The Flight

 Peter Pan is the story of Wendy, Michael, and
John Darling who go away with a magical boy named Peter Pan. Peter can fly, and
he teaches the children to fly also. They take off to go to Peter’s home
Neverland. In this passage, they are on their way.

 

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Indeed they were constantly bumping. They could now fly
strongly, though they still kicked far too much; but if they saw a cloud in
front of them, the more they tried to avoid it, the more certainly did they
bump into it. If Nana had been with them, she would have had a bandage round
Michael’s forehead by this time.

Peter was not with them for the moment, and they felt rather
lonely up there by themselves. He could go so much faster than they that he
would suddenly shoot out of sight, to have some adventure in which they had no
share. He would come down laughing over something fearfully funny he had been
saying to a star, but he had already forgotten what it was, or he would come up
with mermaid scales still sticking to him, and yet not be able to say for
certain what had been happening. It was really rather irritating to children
who had never seen a mermaid.

“And if he forgets them so quickly,” Wendy argued, “how can
we expect that he will go on remembering us?”

Indeed, sometimes when he returned he did not remember them,
at least not well. Wendy was sure of it. She saw recognition come into his eyes
as he was about to pass them the time of day and go on; once even she had to
call him by name.

“I’m Wendy,” she said agitatedly.

He was very sorry. “I say, Wendy,” he whispered to her, “always
if you see me forgetting you, just keep on saying ‘I’m Wendy,’ and then I’ll
remember.”

Of course this was rather unsatisfactory. However, to make
amends he showed them how to lie out flat on a strong wind that was going their
way, and this was such a pleasant change that they tried it several times and
found that they could sleep thus with security. Indeed they would have slept
longer, but Peter tired quickly of sleeping, and soon he would cry in his
captain voice, “We get off here.” So with occasional tiffs, but on the whole
rollicking, they drew near the Neverland; for after many moons they did reach
it, and, what is more, they had been going pretty straight all the time, not
perhaps so much owing to the guidance of Peter or Tink as because the island
was looking for them. It is only thus that any one may sight those magic
shores.

“There it is,” said Peter calmly.

“Where, where?”

“Where all the arrows are pointing.”

Indeed a million golden arrows were pointing it out to the
children, all directed by their friend the sun, who wanted them to be sure of
their way before leaving them for the night.

Wendy and John and Michael stood on tip-toe in the air to
get their first sight of the island. Strange to say, they all recognized it at
once, and until fear fell upon them they hailed it, not as something long
dreamt of and seen at last, but as a familiar friend to whom they were
returning home for the holidays.