as if relishing the obscured night sky we humans far below them had wrecked.

If the stars didn't twinkle, the sea made up for their brightness. The waves reflected the neon lights emanating from the city, dots of golden illuminating the dark waters. Even then, the ocean seemed to taunt me. Don't you miss the feeling of the wind on your back? Don't you miss the cerulean waves...

"...past the second star to the right, and straight on till morning," I murmured softly. Neverland had diminished to a wisp of a dream these past few months. I was oceans away from the place I called home—and I'd inevitably drifted away from whatever magic that had connected me to a land I once knew, like the back of my hand.

There was no pixie dust where I was now, that was for sure. The lights here were so bright that they blinded me.

I needed to find a way back to my magic. To do that, I had to Believe.

"But how?" I thought aloud, staring at the small Tinker Bell figurine near my desk. "If only you were here, Tink."

Turning around to face the window, I contemplated the prospect of returning to Neverland. Maybe this process of recollection and reigniting Belief was much too hard for Wendy, so she'd succumbed to dull reality and left Neverland behind. Or perhaps she'd just accepted the real world for what it was. For me, I knew it wasn't too late to return—I wasn't ready to stay in this mundane cycle through life until I died. My last interaction with pixie dust was months ago when I flew around my room freely and without care. A drop of blue pixie dust had landed on my nose, but where was it now? Had every single speck of dust been spent to combat this place filled with monstrosities?

A soft voice spoke to me suddenly, clearing the mist.

"We'll try to make you happy. We'll remind you of fun times. You're a Believer, Faith, and a Lost Girl. You have the freedom to be a child again here and leave behind the world's expectations for you. Everyone's entitled to that, aren't they? You just need to know that we'll always welcome you with open arms."

Peter Pan had said that to me on my first visit to Neverland. I was a Believer. I was a Lost Girl. And I did have the capability to Believe. I had faith—it was in my name. I had trust—I knew Neverland existed, and I knew the fairies and Frying Pan would never abandon me.

Did I really, truly, for the first time in forever—lack the pixie dust it took to get to Neverland?

I mulled over the possibility until sleep came.

***

The stars were brighter tonight.

In fact, they seemed to glow with an astonishing ferocity, so bright that even the moon couldn't compare to their brilliance. It was pleasing to see them shine so freely and attempt to rival the neon city lights.

The stars' abnormal yet radiant shine seemed to call out to me. I felt magic in the air—stranger yet, it seemed to be hurtling toward me at top speed in a strong gust of wind.

It is time. The wind seemed to call out to me. They are coming to find you.

Let them come. I smiled in delight.

The windows opened synchronously as if on cue or anticipating a friendly stranger's arrival. It was then that I heard it.

The bells, like soothing yet urgent windchimes, the sound of boyish laughter, the fresh smell of the sea, and the waves crashing against the shore on a distant land...you could almost feel the sun on your face and listen to the eager call of the pink flamingos soaring high above the island when they were in your presence.

"I hope she's here." A voice whispered—one I hadn't heard for what seemed like an eternity.

"I am," I replied, stumbling out of bed onto my windowsill. "It's been long enough, Frying Pan. Where are you?"

Soon, a miniature figure came into view, pirouetting elegantly and landing on my windowsill with a shimmer of pixie dust. Her green leaf skirt twirled out in brilliance as she gave one last turn. She tucked her blond locks behind her pointy ears, beaming at me with unadulterated joy.

"Tinker Bell! Tink, how I missed you!" As carefully as I could, I held out my palm for Tink to step onto and brought her close to my cheek. Tink spoke, a series of chiming bells punctuating her every word. Thank you so much for staying right where you were, she shook her head.

"It wasn't my fault I wasn't there when you went to find me—my parents moved our family to this new city. I wish I could've stayed, but that's life, I suppose. Things move and change."

Except for Neverland. Tink shook a tiny finger at me. It will always remain with you. Everyone was shocked when we couldn't find you in your room. We spent so long trying to search for you!

"No hugs for me?" Another voice at the windowsill greeted me. Tink flew out of my hand, and I leaped up to open the window wider for my new guest.

"Frying Pan! Where have you been?" I wrapped him in a gigantic hug. "How could you abandon your best friend like this?"

When are you going to start calling Peter by his real name? Tink asked.

"Never," I replied confidently.

Frying Pan chuckled. "I think I should be the one to say that, Faith. Neverland's back home, you know. Where the heart is, as some sentimental people say. Not here...wherever this is. It reeks of dis-Belief. You left so suddenly, and we were all so worried."

"Thank you both so much for trying to find me—I owe you one. Well, if I left so abruptly, as you both have put it," I wondered, "how'd you find me?"

"Your Belief, silly!" Frying Pan practically shouted. "Your faith and trust are what led us to you. Obviously, you've gone and used up all your pixie dust, so you couldn't get to Neverland. But we're here now, so we'll take you there. You don't want to keep your friends waiting, do you now?"

"My friends?" I gasped.

Ianna's waiting for you, Tink explained in jingles. We sent a cry for help to her—some of the Lost Girls' Belief is fading, and fast. We need your help to get the girls back together—there is a quest at hand for us to undertake.

"Got it," I said. "When do we leave?"

"Should we get going now?" Frying Pan smiled.

I nodded excitedly. Tinker Bell flew around me in circles, and I felt specks of pixie dust land on me. The exhilarating rush of the magic rejuvenated me, and I spun around, laughing in delight. I'd felt this many times before, and I knew I would feel this countless times again. I couldn't wait; I promised myself I would return, and now I would fulfill that promise.

"Off to Neverland!" Peter Pan crowed, and we all shot out the window, reaching for the stars.

I would return.