Neverland: Forever Young
If there is one thing you need to know about Neverland it is this; if you enter, which I hope you never do, you will never exit, nor will you ever grow up. But I think it would calm you to know that the children in Neverland do not remember how they got there. Annabelle, 10, cannot recall anything before she arrived in Neverland. She was awoken by the sound of a bell, eyes alert, heart beating so fast she felt as if it wasn’t beating at all. Despite the hole in her chest, Annabelle did not feel any pain either, just the agonizing cry of a mother and a father in a faraway land. She lay on a bed, sprinkled with blue butterflies and cushioned with a mattress, fluffy as the clouds beneath her. It’s been 237 days since she arrived, although she wouldn’t know, for the time in Neverland is merely as frozen as the hearts of its young population.
Annabelle spends her days wandering the flowered fields alongside Jackie, with whom Annabelle felt an instant “I feel like I've known you forever” connection, as soon as the 9-year-old reached Neverland, nearly the same time as Annabelle. They walk, side by side, gazing at the roses redder than the schools drenched in blood back on earth and conversing over little nothings. They watch the days turn into nights, and nights into days. There are other kids in Neverland, too. In fact, the population of about 400 has slowly been increasing ever since the first member arrived. It’s a sort of an eerie thing when a new person arrives, and everyone in Neverland can feel it. Annabelle describes it to Jackie, as feeling a sort of emptiness, a hollow loss. To be a member of Neverland is a tragedy, really. It’s something that your mothers and fathers probably fear when they drop you off in the mornings. Some parents have attempted to travel to Neverland, but Neverland only accepts the young ones, the ones who were dropped off from home and never returned.
Annabelle awoke from her nap with an aching coming from the small hole in her chest. Annabelle keeps her hole cloaked because it pains her to think she could be the only one with a hole so deep you could see through her. What Annabelle doesn’t know is that everyone in Neverland has a hole, so deep you can see straight through. But the holes are much deeper than the eye can see. What no one in Neverland knows is the amount of pain their holes have caused. The amount of grief, of sorrow, of salty floods.
It was dawn, and Annabelle could hear the faint chatter of the other children just starting to awaken from their naps. That day, the children of Neverland would find a way to stop the population from growing. Annabelle and Jackie made their way along the windy paths, all the way up to Pixie Hollow, the center of Neverland, where the meeting took place. She enjoyed the view, the sun starting to rise. The sky was painted with blues, purples, oranges, and pinks, in a sort of array that makes you stop and daydream. To clueless children like Annabelle, Neverland is filled with the highest of hopes and dreams. Days are the color of walking along the shore in July and dipping your toes in the water. Nights are cold, yet cozy, a snowy day, sipping hot chocolate and covered in a blanket of warmth by the fire. But these are just feelings because Neverland has no winters or summers. Neverland is forever spring. Leaves green, sun yellow as a school bus, safer than a school.
When they reached Pixie Hollow, Matthew, 16, and Rachel, 17, were standing in front of about 200 of the former students. Nobody in Neverland is over 18, but you should not worry about those who are, because they have their own land. Jackie and Annabelle found themselves a spot on the grass and sat, side by side as usual, and listened to the discussion starting to build up. As more members started to sit on the grass at Pixie Hollow, the conversation became more and more passionate. If you open your heart enough, you might be able to feel this passion, this presence, of the children in Neverland. The children voiced their concerns about obtaining new members, although none of them really knew why they felt this apprehensiveness. All they knew was that eerie, empty feeling they felt as Neverland became more crowded. They voiced opinions and ideas. Annabelle kept to herself, because she was the type that had a mind louder than her mouth. Eventually, they agreed on a plan. The children would radiate a warning to whoever was sending them to Neverland. The members would suggest to them its dangers, of the holes, of the eeriness, the red roses. They would not reveal the beauty Neverland holds, because the presence of Neverland’s uncertainties overpowered its peace.
Neverland’s juveniles emitted their warning. They transferred the aching of their holes into the clouds below, hoping to reach whatever lurked beneath. But apparently, the holes are not deep enough to the outside world. Their calling has not had enough significance, because if it did, if the outside world cared enough, the population of Neverland would come to a halt. Still, the aspirations of the children will forever hang over the heads of the aging, weighing down on their shoulders, and pushing them to help stop the increasing population. I hope, and you should too, that these people will gather enough fortitude to make the hopes and dreams of Neverland’s adolescence come true.
Unfortunately, I cannot give you a satisfactory ending to the tale of Neverland, because the words on this page would run infinitely; Annabelle will forever be 10, Jackie forever 9, Matthew forever 16, and Rachel, 17. Before you part with this tale, here’s one more thing I want you to know about Neverland; when a child goes there, they are not necessarily gone forever. Their bodies might not be present in the land you are in now, but their souls stay lingering in the air, watching, making a mark, leaving schools with blood-stained carpets, watching over us, eternally.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
Annabelle Rodriguez and her cousin, Jackie Cazares. These best friends both lost their lives in May 2022, at their Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.