ACTUALLY, TWO seems a bit young.

Perhaps it was different a century ago, when J.M. Barrie wrote those words that tapped into a collective human consciousness. He created a candy-coated world of derring-do and constant adventure, where Peter Pan never did grow old.

And with that, he launched a million daydreams of exploits in the woods, fighting enemies with harmless wooden swords and having fearful beasts announce their approach with a loud ticking. It was untrammeled life with no downside.

Barrie knew about the downside, though. He recognized it in the lines at the top of this story, the first paragraph of his novel.

Most of us realized it, too. And maybe that's why the story has remained such a part of us, inspiring and haunting us.

The story is everywhere. After all, somewhere in the world, almost any day of the week, updated versions of Barrie's 1904 play are onstage. There has been a constant flow of literature on various aspects of Peter Pan and its themes. Video shelves are filled with live and animated versions of the story, all perpetuating the myth. And "Finding Neverland," a new movie looking at Barrie's life and literature, stars Johnny Depp as the famous and eccentric author.

Young at heart

Perhaps we didn't know what the legend was all about, crashing through the vacant lot on the corner, waving wooden swords and plastic machine guns in a summer-long search for Neverland. But for all of us, hearing the Peter Pan story for the first time -- in Barrie's book, onstage or, most probably, through Disney's animated version of the tale -- left us exalting in our youth, bent on everlasting adventure, yet realizing there was something lurking, like Pan's escaped shadow, somewhere in the background.

Usually, we could dismiss it as simply the inevitable fact that we would grow up at some point. But sometimes it would nag at us. Growing up was code for all the awful things that could happen in the vast unknown; growing up meant you were going to die. That's why the tale haunts us so.

"Peter Pan touches all those buttons," says Marc Forster, director of "Finding Neverland," the story of Barrie's creation of "Peter Pan." "I think in regard to the story's endurance, it has a universal theme we can all respond to -- it deals with the issues of growing up, mortality, fear of mortality and forever trying to stay young, which is a little sad when you think about the beauty of getting older and wiser."

Before embarking on the picture, which opens Nov. 19, Forster, who grew up in a Swiss mountain village and legends of Heidi rather than Peter Pan, researched Barrie's life thoroughly. He wanted to be sure the author wasn't a pedophile, as had been rumored, and that his motives were aboveboard, especially in light of Michael Jackson's problems and the fact that the singer called his complex Neverland.

"Neverland used to be something different to people," he says; "it was innocent and beautiful, and people need to see the beauty of it. It's important to bring that out."

Fortunately, "Peter Pan dealt with all of that so easily," Forster says. "He simply stayed a child, always innocent, no responsibilities. And I think we all love being childish, because it is such a romantic notion. And it's even more important now since there is so much emphasis on staying young."

Youthful influences

In the case of Barrie, you don't have to probe deeply to see how the Peter Pan notion formed in his mind. He was influenced by the children of an acquaintance, as detailed in the film, but even before that, the author had some unnerving previews of adulthood.

Early in his life Barrie's brother died, at 14, and the job of caring for their mother fell to Barrie. And then, when he turned 14, for reasons unknown he simply stopped growing, which had a profound psychological effect on him.

The payoff, of course, was the creation of Peter Pan.

"He never grows up, he has adventures, he fights pirates, he has a fairy. What more could anyone want?" says humor columnist Dave Barry, who, with fellow author Ridley Pearson, wrote the adventure novel "Peter and the Starcatchers," the first of a prequel trilogy to the Peter Pan saga. "There really is something about that character and that time of your life, when you are fighting pirates."

The inspiration for the book came when Pearson's daughter asked him how Pan and Captain Hook met.

"Immediately I knew what I was going to write next," says Pearson, who phoned Barry and asked him if he wanted to collaborate. "It was the easiest book I've ever had to explain -- the story of how Peter came to be, how he got his start as a kid who is going to become a legend."

In their book, Barry and Pearson, both fathers of daughters, decided they wanted to create a strong female character, to counter the cloying Wendy (who, some feel, represents the transitional grown-up in Pan's life).

"If we'd had sons, it probably would have been different," says Pearson.

"Yeah," says Barry, "more booger jokes."

"But we have these girls and watch them play together and grow up together," Pearson says. "This is our fantasy daughter; we don't like the Wendy character and we don't want our daughters to be like her, because it's not what they're like. We want her to be a worthy complement to Peter. Actually, I like her best."

Why a woman?

When it comes to Peter Pan, though, sexuality is an ambiguous thing. Forster says Barrie was pretty much asexual, and really didn't like to be touched.

Barrie was also responsible for creating the long-standing tradition of casting a young woman in the role of Peter Pan: from 1904, when Nina Boucicault donned the tights, to today, when Olympian Cathy Rigby is wrapping up a 30-year career as the boy who never grows up. In fact, the role has been played by a man only a handful of times in the past century.

Actresses who have done the role have included Glynis Johns, Elsa Lanchester, Hayley Mills, Maggie Smith, Susannah York, Lulu, Jane Asher, Gayle Hunnicutt, Veronica Lake, Maude Adams, Jean Arthur, Mary Martin, Sandy Duncan and Mia Farrow.

For Rigby, who closes her Peter Pan run in San Jose today, the role has become a fascinating part of her post-Olympic career. She has played Peter Pan more than any other person.

She, too, sees an enduring fascination with the character, with both bright and dark sides.

"Seeing the show is like a visit to the fountain of youth for parents and the children," she says. "For the parents, it is a way to be young physically and emotionally for awhile and not have to deal with the troubles of the world."

Reality sets in

But then, there's the reality of being grown and in the real world.

"So it really does have a sort of bittersweet quality," she says. "Kids like to have adventures and to believe they can fly, but there's also that fear about people leaving you."

Still, the myth of forever young and Peter Pan lives big time, particularly in the audiences who come to see Rigby in the role.

"I'll talk to kids afterward," she says, "and somebody will always say, 'I'll leave my bedroom window open for you.'"

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