Chapter 00
Prologue

Excerpt from Nitsan Muramaya’s Neverland Journal, dated 15 July 97:
(Translated from Japanese)

In the Atlantic Ocean near the Tropic of Cancer lies an island whose very existence
defies logic. Although very beautiful, it’s certainly not what one would call “normal”.
Normal islands don’t cause unexplained, seemingly impossible readings on
electromagnetic devices, or appear to move or change shape at will. Normal islands
don’t resonate with strange (but pleasant) bell-like tones. And finally, normal islands
are not inhabited by denizens reminiscent of Classic Disney characters.

Neverland Island. The name suits it well.

Neverland’s story begins with a fateful journey across the Atlantic during the Golden
Age of Pirates. Here is the history as best as I could follow:
On 23 May 1723, the British merchant ship Beverley Garland set sail from London
to Kingston. Near the end of the journey, the ship ran into a strong storm (most
likely a hurricane) and fought the storm for three days. The ship survived the storm
but was blown hopelessly off-course. In addition, the captain was unable to get his
bearings because the ship’s compasses were malfunctioning. What happened next is
unclear, but something caused the ship to founder and then break up offshore of an
uncharted island. The entire crew and passengers perished, with the exception of
five young boys who made it to shore.

Led by Peter, who saw being stranded on an island as an adventure, not a disaster;
the five castaways formed a fast friendship and set about exploring their new home.
They christened their new home “Everland” (after the writing on the bit of wreckage
that washed them ashore.)

Time seemed to stand still for every living being on Everland Island. Several years
passed, and the boys noticed something very odd. They weren’t aging, and they
seemed to be getting lighter. Almost buoyant. They realized they could glide from
tree to tree and it wasn’t long before they were able to fly on their own power.
When the boys realized that they were never going to have to grow up, and they
could fly, they whooped for joy, stopped counting the days, and changed the island’s
name to “Neverland” in honor of their newfound powers.

The peculiar nature of the properties found on Neverland Island is eerily similar to
the results of my latest lab research: a strange, otherworldly glowing substance that
stops aging, amongst other things.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

For more than a century Neverland existed outside the boundaries of known
civilization. But in 1900, an event occurred in Edwardian London that would give
our everyday world the tiniest glimpse of this very island:

A young girl named Wendy Darling and her two younger brothers disappeared
without a trace, only to reappear several days later with tales of a magical world
called “Neverland”, and Peter Pan and his Lost Boys. They shared their stories with
their friends and neighbors until a few months before the beginning of what was to
be World War I, when Wendy disappeared for the second time, never to be seen
again.

Wendy’s recounting of the tale was overheard by visiting dramatist J.M. Barrie, who
was captivated by the tale. Barrie used her tale as the basis for a play, then a book;
the rest, as they say, is history.

At the time of Wendy’s first visit, Neverland Island had become sort of a “halfway
house” for children who slipped through the cracks of society. Part orphanage and
part playground, Peter and his friends had created a place where victims of abuse,
orphans and teenage runaways could stay for as long as they need (sometimes
forever.)

The names and number of the Neverland residents have changed over the decades
but the original four Lost Boys, known as Slightly, Nibs, Cubby, and Toodles, still
remain and are still within the upper ranks of Peter’s group.

Children preparing to leave often hoped to return home with a little bit of Neverland,
and sometimes (like Wendy’s memories) children were able to do just that. More
often, only bits and pieces of Neverland were retained as seen in Mary Cicely
Barker’s flower fairies, or those famous fairy photographs taken in Cottingley.
One of the most successful records of Neverland was given to us by a boy from
Missouri. Thanks to him, the story of Peter Pan has become a well-known and wellloved
story throughout the world.

However, this is not his story, nor is it mine.

This journal recounts the story of Adam “Two Tails” Packbell, a former Lost Boy
more recently “found” in Las Vegas, Nevada. And of how, using equal parts faith
and science, he made his journey back to Neverland.