3 Acorn Kisses and Jealous Fairies

CHAPTER 3 Acorn Kisses and Jealous Fairies The night-lights were still burning when Mr.

and Mrs. Darling left the house. But even a night -light gets tired sometimes. It is an awful lot of work, as you might imagine, trying to stay bright and shiny all the time. Wendy's light went out first. It yawned and, yawns being contagious, the other two lights promptly yawned as well. Then, before any of the lights could close their mouths, all three went out from the resulting breeze. The children's room, however, was still not dark. A strange blinking glow came from within a water jug. Inside was a fairy, no bigger than your hand. Her name was Tinker Bell, and she was in the jug looking for Peter's shadow. Peter appeared next. "Tink?" he called softly. "Is my shadow in that jug?" "No," Tink replied, emerging. When Tinker Bell spoke, it sounded like bells. It was a special fairy language that only Peter and his boys could understand. Tink told Peter that she had just spotted his

shadow in the chest of drawers. Peter threw open the drawers, piling the clothes in a heap on the floor, and found his shadow. Grabbing it, he tried to slip it back on like a pair of pants, but it would not fit. He tried to put it on like a hat, but it jumped off his head. His shadow, it seemed, did not want him back! Peter sat on the floor and started to cry. His cries woke Wendy, and she sat up in bed.

"Excuse me," she asked politely. "Who are

you?" "I am Peter Pan," he said. "Who are you?" "My name is Wendy Darling. I live here." "I live second to the right," said Peter, "and then straight on until morning." "That's a funny address," Wendy said." "I don't see what's so funny about it," Peter huffed, embarrassed. "Well, what do people write on the envelope when they send you letters?" Wendy asked. "No one sends me letters," Peter said in a low voice. Now he was not only embarrassed, but sad, too, about his lack of letters. "When your mother gets letters?" Wendy tried weakly. "Oh, I don't have a mother," Peter said in a normal voice. The funny address and the lack of letters had bothered him briefly, but mothers, he felt, were overrated. For Wendy, however, a funny address, no letters, and no mother seemed incredibly sad.

"Oh, Peter, no wonder you were crying!" she said. She got out of bed and ran to hug him. "I wasn't crying about not having a mother," he huffed. "I was crying because I can't get my shadow back on. Do you have any glue?" Wendy smiled. How exactly like a boy. "You can't glue it back on, silly. It must be sewn on. I will do it for you." Feeling very important, Wendy got her sewing kit. Within minutes, the shadow was back where it belonged, even if it was a bit wrinkly. Wendy wondered briefly whether she should have ironed it first. "Yippee!" Peter cried, twirling in front of the mirror. "Look at me and my handsome shadow!" "A thank -you might be nice," Wendy suggested. "For what?" Peter asked. This made Wendy so mad that she got back into bed and covered her face with the blankets until Peter apologized.