Sarah returned home, victorious but silent.
She had learned her lessons. She would not take things for granted nor pretend that life could be fair. It took a while to put into practice and she caught herself saying "it's not fair." With help from her friends Above and Underground, she stopped whining every time she didn't get as she wanted.
Hoggle, Sir Didymus, and Ludo peeked through her window every week, more if she called. It was great to have an ear to Underground gossip.
And advice.
The week after she got back, she had the first dream.
There was a couple dancing. In love and nothing could tear them apart. But there was something wrong, a twinge, a sense of corruption. Magic tainted them. But how? And was their real love behind the glitter or would they leave each other when the spell was gone? For one loved the other more than life. But were they the caster or the spelled?
She awoke with a sense of urgency, that she needed to do something. But what?
She called her friends.
"Hoggle, Didymus, what do you know of dreams? Can they be sent?"
"Very little, m'lady, and I don't know," responded the fox.
"If any one were to know, it'd be that rat, Jareth," chimed the goblin. "We can take ya to him?"
"No, no. I can't ask him. I can't talk to him. It's probably just a dream. But if anything happens, I'll ask for help. And should you need me-"
"We'll call," Hoggle cut in. "'nd we'll bring Ludo next time."
"His Majesty required aid in rebuilding a fallen part of his castle."
Sarah smiled. "Thanks guys. I promise next time things won't be so serious."
They weren't. Occasionally there were some boy drama, some stress, and some moments when she used them to fudge homework assignments.
One night, a week or two before her senior prom, she had a dream. When she woke up, it was the same feeling as the first, only greater, the same idea of love mistaken.
She woke up and started writing. It slowly turned into a play. She turned it into her Drama teacher for an assignment. He sent it to a publisher and at eighteen Sarah was published for the first time.
The Linda Williams talent for acting, it seemed, had manifested itself in her daughter's writing.