The Captain's Story; Or, The Disobedient Son

“Was this, I wondered, what it felt like to be a grown-up? Did you always feel the weight of things on you, your cares pressing you down like a burden you could never shake? No wonder Peter could fly. He had no worries to weight him to the earth.””

— Unknown

“It’s not such a wonderful thing, to be young,” I said. “It’s heartless, and selfish.” “But, oh, so free,” Nod said sadly. “So free when you have no worries or cares.””

— Unknown

“All children grow up, or they die, or both. All children, except one.””

— Unknown

“Because Peter promised them adventures and happiness and then took them away to the island where they died. They weren’t forever young, unless dying when you were young kept you that way for always.””

— Unknown

“They all thought they were special, but only I was. I was first and none of them could take that from me. I was first and best and last and always.””

— Unknown

“If I am a villain, it's because Peter made me one, because Peter needs to be the shining sun that all the world turns around. Peter needed to be a hero, so somebody needed to be a villain.””

— Unknown

“Was this, too, part of growing up? Was it facing the bad things you’d done as well as the good, and knowing all your mistakes had consequences?””

— Unknown

“We were still children, for all that we thought we weren’t. We were in that in-between place, the twilight between childish things and grown-up things.””

— Unknown

“Sometimes at night, when the nightmare clung to me, I wondered if Peter’s assurances that I would never grow up were only assurances that I would die before such a thing happened. I wondered if that were better, to die before I became something withered and grey and not wanted.””

— Unknown