She's in an empty field. There's no shade to protect her from the sun and no one but herself to talk to, so her skin is raw and her throat is dry, but she keeps going in the direction her feet are pointed and reciting verse as it comes to mind.
The field has been empty for as long as she can remember. She can't ever remember a time where she wasn't walking upon dark soil and saw anything beyond the blank horizon and as the days passed, she tired of opening her eyes to the same sight.
With her eyes searching the distance and her feet dragging through the dirt, she hits something solid and tumbles to the ground. Without rising (she has no reason to get up) she twists on the ground to inspect what had tripped her.
There, peeking from the soil, she spots the iridescent shimmer of a large seed. She picks it up. And under it she spots another. She digs into the ground faster and pulls out seed after seed and piles them next to her. The hole is getting bigger, bigger than could be explained by her digging with just her hands and her passion for something other than endless walking, but she doesn't pay any attention. She keeps digging.
Someone has appeared at the edge of the hole she has dug and she hears them laughing and calling her names, but she ignores them and continues to dig. She has to keep digging.
She digs until no more seeds appear and dozens of beings have appeared on the edge of the now distant cliff, and then she stops and looks around her.
She's in an empty field. There is no shade to protect her from the sun and no one she wants to talk to, but somewhere in that blank expanse there is a crater she dug and a small mountain of colorful seeds she harvested.
Since completing the Labyrinth and getting Toby back several weeks ago, Sarah had been trying to apply the lessons she had learned there in her everyday life. However, there was a drawback- she was fifteen and it was unfair for everyone to expect her to fix everything by herself.
For the first couple days Sarah acted the perfect daughter. She did her chores promptly, she made sure to remember curfew, she bathed Merlin even if he still had to stay in the garage, and she watched Toby without a single complaint.
Her resolution to take nothing for granted was tested by Irene commenting to her father that there must be something that Sarah wants, because lord knows she wouldn't be so considerate otherwise. Sarah kept from screaming by reminding herself that no one knew what she had been through, so they could be excused for not trusting her change of attitude.
Then came the remarks about Sarah deciding to take the pictures of her mother down from her mirror and packing away her "junk" into separate boxes for Toby, storage, and thrift stores. Irene providing her approval of Sarah "finally getting her head from the clouds" and "maybe now that she is grounded she could get a date," with her dad standing silent behind Irene.
Then, finally, Saturday came again. While Sarah had resigned herself against being an actress after learning the power of words (a line from a story stole her brother away, Sarah would not risk it happening again), her small group of friends had been planning this show for months. They had reserved the pavilion in the square, they had sewn together crappy costumes, begged props off sympathetic neighbors, and practiced as much could be expected of fifteen-year-olds during summer break. But on the morning of the performance as Sarah walked out the door to prepare, Sarah's father and stepmother told Sarah to be back by noon to watch Toby because they were going to the lake.
Sarah did not come back at noon. She did not come back until the sun was setting and approached the house to find Irene standing on the porch with a glare on her face and father just inside, not even looking at her. And as Sarah sat down and listened to Irene tell her again that they "don't ask for much, just that she watch Toby when she doesn't have any other plans", she snapped.
In the Labyrinth, Sarah had learned not to take anything for granted. She had learned that life isn't fair. But she had also learned how to be heard.
"My will is as strong and my kingdom as great," she assured herself.
Then Sarah raised her head to meet Irene's eyes and said, "We need to have a discussion."
She's at the edge of a large crater. Around her, as far as the eye could see, is an empty field. As the sun beat down she watches small beings crack open large, shimmering seeds and sip a single drop from the shell before tossing the rest of the liquid over the edge. They look at her and snicker. They whisper to each other secrets that they make sure she knows she'll never hear.
She ignores them and looks over the side, squinting to see a small pond form and grow as the occasional splash grows into a cascade. The bottom of the crater fills quickly until a lake that perfectly reflects the sky above lies below. A breeze stirs and the smell of peach blossoms drifts from the lake.
All the seeds have been opened and the liquid left inside roll in beads toward the edge of the crater and fall over, on the way down they coalesce until a waterfall is formed, which splashes into the lake below.
The beings scamper to stand at the edge of the cliff. They look at her and giggle before taking leaps into the lake below. She sits to watch them, absently crumbling seed husks and letting the wind scatter the remains across the field.
As she watches the beings seem to have more and more fun. The snide looks and secrets vanish from the games played and laughter becomes more prevalent. They seem to leave something behind every time they emerge onto the shore of the lake.
She laughs as one trips and then another as it tries to help the first up. She squints as neither stand full up again. Did they hurt themselves?
She calls down a question. The squabble of beings looks up at her and waves, inviting her into their game. She's confused, they were laughing at her before, why would they act nice now? The lake must be more fun than she thought. She stands to jump but pauses.
Are they walking on two feet or four? Did they have wings before? The edges of the beings blur in her eyes and their forms shift as she watches them. Did they always do that? It's starting to frighten her but she doesn't know why. The beings are friendly and she wasn't afraid to go near them before but now she can't summon the will to jump.
Her will is strong but she turns her back to the lake and the shifting beings that frolic in it.
Come on, feet.
She's in an almost empty field, a small valley with a lake at the bottom behind her and a blank horizon ahead. She's protected from the sun by the clouds that have come with breeze and there is no one she wants to talk to, so she lifts her heels and walks to the sound of rain hitting the ground.