Peter Pan was bored.

Not much was happening in Never Land. the Indians and Lost Boys Coalition had defeated the ultra nationalist Never Never party in the last election, and political stability seemed assured for at least four more yers. The pirates were in disarray after their leader, Captain Hook, had lost another limb to Tic Tock, the man-eating crocodile. On a whim, Peter decided to fly back to London, hoping to reunite with the Darling family kids, with whom he’d shared many past adventures.

Arriving in night’s darkness, Peter landed on the sill of the open playroom window. With his longtime fairy friend, Tinker Bell, hovering on his shoulder, the two travelers peeked inside.

Peter smiled and whispered, “look tink, they’re all here.”

One boy sat at a desk, eyes glued to a bright screen. A smaller boy sat on the floor, playing with a toy. An older girl, legs tucked underneath her, lounged on a couch with another bright screen on her lap.

“Yeah! Gottcha!” yelled the first boy, shooting his arms skyward.

Peter interrupted this celebration by flying into the room and announcing himself, “hello.”

All three children turned to face the visitor.

“Who are you?” the kids asked in unison.

“I’m Peter, Peter pan, the boy from Never Land, don’t you remember me?

The children looked at each other, then the girl spoke,”it’s that flying boy from some far off place that Grandma used to tell us about.”

“Grandma?” asked Peter.

The girl replied, “Grandma Wendy.”

Peter’s face brightened, “Wendy, where is she ?”

“She’s long gone,” answered the little boy, still struggling to make the toy in his lap work.

“Gone?” replied the suddenly sad Peter, “then who are you?

“I’m Wendy Ann,” said the girl.

“And I’m John Junior,”JJ, said the older boy, “and he’s Mikey,” pointing to the boy on the floor.

“Oh,” said Peter, reassessing the situation, then, deciding all was not lost, put an offer on the table, “hey, would you like to fly with me, I can take you to a really neat place?”

JJ looked back at the computer screen in front of him, “does this place have Galactic Invaders?”

PUzzled, Peter answered, “Well, no, but it’s got pirates and Indians and lots of really cool kids.”

“I don’t think so,” replied J.J., starting to punch the computer keys, “I just shot down the Death Star and now I’m up to level three, I need to keep going to get to Star Flight Commander.”

Wendy Ann looked at Peter, “does Amazon deliver to this place you want to take us? I’ve got a trippy outfit I want and with expedited delivery, it can be here tomorrow.”

Even more puzzled, Peter replied, “Amazon? Well we do have jungles and tropical birds.”

“No thanks,” said Wendy, scrolling through more fashion options on her laptop, “I need to keep up my social standing at school.”

Tinker Bell was about to whisper something in Peter’s ear when Mikey, screamed, “I’ve got it!” and his toy came to life.

With a whir, a toy flying machine took off and buzzed around the room.

“Yippee!” shouted Mikdy as he directed the little helicopter up, down, and all around with its remote control. Then, Mikdy noticed Tinker Bell, “what’s that, he asked, pointing at the pixie?”

Peter answered, “that’s my friend Tinker bell. She’s a fairy.”

Mikey’s face lit up, “does she want to play?”

Not waiting for an answer, the toy helicopter began chasing Tinker Bell around the room. Tink, having never encountered such a device, freaked out, darting and dodging to avoid a collision with the whirring menace.

Mikey’s face contorted into a sadistic smile. “I’m going to flatten you, fairy girl!”

But, Tink, having recovered her composure, realized that the mechanized attacker was no different than the many other predators who’d tried to get her. She froze in front of Wendy Ann’s dressing mirror. Mikie, seeing his chance, gave full throttle to the helicopter to annihilate the fairy. The toy was going full tilt when Tinker Bell slipped sideways and the helicopter crashed headlong into its reflection in the mirror, falling to the floor in many more pieces than all the King’s men would ever put together again.

Mikey howled, “you broke it!”

JJ never looked up, simply uttering “damn!” as a black moth enemy fighter blew him out of the sky.

Oblivious to the twin tragedies around her, Wendy Ann declared, “oh, look at that, those shoes would be so perfect with my new dress, and they come in pink, too.”

Tinker Bell whispered something in Peter’s ear.

The boy who would never grow up replied, “Yes, Tink, you can pinch me the next time I’m bored.”

Their departure went unnoticed.

Moral: Boring is a world without fantasies and fairies.

tio stib