I have tossed , and the lagoon has won . This almost makes one wish that the gulch or the cake or Tink 's leaf had won . Of course I could do it again , and make it best out of three ; however , perhaps fairest to stick to the lagoon . Chapter 8 THE MERMAIDS ' LAGOON If you shut your eyes and are a lucky one , you may see at times a shapeless pool of lovely pale colours suspended in the darkness ; then if you squeeze your eyes tighter , the pool begins to take shape , and the colours become so vivid that with another squeeze they must go on fire . But just before they go on fire you see the lagoon . This is the nearest you ever get to it on the mainland , just one heavenly moment ; if there could be two moments you might see the surf and hear the mermaids singing . The children often spent long summer days on this lagoon , swimming or floating most of the time , playing the mermaid games in the water , and so forth . You must not think from this that the mermaids were on friendly terms with them : on the contrary , it was among Wendy 's lasting regrets that all the time she was on the island she never had a civil word from one of them . When she stole softly to the edge of the lagoon she might see them by the score , especially on Marooners ' Rock , where they loved to bask , combing out their hair in a lazy way that quite irritated her ; or she might even swim , on tiptoe as it were , to within a yard of them , but then they saw her and dived , probably splashing her with their tails , not by accident , but intentionally . They treated all the boys in the same way , except of course Peter , who chatted with them on Marooners ' Rock by the hour , and sat on their tails when they got cheeky . He gave Wendy one of their combs . The most haunting time at which to see them is at the turn of the moon , when they utter strange wailing cries ; but the lagoon is dangerous for mortals then , and until the evening of which we have now to tell , Wendy had never seen the lagoon by moonlight , less from fear , for of course Peter would have accompanied her , than because she had strict rules about every one being in bed by seven . She was often at the lagoon , however , on sunny days after rain , when the mermaids come up in extraordinary numbers to play with their bubbles . The bubbles of many colours made in rainbow water they treat as balls , hitting them gaily from one to another with their tails , and trying to keep them in the rainbow till they burst . The goals are at each end of the rainbow , and the keepers only are allowed to use their hands . Sometimes a dozen of these games will be going on in the lagoon at a time , and it is quite a pretty sight . But the moment the children tried to join in they had to play by themselves , for the mermaids immediately disappeared . Nevertheless we have proof that they secretly watched the interlopers , and were not above taking an idea from them ; for John introduced a new way of hitting the bubble , with the head instead of the hand , and the mermaids adopted it . This is the one mark that John has left on the Neverland . It must also have been rather pretty to see the children resting on a rock for half an hour after their mid-day meal .
XXXXX insisted on their doing this , and it had to be a real rest even though the meal was make-believe .
MERMAIDS Marooners Neverland Peter Tink Wendy evening gulch hour interlopers