As you may recall, Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland ends with Alice waking up from a dream and running home for tea. At the end of Peter Pan, the lost boys have returned to the mainland and are adopted by the Darlings, while Peter decides to stay a boy forever. He sporadically returns to the mainland to take Wendy’s descendants to The Neverland so that they can “mother” him. Sometimes when he returns to the mainland, he forgets which window to enter. This is the story of Peter Pan’s last trip to The Neverland, and it begins the evening Alice returns home from Wonderland.
Many hours had passed since Alice had been tucked into bed, yet she struggled to stay asleep. Whenever she closed her eyes, she found herself falling back into the rabbit hole. When she reached the bottom of the hole she saw quite a scene. The Queen was there ordering the Mad Hatter to, “Cut off her head!” Then the Cheshire cat would appear chanting, “We’re all mad here,” After that, the white rabbit would jump into the cat’s mouth, the Duchess would scream, “PIG,” in Alice’s ear and Alice would wake up gasping for air.
Alice thought some warm milk would help her fall asleep. She slid out of her bed, pulled on her robe and tiptoed across her room to her governesses’ bedroom door. When she opened the door, the room was empty. Alice quickly walked back across her room, climbed upon her window seat and pushed the window open. She looked down into the garden. She had caught them again! Her governess was running into the arms of their French chauffeur. They embraced briefly and then disappeared into the shadows. “Oh how romantic. I can’t wait to grow up,” Alice sighed. She rested her head against the window pane and looked up into the night sky. She imagined spinning around a great ballroom in a gown that sparkled like the stars above her. Alice gazed at the stars for a while until they appeared to be moving closer towards her. She thought she was growing tall again like she did in Wonderland and she became frightened.
She jumped off the seat, ran to her mirror and started giggling at herself. She was her normal size. She scolded herself for imagining the worst, “Oh don’t be so silly Alice.”
“Oh don’t be silly Alice,” a boy’s voice mocked her from behind.
Alice turned around to see a boy dressed like a pirate standing in the center of her room,
“Who are you?” she demanded, “and however did you get in my room?”
“I’m Peter. Captain Peter Pan and I flew in,” Peter said matter-of-factly. He looked around the room. It was much larger and much more fanciful then he remembered.
Alice stomped her foot to gain Peter’s attention, “That is nonsense! People do not fly!” She declared.
Peter smiled at her and said, “Is that so?”
This made Alice very angry. She had been teased enough for one day.
“Yes it is so! I demand you leave at once you silly boy!”
“Is that so?”
“YES!”
“Tell me where Wendy is and I will go.”
“I know no Wendy,” Alice glared at him, “now leave you, you, you ruffian!”
“Will you give me a kiss first?” Peter strutted towards her with his chest puffed out like a captain taking charge of his crew. Alice was horrified
“Give you a kiss? I most certainly will not!” Though she remained her normal size, she felt as big as she did amongst the trees in Wonderland, “I order you to get out at once!” Alice roared loud enough to frighten even the Queen of hearts, but not loud enough to frighten Peter.
“You order me?” Peter asked slyly.
“Yes. That is what I said and that is exactly what I meant!”
Peter was awestruck. In his mind he had done nothing to offend Alice or make her so angry. Her temper was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. His only clear offense had been entering the wrong window. Alice’s cheeks flushed with anger and her eyes flashed with hatred and she -though not much bigger than him- roared like a fearsome pirate. He knew that his usual charms would not work on Alice as they had on Wendy, the fairies, the mermaids, and even Tiger Lily.
“GET OUT!” Alice yelled again.
Peter took a few steps towards the window. As he was going to leave he remembered why he had come to the mainland. Wendy’s home on The Neverland needed much tidying. If he could not take Wendy with him to tidy the house, Alice would have to accompany him instead.
He reached into his pocket and scraped up the last bit of fairy dust from its lining.
Alice’s anger grew the longer Peter occupied her room, “I have had enough of mad people for one day little captain Peter.”
“I’m not mad. You were the one talking to herself,” Peter stalled.
“And you claim to be a flying captain but you are nothing more than an ordinary little boy! So who is mad now?” Peter didn’t answer. His mind was racing as to how he would convince such a girl to come with him to The Neverland.
“I command you to leave at once!” Alice stood with her arms folded firmly across her chest, but Captain Peter was not easily intimidated. Once Peter set his mind on something, it was difficult for him to think otherwise. He decided he would have to take Alice by surprise.
“Go now!” Alice shouted.
“Not without you!” Peter tossed the last bit of fairy dust on Alice, grabbed her by the waist and pulled her out the window where they hovered above the garden.
“Let me go you,” Alice demanded.
“Let you go you say?”
Peter released her. Alice screamed as she fell towards the garden at a pace much faster than that of the rabbit hole. Her arms were outstretched towards Peter and just before she hit the ground he had her again. Peter laughed, “You must remember to think lovely wonderful thoughts Alice.”
Peter took off into the night sky, towards the stars that led to The Neverland with Alice firmly in his arms. It was impossible for Alice to thing lovely wonderful thoughts, so she hung on tightly to Peter and shouted at him constantly, “Take me home at once!” Fortunately the wind that whistled past Peter’s ears made it easy for him to pretend he couldn’t understand her.
After some time Alice’s demand to return home was replaced with a demand to know where Peter was taking her. This he also ignored. They continued on in this manner for a while and eventually Alice tired herself out. She felt heavy in Peter’s arms. When he looked down at her, he saw that she was sleeping soundly. Luckily, by this time they were only two miles away from their destination.