Caged • Robbie Kay/Peter Pan •

Chapter Fourty

It was impossible.

Suddenly, I gained my sense of reality. It felt as if I had not left, but it was too real to be a dream. It wasn't a dream. It was real. He was real.

It was dark and quiet. My clock ticking and the sounds of busy city were heard from my window. I climbed out of bed, pulling open my curtains and sliding my window up. Lit skyscrapers and the chaos of traffic frightened me. It had been long.

"Peter?"

I was back.

Everything was too real, overwhelming me and I wanted to scream out my open window. Uncontrollably, I sobbed, collapsing onto the floor in front of my open window. "No, please. Take me back, Peter, take me back."

I was angry at myself. I should've told him he was worth it to me. I should've stayed behind despite what he told me to do, but I didn't and now I was alone; alone with the ghost of him.

Something shiny caught my eye, resting on my nightstand. I sat up, pulling myself over to where it was, to discover what it was.

It was Peter's music box.

Next to it was my sweater, dry and folded neatly and the mermaid scale I had found while fishing, lay on top of it.

I opened the music box, letting the sorrowful melody fill my room and with my heart aching, longing for the boy, I climbed into bed once more letting myself sob freely and I quickly fell asleep, keeping the window open just in case..

•••

I woke to find sunlight swallowing my room whole, engulfing me in a gentle warmth as my eyes flickered open.

The melody had stopped playing and I sat up, looking at myself in mirror across my room over my dresser. My hair was knotted to no end and dirt covered my face.

I could smell bacon and I heard chatter downstairs. I was home.

Quickly I got out of bed, walking into my bathroom and turning on the shower, immediately noticing how warm the water was compared to the well water in Neverland.

I undressed quickly, looking at my reflection in the mirror. The girl I saw was so foreign to me. Running my hands over my hair, I decided it would be nearly impossible to get a brush through it, so I opened the cabinet to find a pair of large scissors and managed to pull my long golden hair into a ponytail and with some difficulty, I cut it off as the base of my neck, leaving me with hair that reached just below my chin. Then, I could finally run my fingers through it and I decided that it suited me well.

After showering and drying off with a towel, I got dressed and ran down the stairs to let my parents know I had returned. Surely, they must've been worried about me.

My mother laughed, fixing a plate of eggs and bacon and my father stood in the light filled kitchen, eating his breakfast and drinking hiscoffee, just as they did every Saturday morning.

I had forgotten what it felt like to be home.

"Good morning, birdy! You slept for quite a while, didn't you?" he smiled, looking at his watch.

"How long have I been gone?" I asked surprisedly.

"Gone? Where'd you go to?" my father teased. "You slept in until almost eleven."