Neverland

The Lost Boys and One Girl.

Do you have a favorite book from childhood, one you could listen to over and over again? Could you even imagine yourself living within the pages, like it was a living, breathing, place?   Most everyone does.  Would you tell me about yours?

When I was a child, “Peter Pan”, by J.M. Barrie, was my all-time favorite book from the very first time Mama read it to me at bedtime. She read others to me, too, but that was my favorite.

I loved the movie, cartoon, and play, too, but showing me Neverland was never as good as what my own imagination could give me. It always created something so much better. Then it became even more magical when I was able to read the book myself. 

I remember how I could close my eyes and feel myself flying. I imagined being over Neverland above the trees and looking down.  Peter and I would be best friends and I would be one of The Lost Boys —-only we would rename it to The Lost Boys and a Girl. 

Tinker Bell and I would have the most exciting adventures. We would giggle and tell secrets and sneak up on Cap’n Hook with a ticking clock and drive him crazy.

At the ripe old age of five, I was so completely enamored by the promise of flying, just by believing I could fly, that I tried to from the top of the bookcase in my bedroom. I followed all of the instructions: I crowed like a rooster; I thought all my happy thoughts and the biggie, I believed I could fly.

The scar just above my left eyebrow was the price I paid for the lesson I learned in the emergency room:

“Some things will always be make believe, no matter how hard we wish they were real.” (Mama, Daddy, and the nice E.R. Doctor)

I credit J.M. Barrie for encouraging the little girl I have inside to stay alive and full of hope and inspiration. That inner child and I wrote three children’s poetry books together, all from a child’s point of view.

I will always be indebted to J.M. Barrie. I hope my inner child never grows up.

The Child Within

Down inside this grownup
lives the child that used to be.
When I look in my mirror,
she stares right back at me.

Now that I'm a grownup,
it's an older face I see,
but the child's still there, just hiding,
down deep inside of me.

Sometimes we work together,
that little girl and me.
She comes up from her hiding place
and we write kids’ poetry.

I love being grown up
and I wouldn't want to swap.
… well, maybe a little younger face
and no gray hair on top …

Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this post, please consider a paid subscription for “CJ Heck’s Whispers of Knowing” on Substack. You won’t miss any future posts and you will find some nice gifts.  Hugs, CJ.