Neverland

“Dad,” Julia asked when the movie was over. “How do you get to Neverland?”

“Second star to the right and straight on ’til morning.”

“I wish I could go to Neverland.”

“I wish you wouldn’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because I would miss you, very much.”

“You could go with us.”

“Ah . . . well, I’m afraid that if I went with you, I’d end up a pirate.”

“You’re not a pirate.”

“Don’t you think I’m too old to be a lost boy?”

“Not yet.”

Ah . . . that “yet” is the real Hook.

My birthday’s in a week and-a-half. The crocodile moves slowly closer, still ticking…