Short story from my earlier writing years

This was one of my first real short stories that wrote. It meant a lot to me at the time. Let me know what you think in the comments or email me your thoughts. I would love to hear it. Here goes:

Shadow

I can see the beautiful sun above me shadowed by a few clouds. The clouds beneath me are even more beautiful reflecting the sunlight, but when the clouds dissipate into tinier pieces I see glimpses of the earth I’m used to walking on. And then everything disappears.

Neverland

I’ve dreamt this ever since I can recall and the dream never ceases to develop every night. Although it all seems so real, as a grown woman I know it is my imagination being extremely vivid, to escape the reality I don’t want to face. But I can’t deny that I yearn for the night each passing day just to see where my adventure takes me next...

The last few times I’ve heard the name Peter quite often and soon enough realized that it was he who held my hand as I flew above and beyond my sorrows, soaring beneath my problems and finding an equality between kites and anchors. He took me to an island far away from life and showed me things I never knew could happen. He taught me how to live in reality and remain a child while being a grown up woman. How to recognize people wearing masks and later on even taught me how to define people by observing their behavior and analyzing their thoughts.

Soon I was one of the regular visitors to the island and I never seemed to realize that I was the only girl. Peter began explaining one day that all the boys on the island are the souls who got lost in the hustle and bustle of life and ceased to live, only managed to survive. He was the one who introduced them to joyful living but in return they had to visit every night and some even refused to leave. I never questioned how they all came to be there, I simply accepted the facts.

I never left Peter’s side as he taught me his ways of life and thought. His perception intrigued me and later on I refused to be with anyone but him. I visited houses with him each night to fetch a lost boy and that is how I came by the name: Peter’s shadow. I knew every inch of the island like the back of my hand, but I would never do any favor without Peter by my side. Even the boys that knew me by my first name started calling me shadow. I grew to like the new name but secretly despised that people recognized me for being a mimicking mime instead of the leader I knew I could be.

Whenever I flew around with Peter it felt like I wasn’t enjoying it like the first time, like I was floating instead of flying. I was bound by the equally beautiful yet destructive part of myself that never gave up hope. Somehow I loved him in a way I could never love anyone for I was an only child, but I was naive, never admitting to myself that he held me back, that he was the one causing my destruction. I wanted to let go, I wanted to cut the stitches I made, away, but I couldn’t... I was bound to Peter as he was to me. I would never allow myself to forget him or the love he taught me. I was the cause of eternal bondage and ultimate destruction.

The more I tried to leave Peter, the more I kept going back for more of his love and affection my soul desperately craved. I believed that it was the only love I deserved and the only affection I was good enough for. I didn’t even deem my love for myself worthy against Peter’s love for me. He was my Father I never knew, brother I never had and husband I would never get. My mind became distorted and nothing else mattered than being with him. I became his shadow, by choice. He became my voice.

After several adventures we had together we both became knew there was no way of stopping the inevitable. We were caught between two stools and refused to relinquish. We stood there staring at each other, executing a perfect conversation in complete silence. In that moment my calm distorted mind realized: I would be the one to leave, I would have to be stronger, face reality and wake myself up from fantasy, or else I would be a slave to my own imagination for years to come. The only thing I saw when turning my back on Peter, Neverland and all the Lost boys, was the clear blue sky. For the first time ever the sky above Neverland was clear as day and I could see the path ahead clearly. I rose up into the sky without hesitation and sore into clarity...

The sky became lighter and lighter and earthly sounds were reaching my eardrums as I woke to the sight of my bedroom ceiling and the touch of a loving hand. Turning my head I could see my husband partially waking from my sudden awakening. I got up from my bed and began walking towards the open window of my bedroom when I heard my husband’s voice: “Wendy, darling, are you alright? Is it that dream again?”.”Yes,” I replied. “It will all be clear to you one day darling, before you come back to bed, would you mind closing the window? I know it unsettles you to close it but I heard that it is going to be cloudy tonight?”

As I got to the window I let my hand run down the frame “thank you Peter” I softly whispered. “How does the skies look darling?” I got into the bed next to him and replied: “Everything is crystal clear...”