Lost Girl

"Dear Peter, do you still remember me?"

Dear Peter,


Don't you ever get tired of goodbyes?

At the end of hide and go seek,

At the end of the treasure hunt,

At the end of the last grand adventure,

Do tears sting in your eyes

(like they still sting in mine)?


Does your smile dim, even a little because you know,

Deep down inside that they all have to grow up one day,

I have to grow up one day

And you

(yes, even you)

will have to grow up at the turning of the years?



Have you ever cried for the adults?

(or do you think I cry too much?) 

Because they lost what we had?

But what did we have, really?



What did we stumble upon all those summer nights flying under the stars

Counting flowers and dancing with fairies

To a melody that was lost to both of us?

Was it magic? Was it hope?

Was it something ancient and forever and untouchable?



And what will we lose, Peter, now that you are back among the stars

And I have been sealed behind my window forever?

I promised I'd be with you until the end of the line,

But, Peter, oh Peter, I can't fly anymore.

(I'm so sorry.)




You don't have a choice,

And neither do I:

There's a galaxy between my house and that second star to the right.

There is somewhere else you belong,

And that is not in this town of smoke and ashes.

Your soul is not like ours, Peter,

Not like that of this earth.



Ours is a leaden soul,

Fraught with change.

Burdened by doubts, by fear, by chains,

A sprout that withered with the coming of winter.




But you, your soul is light.

It is the stars, the wind, the night.

Your soul is gold, Peter, forever gold.

(And nothing gold can stay in this world of ours )


You belong among the stars,

And I belong in this earthen house.

Your place is soaring at the peak of the wind,

And mine is to watch from a windowpane.

(I wish it didn't have to be like this, I really do)


I know it sounds presumptuous,

But don't cry for my sake.

Don't ever cry,

Because we never said goodbye.


It's a selfish thing, Peter,

A selfish thing,

(And I am a selfish girl)

But I won't say goodbye.

Instead, I will climb up to the window,

Slowly, slowly, slowly,

And let my feet dangle over the edge,

And I will close my eyes and feel the moon on my face,

and I will ask, in a voice barely above a whisper.

"When can I see you again?"

And I think, Peter, 

I believe with all my heart.




We'll be alright.





Yours,

The Girl who is Lost, but not Forgotten.

Author's Note

"Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting."-JM Barrie, Peter Pan