Magic is Real
Boy, a young thin child with messy black hair and bright green eyes, was outside weeding the garden during lunch hour, while the heat was extremely high. This was nothing new to him, he burns daily due to the sun but always seems to be healed the next day. This day was special though, it was his last day being four years old. He was very happy since it means he’ll be going to school this coming September; he didn’t get to go to pre-school like his cousin Dudley did but due to the law his aunt and uncle have no choice but to let him go to kindergarten. As he pulled a tough weed he winced and held his shoulder up for a while. His uncle got his arm pretty badly last night, usually it was just his back, but he missed or something. Boy was used to it though; he was always doing things wrong no matter how hard he tried not to. This morning, he burned the bacon. He knew he’d be getting a beating tonight to make up for wasting such good food.
You see, Boy is what is known as a Freak. He wasn’t a normal human. He didn’t know what made him so different, but his family made sure he remembered the fact he was. His family are the Dursleys; his aunt Petunia, a tall, thin blonde with a long neck; her husband, uncle Vernon, a very big fat man with no neck and a moustache; and his cousin Dudley, a fat blond haired kid who was at least four times Boy’s weight. This is the only family Boy knew, they told him that his parents died in a drunken car crash when he was just a baby and that they were now stuck with him. He never knew anything different. He doesn’t know that the way he was raised was wrong or anything. All he knew was that he was a Freak and caused his family issues constantly even though he tried hard with his chores correctly.
Once it was close to supper time, he was called inside by his aunt to start to cook so that it would be ready before her husband came home from work. What nobody knew was that Boy wasn’t outside alone, up top in the tree in the backyard was a young boy just watching this kid doing all these chores and not getting any food or help. Peter Pan was a young boy with mischievous eyes and red hair. He didn’t look too happy about what he was seeing with this child, but he knew exactly what he was going to do to help him.
Inside the house Boy was cooking up some food and putting on the table and cleaning up the dishes… Basically Boy was doing everything that was needed while his so-called family ate at the table and spoke about how lovely their day has been. At one point Boy tried to reach for a glass that needed drying, but its slippery soapiness made it fall from his hands and break all over the floor. He froze stiff. He just knew that this was going to cause him a lot more trouble than what burning the bacon this morning would have.
“BOY! How dare you break our things! We take you in, feed you, clothe you and all you do is cause us trouble! Just wait until I am done my meal, you will go straight to the room and wait for me. You better be ready for me when I get there!”
His uncle was not happy. Boy nodded his head, picked up the glass on the floor and then went straight to the room that his uncle mentioned. The Room. Boy’s nightmare place. It was outside the house, basically a shed, but it was fully soundproof and made to be easy to clean. His uncle had it built a couple of years ago when he started to punish Boy in more severe ways. Boy hated the place but had no choice but to follow the rules because the one time he decided to hide from his uncle and not meet him in The Room his beating was so severe he was out of consciousness for three whole days. He learned his lesson after that. He walked into The Room and took off his shirt, you could still see some severe cuts and bruises and scars all over his arms and back. He put his shirt on the chair and then stood next to the table with his hands holding onto the side of the table solidly ready and waiting for his uncle to show up with the belt…
That was a tough one. Once his uncle put away the belt; Boy put on his shirt making faces, with his tear-soaked face, as he moved. It was late and he was ready for bed.
“Hopefully you learn your lesson Freak. You are to take care of our stuff, not burn and break them!”
With that Uncle Vernon left and went inside the house to get ready for bed. Boy slowly followed but closed the Room’s door and locked the back door of the house as he got in. He went to the bathroom and then straight to his room, the cupboard under the stairs. He laid down, on his stomach, on his small mattress and held onto his baby blanket, that he took great care of, and finally closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Then he waited. Once the clock rang twelve times, he knew it was his birthday. He wished himself a happy fifth birthday and finally let himself fall asleep.
The next day Boy woke up as usual when the sun slowly got up, he waited in his cupboard for his aunt to open the door to let him know he could get out. Once she did, he got told just what to make for food and then he started his day by cooking his family breakfast. It was just another normal day for the Dursley family. Vernon got up and got ready for work, while Dudley woke up and cried for his mom. Petunia ran upstairs to help her baby boy down from the bed and into new clothes. The Dursley family sat together and ate the breakfast that Boy cooked. Vernon and Dudley ate so fast that Boy was worried they would choke and then blame him for it.
“Do better next time Freak. Bye Petunia, good day Dudley, I shall see you both after work.”
Vernon said as he was leaving the house. That left Boy to finish the dishes, from last night and this morning, and make sure that the kitchen was completely clean. He didn’t get to eat this time; his aunt was still unhappy about the accident the night before.
“Here Freak, here’s your chores for the day: clean all the bedrooms, make sure the living room is clean, do the laundry, finish the garden. Now I’m taking Dudley to visit some friends, so everything better be done by the time I get back. Ok Dudders, it’s time for us to leave!”
With that all the Dursley’s were gone, leaving a five-year-old Boy home alone. It wasn’t his first time home alone; he was very used to it. So, he got started on the laundry and cleaning the bedrooms. After a few hours he finally took a break to drink some water from the bathroom sink and decided to go outside to finish the garden.
He started slowly by watering the flowers and making sure they were all budding nicely. Then he got started by pruning what needed to be done and weeding some more. That’s when he first realized he was not alone.
“Hello kiddo. Beautiful flowers you have here. Did you grow this garden all on your own?”
Boy turned around at the voice and looked up; in the tree was a young boy around thirteen years old. He was just sitting on the tree branch and looking down at Boy as if they were best of friends.
“Ummm… I did a lot of the work on this garden. Who are you? Why are you up in the tree?”
“My name is Peter Pan. And what’s your name kiddo? I like to be up high, the higher the better.”
“I’m Boy, or Freak, depending on when and who calls out for me.”
This made Peter frown. You could tell by his facial structure he wasn’t used to frowning so much. This settled it, he knew exactly what he needed to do to help this child. It was time for a new Lost Boy to come to Neverland.
“Well kiddo, I was hoping you would come with me to a new place. Somewhere where we are free to do what we want when we want and where we can play all day and night; I have other boys there with me and we have so much fun together. What do you say? Want to come with me to this new place?”
Boy was very confused, he always wished that someone would take him away from the Dursley’s, but he never thought his wish would ever come true. He looked up at Peter with hope in his eyes. To be in a place where he no longer has to do chores, where Vernon could never hurt him… where there was no Room to be afraid of! It was a dream come true!
“I… I would never have to come back? I’d never see the Dursley’s again?”
“You would never have to come back and the Dursley’s would stay here.”
Peter jumped down from the tree and came closer to Boy. He could tell that there were quite a few injuries that needed to be healed, but with Tinker Bell’s help he would be able to heal him pretty nicely, once they have arrived at Neverland. For now, he took a small bag out of his pocket and showed Boy the pixie dust he kept in there.
“This is called pixie dust. It’ll help us fly to Neverland. And once were there I have a fairy friend named Tinker Bell that can help heal your wounds, she’ll help make you feel all better so you can have fun with the rest of the Lost Boys.”
Boy was so happy. To be healed, and have friends, and never have to see the Dursley’s. Dreams do come true!
“Please take me with you. I want to leave this place forever!”
Peter was happy to hear Boy say that. But first there was something he needed to do.
“Before we leave we need to give you a proper name. Boy and Freak are not names we want a lost boy to be called. So how about Lightning Bolt due to the cool scar you have on your forehead?”
Boy was used to the scar being a bad thing, he never heard anyone call it cool before. This made him happy. Maybe that would be a good name for him, he never liked the names Boy and Freak. He was so excited he was jumping all around Peter, he was ready to leave.
“That’s a cool name! I love it! When can we leave? Do I have to bring anything? Are the other Lost Boys going to like me?”
“We can leave right now, no you do not have to bring anything with you, and the Lost Boys are going to love having you with us.”
And with that Peter sprinkled the pixie dust all over Lightning Bolt and told him straight up.
“Now, believe in me, believe in you and believe in fairies and then you can fly up high!”
And with that Peter started to fly in the air showing Lightning Bolt just how to do it, and so Lightning Bolt jumped up and fell right on his bum. With a laugh Peter just told him to try again and this time to believe stronger. He tried again and again and it just wasn’t happening.
“It’s alright Lightning Bolt, just take it easy, you just need to believe in magic.”
At first Lightning Bolt looked at Peter with big eyes, then he looked all around him as if he would get hit or something. That was a bad word. He got in big trouble whenever he used that word.
“M… Ma… Magic? Like, when my hair grew back after Aunt Petunia gave me a horrible haircut?”
Peter was a little shocked at his response, first at his reaction to the word and second at his reply. This child has magic, even better!
“Yes, exactly! Magic is real and is the only way to get to Neverland. Believe in fairies; in flying and in magic and you will fly along with me.”
Lightning Bolt tried one more time and the next thing they knew his feet were soaring in the sky alongside Peter.
“I did it! I’m flying! Magic is real!”
“Good job Lightning Bolt! Now, follow me and we will get to Neverland shortly. Don’t worry about people seeing us, the pixie dust helps us to hide from everyone who doesn’t believe in magic.”
With that they both flew over the houses and took off to Neverland.