Page 205 of Naughty Nelle

“So, why did you want to destroy Peter Pan?”

“Because he cut off my hand.” Hook bitterly flings his iron claw at Grimm. “What does Peter Pan have to do with my mother?”

“Dig deeper, Hook. Why did you really want to kill Peter Pan?”

Silence. Hook’s anger dissolves into despair.

“I wished I could be a boy like him. And have Wendy,” he says at last, his voice hoarse and tearful.

“Yes, Hook. By eliminating Peter Pan, you could have Wendy for yourself. To take care of you like a little boy. Admit it, Hook, you wanted Wendy to be your mother.”

“It’s true,” he says, choking on his words. “I wanted her to be my mother.”

“And when she rejected you, you tried to kill her.”

“Stop it!” Hook breaks down in tears, his shoulders heaving. I feel his pain. We’re cut from the same cloth.

Elz dashes over to the broken pirate and hugs him. “Thank you for sharing. You wanted your mother back. Like me.”

Hook bawls in Elz’s arms. Like a little boy.

Sasperilla’s veins pop with jealousy. “I’ve had it with all this nonsense!” She stomps off.

“Mama, mama!”

What’s a baby doing here? Wait a minute! I recognize that voice. It’s What’s-His-Name. He’s crawling on the ground like a one-year old!

“Me R-rumpelstiltskin,” he says in a baby-talk voice.

Can it be? What’s-His-Name has remembered his name! Grimm and Shrink exchange a smile. We’re free to go.

Hook spends the rest of the day with Elz. Winnie spends it with her husband John, who must go back to their children in the evening. Rumpelstiltskin spends it telling every living and non-living thing alike his name. And I spend it hopelessly plotting my escape.

Thank goodness, I didn’t have to talk about my mother. It’s only a matter of time before I’ll be forced to expose everything. Every painful thing! I’ve got to get out of here. I’ve got to!

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