Please be gentle! I haven't written anything in many, many years. I hope you enjoy, and please comment!
She was celebrating. He watched silently as she embraced the creatures that had become her friends, even the ones that had so recently been her enemies. He alone remained apart, clutching the tree branch below him tightly from his perch outside her window. He had barely allowed himself a brief hope of such an embrace, but that dream had shattered as surely as his final offer. The owl shook itself with a shudder; he could feel the distant tug of his land, though it had changed. He had changed. He dared not stay away much longer. He didn't know what condition the labyrinth would be in when he returned. He still had a duty. After one final glance, he turned and flew into the night on silent wings.
Sarah awoke feeling like she had been electrocuted. Her head was still heavy with sleep, but that didn't stop a strange tingling sensation from crawling across her skin. She sat up and groaned. Apparently, besting the immortal lord of a magical realm was more exhausting than she expected. It was almost like waking up from an insanely vivid dream, except that dreams faded and there was no way she could forget any of what happened the night before. The labyrinth, her friends, even him - she could no more forget them than she could forget Toby.
She sat bolt upright. "Toby!"
She leapt from her bed and raced down the hall to check on her brother, who was still fast asleep in his crib.
"Thank goodness you're alright." She heaved a sigh of relief and reached to touch his cheek. When her fingers touched his skin, she had a sudden impression of being surrounded by noisy goblins while a familiar voice sang nearby. She drew her hand back with a gasp and the vision vanished. "What on earth was that? I must still be half asleep.." Deciding it was simply a trick of her mind, she left Toby to sleep and went to take a shower to help her feel normal again.
Twenty minutes later, Sarah was awake, but something was still off. Despite the previous night's events, she had expected to wake up feeling like it was just another day. Her otherworldly journey should have just faded into the background, shouldn't it? She had certainly learned some things, but now she was back in her own world. Her own boring, mundane, safe world. And yet, things were not as normal as they seemed. She'd been confused to find that her shampoo had left a subtle fruit scent on her hair. Peach, she thought, of course it would be peach. When she'd gotten dressed, she kept finding bits of glitter clinging to her clothes. And there was that.. whatever it was.. when she touched Toby's face. She hadn't been able to shake that strange tingling sensation either.
"It figures I would start seeing things after a night like that.. and...smelling them..?" Sarah shook her head and sighed. She hadn't wanted to leave that magical place, of course. It was more than she could have dreamed to ever experience; what else could compare to meeting her wonderful, weird friends, being bitten by mean little fairies, being chased by goblins, and those eyes.. Stop it, Sarah. She chided herself. You chose to save Toby. It was the only thing you could do. You won't see him again.
"..Sarah.."
She almost yelped with surprise. Now that wasn't in her imagination. Was it? It had to have been! She glanced frantically around her room but could come up with no source for the faint, soft voice. "Yep, I'm definitely going crazy." She turned to walk from the room; maybe she just needed some distance from all the familiar toys and treasures in her room.
"..Please, Sarah.."
Okay, that time she did jump. Surely she didn't imagine the way his voice cracked, the desperate tone those two little words. She turned, more slowly this time, and glanced around her room. The shelves full of books hadn't shifted. The collections and toys were all in their places. The vanity held a few pictures and knick knacks...
There.
Sarah's eyes were suddenly huge. Sitting in front of the mirror, as if it belonged amongst her wordly possessions, was a crystal. If she stared at it's reflection in the mirror, she thought she saw a gloved hand holding it up, almost. The moment she tried to focus on that hand, it disappeared, leaving only the reflection of the crystal itself. She stood, rooted to the ground, for several moments and stared. My dreams. That's what he said, before.
Sarah took a deep breath, strode to the table, and picked up the crystal.
