The Way to Believe

I decided to venture out of my room. I opened the door and peered out and in a hallway lit by torches. It was long and had extremely high ceilings. The shadows made it slightly eerie. I shivered and walked out into it.

I walked down it and past quite a few rooms.

It was creepy. There was no noise. All was quiet.

I kept walking.

Bam!

I jumped. It sounded as though someone was playing Beethoven on a piano. It echoed throughout the hall. I ran along the hall trying to figure out where this noise was coming from.

I ran past a door. I stopped and went back. A girl was in there. A girl with short messy black hair. She spun around, and glowered at me.

I stared, she was wearing a blue chiffon slip, and small black slippers.

“Who are you?” What can I say? I’m curious.

“Tanya.”

“Never heard of you.”

“Never heard of you either. You are you?”

“Iris.”

“Yeah definitely never heard of you. You the new girl aren’t you?”

“New girl?”

“Oh, you know Peter’s new girl. He saved you, didn’t he? I mean you’re all destitute, and he saw you and he decided, hey she’s pretty, lets bring her home and make her life hell.”

“Oh. No.”

“That’s what he wants you to think.”

“No, he thought I was someone else.”

“I guess there’s always a first. Did ‘you swoon over him?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know. Saw him and fainted?”

“No. He was being weird, and I ran.”

“Lucky you, didn’t have his charm turned on.”

I laughed, “Definitely not. I did faint though.”

“Why? You proved you were strong enough. Why faint?”

“I realized I was meeting Peter Pan. And Tinkerbell.”

“They your idol’s or something.”

“No. It was just surreal.”

“Yeah I guess.” She turned away, and went back to her piano.

“What do you mean by Peter’s girls?”

“There are four of us. I guess five now. There’s Eleanor, or Elli, Charlotte, Marie and me. And now you too. He saves us, thinks he loves us, then gives up on us.” She wasn’t looking at me.

“You sound bitter.”

She whorled around, “Of course I’m bitter.” There was this haunting look in her eyes, “I still love him.”

…

She put her head down on her piano, with a bam, and cried.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s my own fault.”

“Can’t you like run away if you don’t like it?”

She looked up and glared at me, “We’re on an island if you hadn’t noticed?”

“Ok so fly away.”

“None of us can. He didn’t teach us.”

“What do’ you mean he didn’t teach you? You don’t need to be taught.”

“Yeah you do. Or you need at least some of Tinkerbells magic fairy dust.”

“No. You just have to believe you can.”

“I can’t fly. Not even going to try to believe I can. It won’t work. You’ll see.”

“It will work, but not for you because you’ve already said you can’t.”

“Fly then.”

And I did. Because I believe I can. I believe I can fly. I believe I can do anything. And nobody is ever going to bring me down.

“Well, that’s just not fair.” She grinned toothily up at me, “All right you win.”

“See, anyone can fly, without fairy dust or teaching.”

She laughed, “You amaze me.”

“Dazzle really.” I was floating above her head; she had to crane her neck to look at me.

“I’m so dazzled that I can’t even remember the rules to our world.”

“Good, ‘cause I’m gonna break them and change them so you won’t even recognize them.” And I laughed.