He played in the wildflowers, dancing and skipping with joy as his laughter peeled against the summer air.  It was a perfect summer’s day, and the boy was oh-so-cheerful, frolicking without a care in the world.  Sunlight glinted from the green on his scales, reflecting in a beautiful array of prismatic light, splayed across the meadowlands.  In a word, the boy was at peace.  Here, he found himself in his element and thoroughly enjoying the day.

Not far from the sprightly boy, a faded brown satchel lay in the grass.  Inside, it was filled with Pan’s treasures, the sides of the bag swelling with his collection.  Of course, that wasn’t everything the boy had… for he kept a series of caves scattered about, where he could store his more precious wares.  One such place was not far from here, deep in the Tinea Swamp.  He’d spent some time over the past several days gathering skunk cabbage from the water’s edges.  It was a foul plant, and he’d had to breathe through his mouth to avoid gagging as he scraped the leaves from the muck.  Still, the boy knew that the plant was valuable – it was written in his book of herbs as a healing plant, so he collected it much like he’d collected the others.

The flowers that dotted Sunsurro Fields were a pleasant sort of change for the boy, and he carefully extracted some in vibrant blue and pink hues.  Some, he would use for healing… but others he just liked the look of.  Without a care as to how “girly” it looked, he plaited a few into his tail, smiling at the way they looked so cheerful against the snowy white of his fur.  As he looked around, listening to the bird song, Pan heard a nearby rustle in the tall grass. 

Who’s there!? the boy challenged with a grin.  Are you a pirate?!?

Pan rose to his feet into a mock fighting stance, spinning around and laughing as his flower laden tail whipped about him like a flag.  Come out you great codfish, and meet your fate!  Nevermind that the boy was simply playing and truly didn’t expect someone to respond… but someone was indeed watching… and hopefully he didn’t scare the girl with his burly words.

She was magnificent – everything he had dreamt of, and more.  The boy gulps audibly as Florentine steps closer, his eyes perhaps a bit misty as he watches her – the one from his dreams.  She had haunted him for as long as he could remember, with her sprightly laugh and her mischievous antics.  But the, there is something different about the Florentine that steps in front of him now… something wisened.

You’re all grown up…  He cannot remember her name, or even the fact that he knew her in real life.  All Pan knows is that in his dreams, she is a girl.  The woman who looks at him now, is every bit an adult.  There is something world-weary about her that does not show in the immortal boy.  Yes, Pan is exactly as he was when she’d met him – and exactly as he was for the many years he’d been around before that.  It’s not clear how long the scaled adventurer has roamed this earth, only that he’s been a boy forever – and will be a boy forever to come.

Do you have the dreams too?  Perhaps that’s where the gilded girl knew him from… for now the boy is questioning if his dreams were ever really dreams at all.  His heart leaps for a moment, as he wonders whether the adventures were real.  Swallowing deeply, the crystal vial filled with liquid stardust bobs at his throat as he reaches into his well-worn satchel to draw out a tiny silvered object.  Without a word, the boy hands Florentine a tiny thimble – unknowing that it is she who had once handed it to him.

Do you remember, what came before…?  His eyes are pleading for her to explain the madness to him – for something to make sense of the confusion which shrouded his every waking moment.  For Pan was something of a shell now, lost and far from understanding who he was.  Gone are his memories of time travel in the rift tide.  Gone are his memories of Oliver, and Rook, and Neverland.  Gone are his endless stories, unless you counted those he recounted about dreams… but the boy is still very much the same – bright and eager, ready to take on the world.