Chapter One: A Tale of Fairies

The beginning:

Chapter 1: A Tale of Fairies

Mahatma Gandhi & Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King wrote:

"Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

Peter Pan & Childhood

On a more cheerful note: When Michael is born, Peter Pan is 56 years old; yet still a boy. In 1902 Peter Pan first appears in a section of 'The Little White Bird', a novel written for adults. 'The Little White Bird' is a series of short episodes, where the narrator speaks of his day-to-day activities in contemporary London and fanciful tales set in Kensington Gardens and elsewhere.

Some quotes from the book are philosofical: 'Life and death, the child and the mother, are ever meeting as the one draws into harbour and the other sets sail. They exchange a bright "All's well" and pass on'.

The 'faith, trust and pixie dust' thought can be seen in the book as J.M.Barrie talks of the birds and why people can't fly: 'The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings'

There are several characters in the book, who are capable of flying as they have faith.
The middle chapters are set in London's famous Kensington Gardens, introduced by the statement that "All perambulators lead to Kensington Gardens". Barrie gives very detailed descriptions of the features of the Gardens, along with fantasy names given to the locations by the story's characters, especially after 'Lock-Out Time', described by Barrie as the time at the end of the day when the park gates are closed to the public, and the fairies and other magical inhabitants of the park can move about more freely than during the daylight, when they must hide from ordinary people.

This portion of the book later became 'Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens'. Peter Pan is described as a magical boy who escaped from being human as an infant, and ever since flies about and cavorts with fairies. He differs from the better known portrayal of the character, primarily being only a week old rather than an older child.

Two years after the book is released, the stage play 'Peter Pan', or 'The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up', introduced the characters of Wendy, Captain Hook, and Tinker Bell, along with much of the Neverland mythos.

The original character Peter Pan being only one week old inspired J.M.Barrie to write:




An exciting and thrilling fairytale just as Michael loves them. For sure there must have been a whole gathering of fairies at Michael´s birth summoned by his gentle smile and laughter.

Although Michael´s parents, Joseph and Katherine need to work hard to make a living and the material ressources in the family are limited, their wealth can be measured on other standards and levels. But Michael still gets very lonely in spite of the increasing number of people surrounding him as he gets famous.

On the Oprah interview Michael talks about being lonely and sad as a child:

”On stage for me was home. I was most comfortable on stage, but once I got off stage, I was like, very sad. . .lonely, sad, having to face popularity and all that. There were times when I had great times with my brothers, pillow fights and things, but I was, used to always cry from loneliness. . .you don´t get to do things that other children do, having friends and slumber parties and buddies. There were none of that for me. I didn´t have friends when I was little. My brothers were my friends”.

With the enourmous time spent rehearsing with his brothers, Michael didn´t have the time to play. This was a lack in his childhood that Michael needs to compensate a lot for.

It becomes a main thread in everything he does, whether he is playing arcade games, spending time with his beloved animals or at the playground with children. The whole essence of childhood, the very being of a child and the necessity for learning how to relate to others. What every child urge to do regardless of circumstances: to play. To develop ones human skills and to take a rest from hard work or troubled times. The concept of the Neverland ranch and everything in it comes from this need and urge to play and make up for the lack in his childhood.

Michael recalls the times when he was longing to be a child free to play:
”Well, I loved show business and I still love show business, but then there are times you just want to play and have some fun and that part did make me sad. I remember one time we were getting ready to go to South America and everything was packed up and in the car ready to go and I hid and I was crying because I really did not want to go, I wanted to play. I did not want to go”.

Michael hears the joy of laughter from other children playing as he goes to work:
”I would do my schooling which was three hours with a tutor and right after that I would go to the recording studio and record, and I´d record for hours and hours until it´s time to go to sleep. And I remember going to the recording studio and there was a park across the street and I´d see all the children playing and I would cry because it would make me sad that I would have to work instead”.

In Michael´s Oxford University speech he talks of the importance of childhood. Here you get the opportunity to listen to a man with an exceptional sensitive soul and a brilliant, sharp mind:

”All of us are products of our childhood. But I am the product of a lack of a childhood, an absence of that precious and wondrous age when we frolic playfully without a care in the world, basking in the adoration of parents and relatives, where our biggest concern is studying for that big spelling test come Monday morning.

Those of you who are familiar with the Jackson Five know that I began performing at the tender age of five and that ever since then, I haven't stopped dancing or singing. But while performing and making music undoubtedly remain as as some of my greatest joys, when I was young I wanted more than anything else to be a typical little boy. I wanted to build tree houses, have water balloon fights, and play hide and seek with my friends. But fate had it otherwise and all I could do was envy the laughter and playtime that seemed to be going on all around me, There was no respite from my professional life.

But on Sundays I would go Pioneering, the term used for the missionary work that Jehovah's Witnesses do. And it was then that I was able to see the magic of other people's childhood. Since I was already a celebrity, I would have to do a disguise of fat suit, wig, beard and glasses and we would spend the day in the suburbs of Southern California, going door-to door or making the rounds of shopping malls, distributing our Watchtower magazine.

I loved to set foot in all those regular suburban houses and catch sight of the shag tugs and La-Z-Boy armchair with kids playing Monopoly and grandmas babysitting and all those wonderful, ordinary and starry scenes of everyday life. Many, I know, would argue that these things seem like no big deal. But to me they were mesmerising. I used to think that I was unique in feeling that I was without a childhood. I believed that indeed there were only a handful with whom I could share those feelings.

When I recently met with Shirley Temple Black, the great child star of the 1930s and 40s, we said nothing to each other at first. We simply cried together, for she could share a pain with me that only others like my close friends Elizabeth Taylor and McCauley Culkin knew.

I do not tell you this to gain your sympathy but to impress upon you my first important point - it is not just Hollywood child stars that have suffered from a non-existing childhood"



One of Michael´s most sensitive songs is 'Childhood'

In the '60 minutes' interview with Ed Bradley, made the day before his trial hearing, Michael states about the support of his fans:

”I would tell them I love them very much. And...they´ve learned about me.
There´s a song I wrote, which is the most honest song, I´ve ever written. It´s the most autobiographical song, I´ve ever written. It´s called ”Childhood”. They should listen to it. That´s the one they really should listen to”.

Let us indeed listen to this beautiful song. Of course you only really get the full extent of it, if you are able to really listen to it and not only read the lyrics. I always imagine Peter Pan as an elusive figure watched by Michael as he glances at him beyond the stars.



















It´s a song with a lot of sadness, a plee from Michael to please try and understand him and not condemn him. It´s the whole essence of Michael, just trying hard to compensate for lost childhood, being childlike, but not a child. It´s also an appeal to you to search for your own childhood:”Before you judge me, try hard to love me, Look within your heart then ask, Have you seen my Childhood?”

At the same time, 'Childhood' describes the whole concept of Neverland and Michael´s gift to all the children, having visited this wonderful place of magic. Furthermore the song depicts the manner in which Michael is misunderstood by a lot of people; people who don´t take time to pause, feel themselves and see Michael for what he really is. More of this in the chapters to come.

The loneliness of Michael increases as he grows older. In the infamous Martin Bashir documentary: 'Living with Michael Jackson', Michael talks openly and straight from the heart of his loneliness. However the real sadness is revealed in a take that wasn´t shown on the original documentary, but on Living with Michael Jackson -take two” (which describes the scenes deleted from the documentary).

Here you see a very emotional Michael, saying:
”I used to be very lonely..painfully lonely..so alone..you have no idea..I used to walk the streets looking for people to talk to”.

When asked how he could be lonely when surrounded by people while rehearsing and performing, he responds:
”Cause these people spoke to me on a language on another level that was musical, that was entertainment, but to get away from that..to separate myself from that and to try to discover the fun things about life...”

Michael never really gets to experience the development of a relationship. To play with other children, apart from his siblings and one can only imagine how it must be when a whole world knows who you are and you don´t get to introduce yourself. What it´s like when people don´t get to know you, but already beforehand have a firm belief of what you are like, eagerly helped by a sensation-craving tabloid press.

Most people, having met Michael (and having no economic advantage of spreading lies about him), describe Michael as a very gentle, humble and kind man. Michael never has any prejudice against other people and always meet them with an open mind, heart and soul, curious to know the other person. Unfortunately Michael has too many experiences of being disappointed by people exploiting him or being prejudice........towards him.

He has been called: 'The Ambassador of Humanity'. A title, which made him blush with humility and left him with a mere whisper of ”thank you”. With a personality like that, similar to other great personalities such as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa and other ambassadors of humanity, you are likely to get hurt.

Michael´s interest in music has been there since he was a child and he can´t remember a time without rehearsing and performing. On 'Online Chat 2001', Michael recalls the performances of his idols:

”I always went nuts for..I mean, I could be asleep..in Indiana, at like 5 years old, I´d be asleep and it´d be late at night, like 1 in the morning, some show on, I remember seeing my mother run to my room: ”Wake up, wake up! James Brown is on! James Brown is on! or ”Sammy Davis Jr.´s playing !” or ”Fred Astaire! They got a Fred Astaire movie on”, ”Gene Kelly´s on right now!” And I´d sit there with my eyes just..I´d be awe-struck, just watching. So when videos came out, I had a collection" (Michael giggles)


This very beautiful poem in two parts is written by Michael Jackson:

Magical Child - part 1































From Michael´s book ”Moonwalk”, he talks of telling stories:

”I've always wanted to be able to tell stories, you know, stories that came from my soul. I'd like to sit by a fire and tell people stories – make them see pictures, make them cry and laugh, take them anywhere emotionally with something as deceptively simple as words.

I'd like to tell tales to move their souls and transform them. I've always wanted to be able to do that. Imagine how the great writers must feel, knowing they have that power. I sometimes feel I could do it. It's something I'd like to develop. In a way, songwriting uses the same skills, creates the emotional highs and lows, but the story is a sketch. It's quicksilver.

There are very few books written on the art of storytelling, how to grip listeners, how to get a group of people together and amuse them. No costumes, no makeup, no nothing, just you and your voice, and your powerful ability to take them anywhere, to transform their lives, if only for minutes."


Storytelling? Well, through his deeds, his music, lyrics and poems, Michael sure knows how to put pictures in people´s heads, to move their souls and transform their lives; only not for minutes; rather for the rest of their lives and for generations to come.

A Tale of Fairies has begun.
All it takes is faith and trust and pixie dust.