"Every Time A Child Says "I Don't Believe In Fairies" There Is A Fairy Somewhere That Falls Down Dead"
Last Updated on May 7, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 201
Context: As Mr. and Mrs. Darling prepare to go out for the evening, Mrs. Darling tells her husband that she is afraid to leave the children because she saw a boy at the window on the third floor. She says that she has seen him before and once pulled the window sash down and managed to cut off the boy's shadow. She now has the shadow in a drawer. The Darlings put their children to bed and leave. Soon Peter Pan and Tinker Bell, a fairy in the form of a small ball of light, enter the room through the window and search for Peter's shadow. They find it, but Peter cannot get the shadow to stay on and begins to cry. Wendy, one of the children, wakes up and attaches the shadow for Peter. Explaining about fairies, Peter tells Wendy that when a baby first laughs a fairy is born and there ought to be one for each child.
WENDY
"Ought to be? Isn't there?"
PETER
"Oh, no. Children know such a lot now. Soon they don't believe in fairies, and every time a child says 'I don't believe in fairies' there is a fairy somewhere that falls down dead."
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