The Velveteen Rabbit & Other Stories - Margery Williams [6]
Finally, Peter found his shadow. After he caught it, he tried to sew it back on, but that didn’t work. Peter started to cry, which woke up Wendy. She could not believe her eyes. A boy and a fairy were flying around her room!
“Don’t be frightened,” Peter said. “Will you come to Neverland with me and tell your stories to my friends? I’ll teach you to fly!”
Wendy agreed only after he included John and Michael in the fantastic adventure. The fairy Tinker Bell sprinkled her fairy dust over the children, and soon they were all soaring through the sky and over the sea.
“Second to the right, and straight on till morning!” Peter shouted. When they reached Neverland, they found a beautiful island with golden rainbows, blue waterfalls, the Mermaids’ Lagoon, and a pirate ship where the evil Captain Hook lived.
Peter Pan took the children to meet his friends, the lost boys. At the Mermaids’ Lagoon, Peter saw that Captain Hook had captured the beautiful Princess Tiger Lily. Peter followed Captain Hook to Marooners’ Rock, where they had a duel. Peter made Captain Hook fall into the sea, where he was chased away by a crocodile. Tiger Lily was saved!
That wasn’t the end of Captain Hook. He kidnapped Tinker Bell and tricked her into telling him the location of Peter’s home. He led his band of pirates to capture the lost boys and the Darling children.
Tinker Bell was imprisoned in the pirate ship, but escaped just in time to alert Peter. She knew that Hook had put poison in Peter’s cup, but Peter would not believe her. As he was about to drink it, Tinker Bell quickly flew and drank it all herself. Suddenly, she dropped to the ground, with her light fading rapidly.
“Oh, Tink, did you drink it to save me?” Peter cried. “How can I help you?”
Tinker Bell said weakly, “I can get well again if children believed in fairies.”
Peter wasted no time. He thought of the many children who were dreaming of Neverland at that moment, and asked of them all, “Do you believe?” Tinker Bell heard the children murmur “Yes!” in their sleep and felt much better. She was saved!
Peter and the fairy flew to Captain Hook’s pirate ship, where the Darlings and the lost boys were walking the plank. Wendy had just stepped off and was falling into the ocean! Peter swooped in just in time and rescued her, and then began a fierce duel with Captain Hook. Once again, the evil Hook fell into the water and was chased away by the crocodile—this time forever.
Tinker Bell sprinkled her fairy dust on the ship, and suddenly it was flying through the skies of Neverland, on its way to London. Back in the nursery, Peter Pan and Tinker Bell said good-bye to the children and sailed off into the night. Wendy watched as the beautiful ship sailed past the moon on its journey home to Neverland, the most wonderful land of her dreams.
The Good Little Mouse
Once upon a time, an evil king invaded another kingdom and captured the queen and her infant daughter. He shut them both into the highest room of the tallest tower in the castle. The room was small and empty, with only one table and a very hard bed on the floor. The wicked king sent for a fairy, who was so moved by the prisoners’ misery that she whispered to the queen, “Courage, Madam! I think I see a way to help you.”
“Silence!” the king cried. He turned to the fairy. “Tell me, is this baby girl destined to grow up to be a worthy bride for my son?”
The fairy answered that the princess would be kind and beautiful. Satisfied, the king declared that the queen would raise the baby in the tower until the girl was old enough to marry his son. Then he took the fairy with him and left the poor queen in tears.
As the days went on, the queen and her baby grew thinner and thinner, for every day they were given only three peas and a crust of black bread to eat. One evening, as the queen sat at her