Author: Lys
at LysTYKDS@aol.com
Pairings: None
Spoilers: None
Rated G
Alliance and Mr. Haggis sure gave us a great
playground. The imagination is
a wonderful thing. Hope yours
takes flight with this one. Please
do not archive anywhere else without my permisssion.
Lys
Tom Sloan and the few boys of his age that lived in the area sat on 'The Rock' as it had come to be called. This was the rock were they first captured a reluctant Benton Fraser, and removed his clothing so he could join in their reverie in mud and water. Four little boy heads looked towards the path where Ben usually emerged from his side of the creek. Each boy's hair showed bits of dappled sunlight as it filtered through the trees. Four sets of feet twitched on the surface of the sand colored rock with its bits of mossy patches. A loud cheer went up when Ben emerged from the woods and raised something high over his head and grinned.
Ben ran up to the rock and sank down on his knees
with a big grin. "I got it." He
held the object out and settled down beside Tom. Ben's hand held a small green book with a vivid picture
on the front. There were vines
and tree and in the middle of the front cover stood a young boy of their
own age dressed in a robin hood style hat complete with feather and a
short outfit with leggings that danced down into elfin style leather
shoes with upturned toes.
"So that's what he looks like." Tom said with awe. He stretched out a finger and traced
the elfin figure on the book cover. "Wow. Just like you said."
"Grandma has an older copy," Ben began. "My Dad sent me this one when I was
very little." The words sounded
aged coming from the eight year old mouth.
Tom curled his legs into a comfortable position and
nodded to the other boys. "Go
ahead, start."
Four pairs of eyes begged Ben to open his precious
book and begin reading. He wet
his lips with his tongue and began.
"Chapter I
Peter Breaks Through
All children, except one, grow up. They soon
know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day
when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked
another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have
looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart
and cried, "Oh, why can't you remain like this for ever!" This
was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy
knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is
the beginning of the end.
Of course they lived at 14 [their house number
on their street,"
Ben looked around to
see his listeners settling in to all sorts of comfortable positions. Satisfied that they weren't looking
bored, he continued to read. He
read for the longest time, checking for his listener's attention every
once in a while.
The words flowed from Ben's mouth as he read: "Oh,
do come out of that jug, and tell me, do you know where they put my shadow?"
The loveliest tinkle as of golden bells answered him.
It is the fairy language. You ordinary children can never hear it, but
if you were to hear it you would know that you had heard it once before."
Several of the boys snickered. "Come on get to the funnier part."
One of them whispered, so Ben continued to read. He smiled as he read. "Tink said that the shadow
was in the big box."
The boys got a little
fidgety and wavered in their attention for most of the first part of
the book. Being young boys they
felt that those first parts were meant for girls. But when Ben began to read of the Island and Captain Hook
their attention was soon riveted on the story again.
When the last parts were
finally read, the boys stood and stretched. Tom looked down at his shadow on the ground as it followed
him. He puffed out his chest and
pranced. "Naw, Peter shouldn't
have tried soap. Too slippery." Ben and the others laughed. Ben set the book down carefully on the rock and they all
tried crowing. They spent the
afternoon pretending to be Peter and his band. Two of the more inventive boys even tried flying, and of
course they had no success. Tom
and Ben fashioned swords out of tree branches twined together with roots. By the time the sun began it's lower
course over the world the five little Never Never Landers were well into
their game and it was finally only the draw of empty stomachs that made
them quit.
Ben and Tom reluctantly
put down their swords with a tired sigh.
Ben had been Peter and Tom had been Hook for most of the afternoon. The merry band broke and each headed
towards home.
Entering the cabin where
he lived with his grandparents, Ben left his dirty shoes at the door
and ran up the steps to clean up in the bathroom. He took a quick bath, grabbed his robe and ran to his bedroom. He emerged just in time for dinner
and ran to see his grandmother waiting for him.
Martha Fraser gave the
dearest little boy in her life a warming smile and beckoned him into
the kitchen. "What were you doing
today Ben?"
Ben's slow grin let Martha
know he had been with what she and her husband, George, called 'The Boys'
again. "We played pirate by the
creek Grandmother."
"Pirates. Do you mean like Buccaneers and the
Spanish Main?"
Guiltily Ben hung his
head. English History was one
of the subjects he was supposed to be studying now and he wasn't sure
how his grandmother was going to take the fantasy play. "No Mam, not Buccaneers."
"Ah, then you must be
referring to the Pirates of the Orient who prevented trade for so long
between the smaller islands."
"No Mam."
"Well, Ben what pirates
were you pretending to be."
Ben shuffled his feet
and looked down. "Tom was Captain
Hook." Ben looked up between his dazzling lashes. "I was Peter."
"I always liked Wendy
myself." Martha grinned.
"You did?"
"Boys aren't the only
ones who like adventure Ben." She
put a glass of milk down on the table.
"Were you story telling or using the book Ben?"
Ben plopped in his chair
and hung his head in his hands. "I
left my book in the woods." He
looked up at her with big pleading eyes, "May I go retrieve it?"
"You know right where
you left it?"
"Yes, Mam. I was careless in not bringing it home."
George Fraser walked
into the kitchen holding his left hand behind his back. "Heard some boys crowing in town this afternoon. Would you know anything about that
Ben? Young Tom Sloan roared past
me on his way home brandishing a pretend sword."
"Yes, sir. We played Peter Pan down by the creek
this afternoon."
"Ah, then that's how
this book got down in the woods." He
held Ben's book out to him.
Ben got up and took the
book gently from his Grandfather's hands and turned it over and over
to check for harm. "Thank you
Granpere."
"Who were you Ben?"
"I was Peter." Ben stated
with a great deal of pride. He
marched past his grandparent and raced up the stairs to place his book
in its honored place on his bookshelf.
George and Martha sighed. "Peter had no mother." Martha said sadly.
"Peter never grew up. Ben will." George replied.
They heard Ben at the
top of the stairs giving a loud crow before he raced down the steps.
"One or two flights of
fantasy won't hurt the boy." George
said with a grin as Ben slid up to his chair and sat down.
Martha gave George a
quick scowl. "Ben tomorrow we'll
go over what you know about real pirates." She hesitated before continuing, "Maybe the Spanish Maine
will get your attention."