Hard Times in Happilyeverafter

by W Kangas

  “Go under the mountain and free the magical stream.”

  We can’t do that; we’re all afraid of being in the dark underground. But we could get you some water from the bottom of the fountain.”

  “Try, and maybe we can live long enough to get the magical stream unplugged. Oh no, I’m starting to crack,” said Humpty. “Get a spoon from the café and give me some of the water.”

  The stars all went to the café and each got a spoon and a cup and went back to the fountain. Star dipped her cup into the water that collected in the bottom and spooned some into Humpty’s mouth.

  “Oh, I feel a little better. Oh no, my honey is in danger too. Please someone go to the house on the edge of town that way,” said Humpty pointing, “and give my honey some water, or she will crack and I will be forever lonely.”

  Charming dipped her cup in the water and set out to help Humpty’s wife. Then all the stars dipped their cups and started spoon-feeding all the citizens who lay on the ground or who were in their homes unable to move.

  When they’d covered everyone, then it was time to begin again with moans of pain being heard everywhere. When they gave Humpty his next dose, he asked if there was still plenty.

  Humpty said, “We have some prisoners in the north cave. Don’t forget to give them some. I’m not going to be their murderer.”

  “Yes, but the water supply is going down quickly.”

  We have to help the prisoners who came here years ago unannounced. We just couldn’t release them and have a multitude of people coming in here. Don’t forget to give them some. I’m not going to be their murderer,” Humpty repeated on the edge of delirium.

  “Mona, Humpty says we have to help some prisoners in the north cave,” said Star. “Give them some water, will you? They will probably be desperate. North is that way, I think.”

  Mona took two water pitchers on the long walk to the north cave. When she got there, she noticed the cave entrance was open and anyone could walk in or out as they pleased. But inside the cave were constant moans of pain. The aging prisoners had been held with no other recourse at the time and now having gone way too long without the water, they were suffering considerably. They all were completely covered by blankets and spoke to Mona asking if she had some water.

  “I do have some, but it’s from the bottom of the fountain. I’m sure you will get some relief, if you drink the whole glass.”

  “Stick it under the blanket, right here by my hand,” said the first prisoner. Don’t lift the blanket,” he warned Mona.

  Mona barely lifted the edge of the blanket and pushed the cup underneath. She soon heard the frantic sound of the prisoner gulping the water. “More,” said the prisoner, pushing the cup out from under the blanket. She gave him another cupful and went to the next prisoner. His actions completely mimicked the first prisoner.

  Mona asked them questions but got no answers. She knew they were all just surviving. They drank the two pitchers of water, and she said, “I will be back as soon as I help with the other citizens.”

  Humpty, having recovered somewhat, was trying to organize a way to fix the fountain. “We must get someone to find the source. What about you, Star?” suggested Humpty.

  “I can’t. I can nurse you, but I can’t go underground.”

  “We need to call for Peter; maybe he could get Alice to go underground.”

  “How do you call Peter? And who is Peter?”

  “Just call out loud and continue ’til he comes. You should know Peter Pan.”

  “That could be a lot of calling, but to help save everyone, we will surely do it. Is there any one place where he is likely to hear us?”

  “There is. Go close to the entrance cave and belt out your call and let it bounce off the mountains. You can sometimes hear fifteen echoes. That should get his attention. But, ladies, don’t leave us very long. There could be someone in dire condition and need some water. Before you go, please pick up the cartoons and put them in our public building, as I’m afraid they might blow away in the wind and be lost to us forever. If you continue to help us, we will be forever thankful.”

  “We will do everything in our power to help all of you.” The girls knew the population of Happilyeverafter were in dire straits, so they hurried, picking up the cartoons and placing them in the conference building. Then they were on their way to the now-collapsed entrance to the cave.

  Charming was just about to finish helping Humpty’s wife, who did feel like she was cracking. Dimples continually praised Charming for helping her just in time. Charming decided she’d better stay with the citizens administering water while her friends went to call Peter.

  “Peter, Peter Pan, we need your help. Peter, come and help us. Peter, there is trouble in Happilyeverafter.”

  “Mona, maybe you could sing Peter a song to bring him here.”

  “Yoo-hoo, Peter,” sang Mona.

  Yodel lee a, yodel lee who, but Peter Pan

  “Yodel you who, Peter, come help in this land.”

  “Yodel lee ya ha who, Peter.”

  “What are you doing, Mona?” asked Star.

  “I can’t make up a song on the spur of the moment, but I thought I would yodel like they do in the mountains. And guess what? We are in the mountains and the yodeling sounds so good, so I’m having fun with it, and it might be the end of fun for me.”

  “Why do you say that?” asked Giggles.

  “Well, if we don’t save the citizens, we are going to be here in a mountain prison by ourselves for the rest of our lives.”

  “Be positive, Mona, because that is totally unthinkable,” said Star.

  “It could easily happen; we would have to do everything for ourselves just to stay alive ’til we get decrepit.”

  “Mona, please do your yodeling.”

  “Yodel lee ya ha woo de woo woo, Peter.”

  “Yodel lee ja ma ka boo but e boo, Peter.”

  “Yodel lee doodle boodle strudel, who but Peter.”

  Peter came with the wind, flying around the stars and then the actresses. “What is so important?” called Peter from fifty feet off the ground. “I heard your yodeling and then I heard my name being called.”

  “The citizens here are in trouble. Their magic water has been cut off and many of them are close to death. The cartoons turned flat, like pieces of paper, and they can’t move or talk. But one thing describes them all—they are on their backs and mostly have just vital life functions.”

  Peter realized this call was an emergency and alighted on the grass next to the actresses. “What happened to the water?” he quickly asked.

  “It just stopped, and they are living on what drained into the bottom of the well,” said Mona. “It gives them some relief, but it doesn’t restore their youth and energy.”

  “If I’m going to help them, it must be soon, for it will take my energy too. Has anyone had an idea?”

  “The mayor said something about you going to get Alice to go underground.”

  “I need to go see him. Where is he?”

  He’s just lying in the grass next to the fountain, unable to move. But so far, he can think and reason, so, yes, you need to go talk to Humpty and see how you can help. Be aware the water in the bottom of the well is going down quickly. You must talk to him and come up with a plan, because the emergency water will only last a couple of days at most.”

  “I’m going to see him now,” said Peter. He dashed off as soon as the words came out of his mouth, and there he was swirling just above the square in the distance.

  He alighted on the ground next to the mayor and said, “Humpty, can you hear me?”

  The egg rolled his eyes open and said, “Peter, we need your help. We are desperate, as you can see.”

  “Most of us are on the edge of life, so we need someone to go underground to get the magic water flowing again. I was hoping you could do it or maybe Alice as she’s used to going underground.”

  “I can’t live underground for long, and Alice has passe
d away, not wanting to live in Happilyeverafter.”

  “Maybe you could find a relative of hers or a miner with the same kind of underground courage. If you search hard, Peter, you will find the one who can help us. Go faster than the wind, Peter, because I know we are running out of emergency water. It just keeps us alive, as it is. Please, go with all the speed you can muster, my dear friend, and I will be precisely right here, because I can’t move.”

  “I will bring someone back with me, but I can’t be sure of his courage, and I can’t be sure this person will be able to save you. Humpty, you must keep yourself alive so you can talk strategy with whomever I find.”

  “I will do my best, as I know you will, my friend, Peter. So long, my friend; we are in your hands.”

  Peter took to the air like a bolt of lightning and started moving to the west, but did a lap around the stars to salute them. He turned and took off over the mountains, looking for the great country of England. He knew if there were ancestors of Alice, they would surely live in her home country. High in the sky, Peter flew so high that he could make out whole countries from border to border.

  He knew he could plummet as soon as he saw the island nation ahead of him. How could he find a relative? If he had endless time, he surely could, but now he could only measure his time in hours, because the citizens of Happilyeverafter were getting close to—he didn’t even want to think that, so he started looking into the distance hoping to see jolly old England.

  He would come upon the White Cliffs of Dover and then fly to London to see the British Museum. If he went to see Alice’s original book about her adventure underground, there might be a clue there as to a relative still living. He wanted to be quick and catch the museum still open to sightseers. Somehow, Peter had to trust a worker in the museum to get information. He would have to get lucky by trusting someone without testing them. Now Peter knew he would look for someone who seemed to be honest.

  Then down below him, he recognized France by the shape, and he looked ahead and there was his destination across the English Channel. He flew with a purpose, hoping to get there before the doors to the British Museum were locked. He soon could see the White Cliffs of Dover and started to descend with hope in his heart.

  As he soon flew just above ground, among the dwellings of Dover, he searched for a clothesline with a suit that might fit him. The boy in green tights couldn’t go to the museum with this outfit, so he had to have more luck. Then he saw a mother hanging clothes that looked just his size. He was encouraged and watched her as he slowed a little to grab the clothes.

  She placed a shirt and pants on the clothesline with clothes pins and bent down to get more clothes. It was his chance as he zoomed though the air nabbing them before she straightened back up. When she did, she saw the clothes missing and started looking on the ground. When she couldn’t find them, she grabbed her chin and stood there thinking while scratching her head with the other hand.

  Peter changed clothes in the woods. They were, of course, wet, but they would dry on the flight and now he was ready to talk to the curator of the museum.

  What would he say, he wondered. It came to him all at once. He would tell the curator he was a grandson of Alice and wanted to have a close look at her book. He thought this would be his chance to sniff out the real grandson or granddaughter.

  He made it to the museum with people coming in and out the entrance, and he stopped around the corner when no one was looking. He walked to the door just as an attendant tried to lock the rest of the people out. He had to lie. “My mother is in there,” he begged.

  “Okay, kid, just you.”

  The attendant didn’t know it, but he might have just saved the world. Off Peter went, looking for the curator, hoping to get information as to the real heir of Alice. He would start his conversation bold to get his interest and then see what he could pick from his head.

  There was the curator, the one answering all the questions as he gave orders to the staff.

  “Sir,” said Peter in his now-dry common play clothes. “I need to see my grandmother’s book before I leave.”

  “And what book would that be?” asked the curator.

  “You know, about Alice’s adventures underground.”

  “You are a grandson?”

  “That is me, for sure.”

  “Well, we will just see about this,” said the curator.

  Peter was thinking he would use the name Smith or Jones, because they were common. He decided on Smith.

  “We just found a granddaughter last year by chance, and what a pleasant girl. She was named after Alice but modernized her name to Alisia Jones. I hear the family is in a bit of trouble, not being able to pay the mortgage working at the bakery. I know the property at Land’s End has gone way up because of the tourist trade, but all the land in Cornwall is prized. I hope the family has a remedy.”

  Peter already had what he wanted and felt like jumping and clicking his heels together.

  The curator showed him the book in the glass case and wanted to know Peter’s name.

  “I’m Peter Pan,” he said, “can’t you tell?” He dashed so fast, he disappeared through the front door and knew he was going to the town of Land’s End in Cornwall County. He could be there before dark and find this special girl.

  Now he knew the direction that was west, and he would fly so fast he would continue to be invisible. He would look for a bakery owned by the Jones family. The wheels in his mind were steadily turning as he thought about all the possibilities. His best friends would be in worse condition now that considerable time had elapsed.

  He had to get there and persuade Alisia to come with him. It would be the hardest part of the journey, convincing her and her family to let her go. She had to come of her own free will, and most of the time it would have to be the will of the family.

  Then it hit him, right in the head. He had five, very valuable coins with old faces on them. They were all gold with Julius Caesar on one, then there was Alexander the Great, then another with Genghis Khan, not to mention a Babylonian coin that showed the Tower of Babel, but the one that would sure up the rent for the granddaughter of Alice was the gold coin with King Arthur’s profile and his name stamped right next to the date. The family should be able to pay off the mortgage and some for that coin.

  He decided he would give the father his choice of coins. He knew he would have to fly to hiding place where he kept the coins and show them in person. But first, he had to meet Alisia and see that she had the skills of Alice. As soon as he found that out, he would talk to the father, telling him just who he was and what he had, and what Alisia needed to do.

  Peter would offer her a fairy godmother to accompany her. This would seal the deal. Peter zoomed for Cornwall County so high he could see the ocean at Land’s End. Feeling he had almost done the impossible, Pan smiled to himself as he rushed for the shops that were still opened at Land’s End.

  Peter, still invisible from speed, flew by the shops and slowed only at the bakeries, where he would go inside to question the owners. He would ask for one of their meat and potato turnovers when he found the Jones Bakery. He knew they were a specialty item in Cornwall, as he had visited before. He was about to pop; he was so very happy. No one could ever believe he could come with the right granddaughter in such a short time.

  Peter would offer the deal as soon as he could. When he flew into the next bakery, there was a family sitting around a table. The man of the house was visibly upset, as he wiped away a tear now and then while trying to voice a plan.

  “We will have to move to a place of lower class and few benefits,” he said, wiping another tear. “I just can’t sell enough baked goods to pay the mortgage that has gone sky high.” He shed another tear, then said, “We will lose all our equity and that is everything we have worked for all these many years.”

  Peter knew it was the Jones family by the way the father talked and all the crying from the ladies.

  “I might be able to help y
ou,” said Peter, walking up to the table.

  “You don’t even know our troubles, little boy.”

  “What do you want anyway?”

  “I want a meat and potato turnover,” said Peter.

  “And how is that supposed to help us?”

  “No, I haven’t told you the solution so far. Where is your daughter?”

  “She is right here,” said Mr. Jones, pointing to a very tall girl who stood to get his turnover.

  “She is very tall,” said Peter realizing he had celebrated too soon. He knew he couldn’t fly while carrying her.

  “She is a grown woman with a family who won’t be able to pay their bills in a short while.”

  “Alisia, what kind of meat is in the turnover?” asked Peter.

  “I’m Mary. Do you want to talk to Alisia? She is cleaning pans.”

  “Yes, please.” His enthusiasm returned as he waited. When Alisia walked into the room, Peter thought he was looking at Alice. She had to be an early teen but smart-looking with a nice smile for Peter.

  “Are you good at school work?” he asked.

  “The top of my class, and I’m an athlete too.”

  “What do you play?”

  “I wouldn’t call it playing, but more like handing out a beating. But tennis is the game.”

  She is a gift, for sure, thought Peter. “If you’re such an athlete, I have a proposition for your family.”

  “What is your proposition, and why would I listen to a little boy?” demanded the father.

  “Please, listen, it could help your whole family immensely. I need a small-in-stature person such as your daughter, Alisia, to help save my friends. I can give you a gold coin of tremendous value if you lend me your daughter for a couple of weeks, Mr. Jones.”

  “What are you, a devil, short man?”

  “No, I am more of an angel but not considered such. My name is Peter Pan, and you know the name goes with goodness.”

  “Okay, Peter Pan, fly around the room.”

  Peter was hoping for that request and darted from corner to corner.