Red Feathers [Peter Pan]

Girls Can't Fight

It was bright and moonlit the night Piper Pan came to the window. She snuck in, as quiet as a shadow, then announced her presence by letting Tinker Bell wake the boy in the bed.

William jumped when he saw the girl in the corner, and the first thing he noticed was her hair, a literal mane of brunette hair that reached to her knees. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"I'm Piper Pan," she said confidently. "I'm here to take you to Neverland, if you'd like to go."

"Neverland?" William asked.

"It's a land where you'll never grow up," Piper explained. "A place you can stay young forever."

It was then that William noticed something else. "Why are you wearing that?"

Piper looked down at her clothes (a green tunic, green leggings, and boots), then back up. "Wearing what?"

"You're a girl," William said uselessly.

Piper rolled her eyes. "Nice observation."

"You're not wearing a dress," William tried to explain.

"You're right," Piper said. "Congratulations, you've successfully proven to me that your eyes work."

William closed his eyes, then opened them again slowly. "Could you talk a little quieter? My sisters are trying to sleep next door."

Piper laughed, a clear, ringing laugh. "Your sisters should be up already," she said, tossing her long brown hair back. "Tink will be getting them."

Sure enough, two little girls walked through the door not a moment later, one about three, the other about eight. The older of the two immediately froze when she saw Piper, while the younger one ran over to her brother and raised her arms, clearly asking to be picked up, and as soon as he did, she buried her head of golden curls in his shoulder, hiding her face.

"Who's that?" the older girl asked, staring.

"I'm Piper," Piper told her, seeing William wasn't about to answer. She bent over a little to talk to the girl. "What's your name?"

"I'm Joanna, and I don't think you're supposed to be here," the girl told her firmly, moving over to the bed to sit next to her brother and flicking her brunette curls over her shoulder.

Piper chuckled. "You're right, I don't belong here," she replied. "I came to bring you to Neverland, if you want to go."

William shook his head and stood up, still holding his youngest sister, who had fallen back asleep in his arms. "We're not going," he told Piper firmly.

"What's Neverland?" Joanna asked curiously.

"It's made up, Jo" William said, before Piper could say a word. "It doesn't exist."

"Doesn't exist?" Piper interjected, a little peeved. "That would be like saying I don't exist or you don't exist. It's as real as this..." she picked up an acorn that the boy had on his bedside table. "Acorn."

"What's it like?" Joanna asked, tilting her head to one side.

"It's beautiful," Piper told her. "There are lots of trees, and I live in a tree fort with my Lost Boys."

Joanna looked confused. "Lost Boys?"

"My band of brothers, my best friends," Piper clarified. "The girls don't seem to like adventuring as much as the boys do. They all went back to the Mainland when they got the chance. It's all boys now. Boys who have been there a long time, just like me. Neverland is where you never grow up."

"That's impossible," Joanna immediately said.

Piper bent down so she was eye to eye with Joanna. "It's as possible as I am real."