Monday Interview Series: Peter Pan

This week the Monday Interview Series returns with an interview with the boy who never grew up, Peter Pan.

Greg: Welcome, Peter. I know you have a busy schedule, so we'll get right to it. Can you tell me a little bit about your childhood?

Peter: Ha, ha! Silly grown up man! That's a good one! My childhodd is my whole life, and I hope it will never end.

Greg: Of course, how silly of me. Can you tell me how you first came to Neverland?

Peter: I was lost. My parents lost me. Tinkerbell found me. I would have died. She took me away to Neverland. Soon, we both flew out together, looking for lost boys like me. They became my men. We have a great time fighting pirates, teasing mermaids, and having councils of war with the Indians.

Greg: Don't you miss having a mother?

Peter: Nah! Mothers are nothing but trouble! 'Sides, we had a mother once. Her name was Wendy. She darned stockings, and told us stories. We had some grand adventures, I can tell you. That was about the only time we had a mother. She wasn't so bad, but she had to grow up.

I wanted her to stay and be our mother always, but she had to take her brothers, John and Michael,home. They missed their real mother.

Greg: Do you ever miss Wendy?

Peter: Sometimes I do. I used to visit her every summer. But every year she'd get a little older, until she wasn't any fun to play with anymore. That's the part that makes me sad. When the kids grow up. That's when they stop being interesting. Like you, you write about kids and stuff, but you're just a boring old daddy man.

But Wendy, she was never boring. Even after she grew up, she could still be a little fun. Funny thing is, when she got real old, like 30-35, she was no fun at all, but then she got positively ancient, like 70, and then she was a lot of fun again. She liked to play all sorts of games again. I could never figure that out.

Greg:  Why don't we talk about some of your adventures. What was it like to face Captain Hook and his pirate crew?

Peter: Captain Hook, why'd you want to talk about him? He thought he was so smart. Always laying traps for us, he was. But we were always too smart for him.

I remember one time, he tried to set a trap for us. He tried to get us into a cave to rescue the Indian princess, Tigerlilly. I swooped in and rescued her, and he couldn't stop me. I got him to chase Wendy, and she led him into the lagoon. The crocodile was there, waiting for ol' Hook. Ha, ha! That crocodile chased him clear back to his ship! Hook didn't set another trap for us for more than a month!

Hook's funny, but he can be dangerous if you don't watch out. The rest of his men are harmless, but great fun. That Mr. Smee is the funniest of them all. He's always upsetting the good Captain. It makes our job a whole lot easier!

Greg: What palns do you have for the futurre?

Peter: The future? I don't worry about the future. Whatever happens, happens. There'll always be pirates to fight and Lost Boys to find. Tinkerbell is always around, too. She's a lot of fun, but sometimes she can be a little nasty. When that happens, I just banish her until she shapes up. That usually fixes things.

Sometimes I think that if people could just have fun, and banish people until they stop being mean, that everyone in the world would be a lot better off. Take you for example. If you didn't worry so much about selling your books, and just had the fun of writing them, you'd be a lot cheerier and I bet your kids would have more fun, too.

Greg: I daresay, you're probably right, Peter. Well, thank you very much for talking to us. I feel younger just talking to you.

Peter: All you need is a little pixie dust, and you'd be back to having fun before you know it. Just say the word, and I'll send Tink over to your place with some. Leave the window open, and we'll have an adventure!