The God of Neverland Chapter 6: A fairy's Light

Another entry

Chapter 6: A Fairy’s Light

Consumed in a cloud of fog, the ship makes its way through the veil of Neverland. So thick is the fog that Michael, who is at the front of the ship, cannot see the rest of the crew.

“Hold on to the ship, boy” says Asher, though the thick fog.

Michael grabs hold to the ship as tight as he can, not knowing what to expect. As he strains his eyes, trying to see what lies ahead, the ship abruptly slows its pace as it is hit by a wave.

“Water? …We’re on water!” Michael shouts, ecstatically.

“Yes Michael, we’re here,” Says Hooks as the mist clears, revealing Neverland.

To Michael’s surprise, the island up ahead has a darker, realistic presence to it. As the ship sails slowly toward the island, Michael comes to the realization that this isn’t the same Neverland he knew as a child. Instead of rainbows over a parasitic view, there is black smoke rising over a wild, wooded forest behind the shore. Instead of colorful birds soaring peacefully through the sky, there are crows and ravens fighting over food on the shoreline.

“What in the bloody hell is this?” he says to himself.

Sever walks up right beside him, taking a deep breath with a smile on his face. “Ah, back home at last.”

Michael turns from him and wipes his eyes secretly.

Sever looks at him and starts to chuckle. “I imagine Neverland looks a bit different to you this time around,” he says, jokingly.

“Yes, quite different,” he replies.

Sever stares at Michael in disbelief, making him feel uneasy. “You really are something,” he says.

Michaels looks at him strangely. “What do you mean,” he asks.

“Neither man nor child you are; I’ve never seen anything like you in my entire life as a pirate. Why you barely have any whiskers on your face at all!” he says as Michael rubs his face insecurely.

The strange look on Michaels face intensifies. He then remembers that Neverland is notorious for making people forget, and that the likelihood of any pirate even remembering their own childhood is slim to none.

“You mean…there’s not one teenager in Neverland?”

“Who’s that?”

“Bloody hell…”

“Well no matter, man or child, there are some things you’ll learn to watch out for,” he says.

“Like what?”

Sever looks at him with an annoyed face and Michael flinches back in fear.

“I have a thing about questions lad, so keep them to the bare minimum,” he says, sternly as Michael nods many times. “Some of Neverland’s rules differ for adults but not all of them. Whatever you do, make sure you never stay bored for too long; in Neverland, you can actually die from boredom,” he says as Michael face is filled with surprise.

Right then, the ship jerks forward and increases its speed. Michael and Sever stumble, looking back to the sails frightfully.

“I’m definitely not bored now,” he says as the feeling of danger lurks around the corner.

“What are you doing, you lubbers; bring down the sails!” Hook yells.

Asher looks over the side of the ship and sees many odd ripples in the water surrounding the ship. He strains his eyes to see through the water as a dark red fin come out the water, splashing around, next to the ship.

“It’s not the wind captain; it’s mermaids! They are trying to make us crash!” he screams as Hook gasps.

“We’re too close to the shore to maneuver now,” Hook says. “Hold on to the ship, and whatever you do, don’t fall into the water!”

Michael and Sever crouch down as low as they can and await the unavoidable collision that was soon to happen.

The ship rams into the shore as the dozens of ravens and crows scatters into the sky. The two at the front of the ship are immediately tossed off, landing on the beach as flying wood and debris fall all over and around them. The ship tilts upward as Hook claws onto the floorboard, hanging vertically as the ship flirts with the idea of flipping over.

“Evil mistresses of Pan, how I hate thee!” says Hook in a hateful growl.

Finally after a seemingly endless amount of time, the ship falls backwards with the back end landing on the water and the shattered front, wrecked on the shore. After a while, Michael and Sever pull themselves from under the wreckage on the beach. Behind Michael a strong flash of light shines as the scratchy laughter of old women can be heard. As he turns around, he catches a glimpse of the two witches before they enter the thick green jungle.

“I guess that means they are okay,” he says, holding his head in pain.

“Ah, still alive am I?” says Sever as he dusts the sand off himself. Sever looks with awe at the wrecked ship. “Captain, Asher!” he says running toward the ship.

He sees Asher helping the groggy captain off the ship as tiny waves crash into them and making them stumbling.

“Michael! Where is Michael!? Hook asks freeing himself from Asher’s helping hand.

“He’s over here on the beach, captain �" a little banged up, but he’s ok,” Sever screams, waving his hands in the air.

Hook lets out a sigh of relief, lifting high his legs as he makes his way to the shore. Michael lies on the beach, breathing in deeply; in the relaxing way a man who has just escape the hands of death would breathe. He looks up at the hazy sun, blocking the rays from his eyes.

“Alright, let the journey begin,” he says to himself, rising to his feet.

Asher, Sever, and Hook meet up with Michael on the beach and make sure everyone is without harm. Asher and Sever greet each other with a playful shove. Captain Hook looks up at the smoke rising up from behind the trees and starts to laugh, joyfully.

“Ha ha we’ve made it home, men,” he says walking speedily towards the jungle.

The other two follow behind Hook as he walks into the jungle but Michael stays behind. He can’t help thinking about the fairies that may still be trapped in the ship and decides to go back for them.  As they walk through the jungle Asher stops, “Captain,” he says, gesturing at Michael as he clumsily makes his way through the water and into the boat. Hook and Asher exchange mocking smiles.

“Make sure he gets back safely into town, will you?” says Hook.

“Ay ay, captain,” replies Asher.

  Michael makes his way into the back half of the ship. He climbs up the wet and broken wood until he reaches a walk able platform. Before him lays darkness that deepens the farther he walks into the ship. He takes each step cautiously as he looks for even a glimmer of light from a fairy or even pixie dust. The sound of waves crashing into the wrecked ship is all he can hear.

“Hello in there,” he yells, hesitant to go any further.

He waits for a moment, staring into the darkness. Then, in the shadows, a faint blue light flickers on and off. Michael is surprised and immediately makes his way to the light. The light keeps flickering on and off, giving him the ability to see every couple of steps. As he reaches the source of the light, Michael finds a fairy, still trapped in its cage. This female fairy with blue and black butterfly-like wings, lays unconsciously in the cage.  He frantically tries to open the cage, seeing that the fairies’ light is fading fast.

“Come on, come on,” he says, opening the cage. “I do believe in fairies, I do!”

Michael’s word seems to have no affect on the dying fairy. He takes off his shirt and gently wraps it around the fairy, hoping to warm it. Michael runs off of the ship and jumps into the water, making sure not to get the fairy wet by lifting her above his head. Asher sits nonchalantly on the shore, watching Michael and laughing at him.

Michael walks up and sits down next to Asher, looking helplessly at the fairy. He whispers, “I do believe in fairies,” over and over like a mantra as Asher watches him, confused.

“Just what are you doing with that fairy, Michael?”

“Can’t you see; I’m trying to save its life?”

“But why? Not even a redskin would care if one fairy were to die,” he explains as Michael returns his puzzled look.

“No matter, what do fairies need to survive?” he asks desperately.

“Ha ha, how would I know something like that?” Asher says, lying with his hands behind in a lackadaisical manor.

“Well maybe someone in town will know,” he says, trying to get up as Asher’s strong hand forces him back down.

Michael looks back at Asher’s serious face, frightened and confused. Asher slowly and gently pushes aside his Michael’s shirt to better see the fairy.

“Fairies live off of the imagination of children; that is why they avoid adults. If you take her inside Hook’s town, full of men and women, she will definitely perish.” Asher says.

Michael is stunned by Asher’s reaction but is even more worried about the fairy’s condition.

“Only children have strong enough imagination that they can live on and her light is far too dim. You should just leave her on the beach, she is already done for.” Asher says standing up and waiting for him to follow.

Asher watches Michael and can tell that he is not going to leave its side.

“If you want to sit here and wait till your little friend dies that’s fine by me; but you should know it’s going to rain tonight,” he says getting no response from Michael.

He smirks and beings to walk back into the jungle.

“I’ll just tell Hook you’ve decided to spend your first night in Neverland under the stars with a woman.” He yells right before disappearing in the brush.

Later on that night, Asher lies hidden among the trees, watching over Michael by order of the captain. He sits under a makeshift shelter to hide from the rain and sips alcohol from a small woven flask. The bushes beside Asher begin to rustle and he slowly reaches for his gun. Out of the wood comes Sever with his mischievous smile.

 “How’s the weakling holding up,” he asks Asher, gesturing him to make room for him.

Asher hands him the flask and points to the shore where Michael is. Michael sits huddled on the beach, watching over the fairy in a small shack he made from the ship wreckage. Using a telescope from the woods, the two men can see the faint blue light glowing from inside the shack.

“He’s been there since we arrived with that fairy,” says Asher, grabbing back the flask and taking a sip.

“This is a strange one we have here,” Sever says as Asher nods in agreement. “From the looks of it that fairy’s light will go out before the end of the night.”

“Maybe not…”

Sever looks at Asher, surprised.

“But you said fairies die off from the presence of --”

“Man,” Asher interrupts, “but I’m sure you realized that this Michael is not exactly a man,” he says.

Sever looks toward Michael with a serious face.

“Are you saying that he--?”

“No, it’s way too soon to say that but it would explain why captain would risk the life of his crew, just to bring him back here,” Asher replies.

“Captain’s been so secretive about all this,” he says, taking another sip from the flask and rubbing his shoulders, trying to warm himself.

“If anyone else would know, it’s the Governor Smee,” says Asher as Sever nods in agreement.

The two sit in silence watching Michael for the next couple of hours. Gradually, Sever drifted off to sleep but not Asher…nor Michael. As the rain pours down heavily and the wind tears down Michael’s shack, Asher watches, amazed at Michael’s determination. Michael holds the fairy close to his heart and lies in the fetal position all night to shelter it.

Morning comes and the beach is once again calm and serene. Asher emerges from the jungle and walks down to Michael, who is passed out. From the absence of fairy light, Asher concludes the fairy has died. Michael tosses over in his sleep and reveals the fairy lying on his chest, glowing with a healthy, bright blue light.

“This Michael, he will do big things in this world.”

Before Asher decides to wake Michael he notices another strange thing; footprints. What’s more, they are those of a baby and they lead from the ship, all the way into the jungle.

“What was on that ship?”

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

I might redo this chapter. I like the plot alot but something about the writing... n e way i could use some help.

Reviews

[James Watts]

I didn't see any real issues with the writing. Seems fine to me. But, as a fellow writer, I know what you are talking about. Over half my novel I am not pleased with, even though others have told me it was fine. But I will still rewrite before it goes to the editor.
My babbling out of the way, I enjoyed the imagery in this as well as the dialogue. Nice work.