Week 2 Story - The Beginning of The Pan

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The Beginning of The Pan
 I sent out an ad, describing my desire to meet someone who could explain to me the beginnings of the legend of Peter Pan as the literature is not clear on the subject. The following conversation comes from an interview with a man who reached out to me, claiming he knew the legend well and could answer any questions I had.  


"Sir, are you ready to begin the interview", I said.

The older man, whose eyes had been lost in thought, looked up.
"Absolutely! My apologies, my memory isn't what it used to be but I will do my best," he said.

"That's alright, whatever information you can give me will be better than nothing I imagine."

The man took a few more minutes to gather his thoughts, looked me in the eyes with confidence and said, "I'm sure you're quite familiar with the classic Peter Pan story but I'm here to tell you how the legend of the Pan came to be."

I leaned forward eagerly, with pen in hand. This is what I'm here for, I thought to myself.

And so, the man began.
"The beginning of Peter's life was not as spectacular as one may have thought. There was a reason he arrived at Neverland one day. Peter was born to what most would consider a middle class family a long, long time ago in a suburb of London. They had the necessities of life but no one would claim that they were well-off. Peter's mother, Diana, was an absolute saint. She cared for him everyday, read to him, showed him the beauty that could be found in the world and always told him to appreciate his youth. While she was a great mother to Peter, unfortunately the same could not be said about his father. Peter's father was a sad, angry man. Nothing could ever satisfy him. Not his work, not his pay, not the booze, not even his family. And so, often nights Peter would be forced to witness his mother falling victim to the abuse of his father who was angry at his own short-comings and forever unhappy with the world.
Sadly the medicine of this time period was not very reliable, nor was it very capable. Peter's mother fell seriously ill when he reached the age of ten. Peter tried his best to provide the best medicine he could through whatever methods he could. This usually meant some form of trickery or theft seeing as Peter had no money himself. Diana knew Peter was breaking the law to provide her medicine so when they day came she knew that she would pass, she called Peter in to speak with him.

"Peter, come here please", she whispered as loud as she could.

"I'm here mother", Peter responded promptly.

"I've decided that it's time for me to move on Peter, I can feel something calling me to a better place. Promise me that you will find a place away from here Peter, a place where you will be safe with friends, a place where you will never have to face the evils of adults, a place where you will never have to grow up."

And with that Peter's mother passed away, leaving him with a mission to fulfill her last request and find a place he could escape the wrath of his father and the world of adults.

Not long after this I found Peter living on the streets of London. He had certainly honed his skills of being a master thief, a trickster, and a bit of an escape artist. So far he had fulfilled all of his mother's wish save for one thing: to find a place where he could be with friends, where he would never grow up. After hearing his story, I knew there was only one thing to do.
That night I took Peter to Neverland. Second star to the right, straight on til morning. I began teaching him the ways of the fairies, how to navigate the island, and the power of the imagination. And that, friend, is the beginning of the legend of Peter Pan."

I sat there for a minute, stunned. Finally I regained the ability to speak: "Wait a second, you took Peter Pan to Neverland?".

The old man chuckled, "Of course I did! I was the first Lost Boy after all."

"The first Lost Boy?" I thought out loud. "Well if I may ask, what's your name sir?"

The old man sat back in his chair, put his hands behind his head, smiled and said:
 "Well...the name my mother gave me was Rufus. But for many hundreds of years when I was a boy, I was known as Rufio."

A poster promotion for the movie Hook. The character on the bottom right is Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys. Found on flickr.

Author's Note
This story was inspired by the original Peter Pan story as well as the motion picture Hook starring Robin Williams. This story was also influenced by the story book of a previous student titled Peter Pan: Revisited. In the original story there was no mention of a Lost Boy named Rufio, and I believe that Peter Pan was the original Lost Boy. The character "Rufio" used in this story comes from the movie Hook. This story was meant to act as a prequel to the Peter Pan story, giving some background behind Peter's motivation and how he was able to find Neverland.

Bibliography
Peter Pan:Revisited by Jake's Storybook

Peter Pan; or, the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J.M Barrie. Web Source.

Hook by James V. Hart and Malia Scotch Marmo. Web Source.