Fixed: The secret to staying young is never growing up.
Lauren (one of the several I know) recently made a comment on “People of our generation refusing to grow up,” and included a humorous picture to illustrate her point.
Reading the comment and seeing the picture, I couldn’t help but reflect on my own strong feelings on the subject, which I had addressed, some time ago, in a short story about Gabriel’s children. I thought of the story, and of my own strong feelings, and decided that the best way to say what I felt was to share it.
This story takes place in the Beacon City epoch, that is, after the events of the Final Days and the defeat of the Creeping Dark. It is the summer of 2010, and Demeter Serraffield and Matthias Eisenreich have four biological children and one adopted child. They are Rachel S. Eisenreich, the angel of Benevolence, their firstborn son, eight years old, Jibreel Eisenreich, the angel of Mercy, their eldest daughter, seven years old, Zadkiel Eisenreich, the angel of Forbearance, second son, six years old, and Samand’riel Eisenreich, angel of Fertility, the baby, four years old. They adopted Adam Konrad Decker, Amatiel, angel of the Verboten in 2007. He is eight years old, like Rachel.
In any case, I think it requires absolutely no familiarity with the characters to enjoy this story, as it is a story about Peter Pan, on the page and on the stage.
Here you are then, Fixed: The secret to staying young is never growing up.
All children grow up, except this one.