6 Peter Pan - Read By Stephanie Poppins

Peter Pan, written by J.M. Barrie, is a classic children's novel first published in the early 20th century. The story revolves around the beloved character Peter Pan and follows his adventures in the fantastical Neverland, along with a young girl named Wendy Darling and her brothers, John and Michael.

In this episode, Wendy, John, and Michael learn to fly.

Transcript

Welcome to Sleep Stories with Steph,

Your go-to podcast that offers you a calm and relaxing transition into a great night's sleep.

It is time to relax and fully let go.

There is nothing you need to be doing now,

And nowhere you need to go.

Close your eyes and feel yourself sink into the support beneath you and let all the worries of the day drift away.

This is your time and your space.

Take a deep breath in through your nose and let it out with a long sigh.

There is nothing you need to be doing now,

And nowhere you need to go.

Happy listening.

Chapter Four It was now ten minutes since the three scoundrels had been breathing behind the curtains,

And Peter Pan can do a great deal in ten minutes.

We now return to the nursery.

It's all right,

John announced,

Emerging from his hiding place.

I say,

Peter,

Can you really fly?

Instead of troubling to answer him,

Peter flew around the room,

Taking the mantelpiece on the way.

How topping,

Said John and Michael.

How sweet,

Cried Wendy.

Yes,

I'm sweet,

Oh,

I'm sweet,

Said Peter,

Forgetting his manners again.

It looked delightfully easy,

And they tried it first from the floor and then from the beds,

But they always went down instead of up.

I say,

How do you do it?

Asked John,

Rubbing his knee.

He was quite a practical boy.

You just think lovely,

Wonderful thoughts,

Peter explained,

And they lift you up in the air.

He showed them again.

You're so nippy at it,

John said,

Couldn't you do it very slowly once?

Peter did it both slowly and quickly.

I've got it now,

Wendy,

Cried John,

But he soon found he had not.

Not one of them could fly an inch,

Though even Michael was in words of two syllables and Peter did not know A from Z.

Of course,

Peter had been trifling with them,

For no one can fly unless the fairy dust has been blown on him.

Fortunately,

As we have mentioned,

One of his hands was messy with it,

And he blew some on each of them with the most superb results.

Now,

Wiggle your shoulders this way,

He said,

And let go.

They were all on their beds,

And gallant Michael let go first.

He did not quite mean to,

But he did,

And immediately he was borne across the room.

I've flewed,

He screamed,

While still in midair.

John let go and met Wendy near the bathroom.

Oh,

Lovely,

Ripping,

Look at me.

They were not nearly so elegant as Peter,

But they could not help kicking a little,

And their heads were bobbing against the ceiling,

And there is almost nothing so delicious as that.

Peter gave Wendy a hand at first,

But had to desist,

For Tinkerbell was so indignant.

Up and around they went,

Heavenly was Wendy's word.

I say,

Cried John,

Why shouldn't we all go out?

Of course it was to this that Peter had been luring them.

Michael was ready,

He wanted to see how long it took him to do a billion miles,

But Wendy hesitated.

Mermaids,

Said Peter again,

And there were pirates.

Pirates,

Cried John,

Seizing his Sunday hat,

Let us go at once.

It was just at this moment that Mr and Mrs Darling hurried with Nana out of number 27.

They ran into the middle of the street to look up at the nursery window,

And yes,

It was still shut,

But the room was ablaze with light,

And most heart-gripping sight of all,

They could see in the shadow on the curtain,

Three little figures in night attire,

Circling round and round,

Not on the floor,

But in the air.

Not three figures,

But four.

In a tremble they opened the street door.

Mr Darling would have rushed upstairs,

But Mrs Darling signed him to go softly.

She even tried to make her heart go softly.

Would they reach the nursery in time?

If so,

How delightful for them.

But then there would be no story.

On the other hand,

If they were not in time,

It would all come out right in the end.

Come,

Said Peter,

Knowing there was not a moment to lose,

And he soared out at once into the night,

Followed by John and Michael and Wendy.

As it happened,

Mr and Mrs Darling and Nana were too late.

The birds had flown.

Second to the right and straight on till morning,

Said Peter.

That was the way to Neverland,

But even birds carrying maps and consulting them at windy corners could not have sighted it with these instructions.

Peter,

You see,

Just said anything that came into his head.

At first,

His companions trusted him implicitly,

And so great were the delights of flying,

They wasted time circling around church spires or any other tall objects on the way that took their fancy.

John and Michael raced.

Michael got a head start.

They recalled with contempt that not so long ago they thought themselves fine fellows for being able to fly round a room.

Not so long ago,

But how long ago?

Now they were flying over the sea,

And John thought it was their second sea and their third night.

Sometimes it was dark and sometimes it was light,

And then they were very cold and now they were too warm.

Did they feel hungry at times or were they merely pretending because Peter had such a jolly new way of feeding them?

His way was to pursue birds who had food in their mouths suitable for humans and snatch it from them.

Then the birds would follow and snatch it back,

And they would all go chasing each other for miles.

Wendy noticed with gentle concern that Peter did not seem to know this was rather an odd way of getting your bread and butter.

Certainly they did not pretend to be sleepy.

They were sleepy though,

And that was a danger.

For the moment they popped off,

Down they fell.

The awful thing was,

Peter thought this was very funny.

There he goes again,

He'd cry gleefully as Michael suddenly dropped like a stone.

Save him,

Cried Wendy,

Looking with horror at the cruel sea far below.

Eventually Peter dived through the air and caught Michael just before he could strike the sea,

And it was lovely the way he did it,

But he always waited till the last minute,

And you felt it was his cleverness that interested him,

Not the saving of human life.

Also,

Peter was very fond of variety,

And the sport that engrossed him one moment would suddenly cease to engage him,

So there was always the possibility the next time you felt he might just let you go.

He could sleep in the air without falling,

By merely lying on his back and floating.

But this was partly at least because Peter Pan was so light,

If you got behind him and you blew,

He went much faster.

Do be polite to him,

Wendy whispered to John.

Then tell him to stop showing off,

Said John.

When playing Follow My Leader,

Peter would fly close to the water and touch each shark's tail in passing,

Just as in the street you run your finger along an iron railing.

Peter,

John and Michael could not follow him in this with much success.

You must be nice to him,

Wendy impressed on her brothers.

Whatever could we do if he were to leave us?

We could go back,

Said Michael.

However could we find our way back without him?

Then we'll go on,

Said John.

We should have to go on.

We don't know how to stop.

If the worst came to the worst,

All they had to do was grow straight on.

For the world was round and so in time they must come back to their own window.

But they did not know this.

But eventually things got easier as Peter showed them how to lie out flat on a strong wind that was going their way.

And this was such a pleasant change,

They tried it several times and found they could sleep thus with security.

Indeed they would have slept longer.

But Peter tired quickly of sleeping and soon he cried,

We get off here.

After many moons they had reached the Neverland.

And what is more,

They'd been going pretty straight all the time.

There it is,

Said Peter calmly,

Where all the arrows are pointing.

Indeed a million golden arrows were pointing out of the island to the children,

All directed by their friend the sun,

Who wanted them to be sure of their way before leaving them for the night.

Wendy,

John and Michael stood on tiptoe in the air to get their first sight of the island.

Strange to say they recognised it at once.

And until fear fell upon them,

They hailed it not as something long dreamt of,

But as a familiar friend to whom they were returning home for the holidays.

There's a lagoon,

John,

Said Wendy.

Look at the turtles burying their eggs in the sand,

Said John.

I say,

John,

I see your flamingo with a broken leg.

Look,

Michael,

There's your cave.

What's that in the brushwood?

It's a wolf with her whelps.

Wendy,

I believe that's your little whelp.

There's my boat,

John,

With her side stove in.

No,

It isn't.

We burned your boat.

It is her at any rate.

I say,

John,

I see the smoke of the red skin camp.

Where?

Show me.

I'll tell you the way by the smoked curls,

Whether they're on the warpath or not.

There,

Just across the mysterious river.

Yes,

They're on the warpath right enough.

Listening to this,

Peter was a little annoyed.

They knew too much.

But if he wanted to lord it over them,

His triumph was at hand.

For have I not told you that a non-fear fell upon them?

It came as the arrows went,

Leaving the island in gloom.

In the old days at home,

The Neverland had always begun to look a little dark and threatening by bedtime.

Then unexplored patches arose in it and spread.

Black shadows moved about.

And the roar of the beasts of prey was quite different.

You lost the certainty you would win after this.

And you were quite glad the nightlights were in.

You even liked Nana to say this was just the mantelpiece over there and that Neverland was all make-believe.

But of course,

Neverland had been make-believe in those days.

But it was real now.

And there were no nightlights.

And it was getting darker every moment.

And Nana,

Dear Nana,

Was nowhere to be seen.