Free Captain James Hook and the Curse of Peter Pan by Jeremiah Kleckner, Jeremy Marshall

down, I came to a passage much wider than I expected.   Four men could swim side by side through the opening.
    Nearly a minute later, just as I reached the edge of how long I could hold my breath, I surfaced.   I coughed, wiped my eyes, and looked around.   I was in another cave with more dark rocky walls, but this time the water led in from an outside source. I rose from the pond and followed it.
    The crashing sound up ahead told me that there was a waterfall long before I saw it.   This was clearly the source of the water on the island, but where was it coming from?   Spray from the rocks stung my face and arms as I worked my way around.  
    Once free, I turned and saw Neverland for the first time.  
    My breath fled into the noonday air as tears streamed down my face.   When I did breathe back in, my lungs were filled with a honey-scented sweetness. Worry, anger, and pain melted from me and I became too heavy to stand.
    What stunned me was not the fantastic, but the distinguishable clarity of the common. Everything looked as fresh and vivid as a new uniform. The grass was the most vivid green. The flowers were a vibrant blue and violet. The water, however, had no color. It was completely clear regardless of depth.
    I rose from my knees and took my first steps in this new world.   I walked without knowing that I took a single step but caught myself in time to get my bearings and see beyond the waterfall.   Grassy hills and forests covered the land.   On all sides the endless expanse of water mocked me.   Even here, I was stranded without hope.
    I turned to head back when a rustling startled me.   Fearing the croc, I ducked behind a four foot mushroom and peered around the corner to identify my stalker.
    The forest ceased to move as if begging me to come out of hiding.   The thick blood of my veins pounded in my ears with each passing moment.   Suddenly, a voice assaulted me from above.
    “I found you, Slightly! You’re it!” squealed the upside down boy.
    “Who?” I shot back.   His eyes opened wide with shock and he spilled off of the mushroom cap onto the grass.
    “You’re not Slightly,” the boy said.
    “I know that,” I told him.   “Who are you?”
    “They call me Nibs. I’m one of the Lost Boys.”

Chapter Seventeen

    “Nibs?” I asked. “What kind of name is that?” The boy got up off of the ground and dusted himself off.   I didn’t see the point, seeing how he was covered in filth from head to toe.
    “It’s my name and I’m proud of it,” he said with a smile. “What’s yours?”
    “James,” I told him.   He’s younger than me and smaller too.   The knife tucked away in his belt told me more about his life here than anything else.
    “You’re not from here,” he said. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Well, if you’re not from Neverland, how did you get here?” I pointed to the waterfall and his face went white. “The croc’s cave? No one goes in there. She’s a monster.”
    “I know. I’ve seen her.” I took a step back toward the waterfall and a twig snapped behind the bushes, followed by hushed whispers. “You said there were others?”
    He nodded to the tree line and underbrush.   One by one, dirty children emerged out into the open and surrounded me.
    “We’re the Lost Boys,” Nibs said.   I looked from one to the other until my eyes settled on a familiar face.
    “Donald?” I asked.   “Donald Sotheby?” There was no mistaking his curly hair and dim expression.   “My God, I can’t believe I have found you.” But as I moved to greet him, the others raised their weapons of war against me.
    “What is the meaning of this?” I said as they looked me over carefully.
    “Found me?” Donald asked.   “I’ve been here as long as I remember. And my name’s Curly.”
    “Nibs,” the one with the panda hat and blackened eye said, “where did you find this one?”
    “He says he came from the cave behind the waterfall, Tootles,” Nibs