The Kingdom Outside Time

The first mention of Neverland predates J. M. Barrie’s book by two centuries. In a sailor’s log dated 1679, Captain Bartholomew Glass wrote of an island “where time folds upon itself.”

He described children with hollow eyes, living centuries without aging, and a boy who could fly but cast no shadow. The ship’s compass spun wildly, and when they tried to leave, days repeated themselves.

When they finally escaped, the captain’s beard had grown white — though he swore they’d only been there a week.

Neverland, scholars later realized, was no paradise. It was a temporal fracture — a remnant of the gods’ experiment to halt decay. The island fed on belief, consuming the years of those who stayed.

Peter, its self-proclaimed ruler, was once human — the first child to make a wish so strong it bent time around him. But the wish never ended.

That’s why he never grows up.

That’s why the Lost Boys forget their names.

And that’s why, when you dream of flying, you always wake up older.