A/N: Hola!! Welcome everyone to the newly revised version of my Laby story! (throws confetti) It's gonna be a party, what can I say? Anyway, I really hope you all enjoy this and please let me know what you think, so I can once more better myself as a writer. So enjoy!! Thxs!
Disclaimer: The Labyrinth is not mine. Henson's. However, all OC's are mine so no taking without permission. May cause excessive guilt and spontaneous combustion. These little buggers are flammable. Also known to bite.
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Labyrinth: The Dream Never Ends
By: Eriksleadinglady
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Prologue
The days were long, but the nights were always longer. Every night, Sarah tried to delay sleep as long as possible, because of her horrible nightmares that never left and always stayed the same. Honestly, she just got sick of it all. On multiple occasions, she wished that she could disappear, but Sarah knew that her disappearance would never happen. Besides, she would never again wish anything to be taken away, for she now knew just how dreams could become reality.
She sighed as the final school bell set off the end of the day and the beginning of another summer. Sarah watched as all the flirtatious, materialistic girls ran to meet their college friends, talking about what they were to do over the summer. They talked of partying – getting trashed, as the girls called it – going on vacation, and hanging out with their boyfriends. The group laughed as one of them told a funny story about what her boyfriend did last night – something about thinking he was a celebrity when he was drunk; Sarah wasn't sure. After the story, they all piled into a convertible Audi GT and drove off together to the mall.
Sometimes, Sarah wanted to have friends like that, with whom she could tell her secrets to and laugh with. She wanted to be able to talk to people, but instead she always choked and stuttered on her words, stumbling away embarrassed. She rarely ever got along with people, and when she did, she never carried the relationships throughout the years, too afraid that if people got to really know her, they would leave. So instead of having friends, or rather acquaintances, dump her, Sarah got to it first and cut off all contact.
It may seem pathetic – a nineteen-year-old girl with no friends, no love life, no fun – and it may certainly appear that way to others. But in a way, she did have her friends; they just were never there
She made a sour face. Ever since the Labyrinth, she had been plagued with dreams and nightmares, having more than desirable. She often wondered if they would ever end, and even more so she wondered why they were even there. It seemed pointless to her now to dream of such petty and childish things, but she couldn't help it. Her real life is so unfulfilling that her dreams had to make up for what it lacked, and that was nearly everything. With no social life, Sarah found herself feeling overly lonely. Of course she wanted some friends, but she just didn't really know how to get them – and keep them.
After the accident, Sarah never really spoke with what was left of her family either. Her father still tried to reach out, but Sarah always removed herself from any family oriented situation and conversation. Because she lacked personal relationships, her life was slowly dissipating around her. Sarah just didn't know what to do about her low social abilities – or her low self-respect, for that matter – and didn't believe that she really could do anything either.
As Sarah began to walk home to her apartment, she saw a white barn owl flying in the distance. She considered it odd for that particular animal to be flying around at this time of day, and for a split second, she considered the alternative for what else it could have been.
Sarah shook her head in dismay. She really needed to stop thinking about such foolish things. He was never coming back, and she was never going back. No time to waste precious moments, and sleep, on an adventure that probably never even happened. No point in wishing for something that will never come true.
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When Sarah finally got home, it was nearly 5 pm. She plopped her books down on the counter and glanced carelessly at the answering machine nearby. It flashed '1 new message'. Sarah frowned. No one left her messages.
Curious, she pushed the play button and listened to the message. After only the first word, she realized that it was her dad. She rolled her eyes; she should've figured it was him. He was the only one who ever called Sarah; either that or her stepmother, Karen, but she usually only called her when she was angry with Sarah's dad. But even so, she never listened to a thing that Karen said. She usually just placed the phone down on the counter and then left to watch TV, since Karen never expected her to say anything anyway.
With these thoughts in her head, Sarah remembered a phone call that she had held with Karen only a few days ago…
"Hi Sarah, sweetie, it's Karen."
"Hi."
"How are you?" Karen asked sweetly, although Sarah knew that the woman didn't really care, and in just a few moments, she would be talking about her day.
"Just fine." She paused, thinking about whether to return the same courtesy. But, she knew that if she did not, then the conversation would end up even worse. "And you?" she asked, finally yielding.
"Oh, you know, the usual," Karen responded, nicely at first, but then her voice became annoyed. "But your father… Today, I asked him to clean the dishes. And did he do them? No! He just sat in his office, saying that he had to 'work'. Can you believe the nerve of that man? I work my butt off all day, and I still find the time to clean! Why can't he? Oh! He is just so inconsiderate of all that I do for him! I mean, I took care of you when you were younger, when you needed help. I even offered to help you with the boys!" At last Karen paused in her tantrum. "By the way, Sarah, while we're on the topic…" Sarah sighed. "How are the boys?"
"Fine," Sarah answered simply. She did not want to go into this again.
"You really should date more. I mean, you're a pretty enough girl, there's no reason that you shouldn't be dating. And not just dating, mind you, but you could use some friends too. Maybe, go out to clubs or whatever young people do these days. You really need to get out more."
"I'm fine, really, Karen," insisted Sarah. "I can take care of myself. Besides, the people at school aren't like me. I'd rather just stay at home and read a good book, while they just want to go to clubs and drink. That's just not me."
Sarah heard Karen sigh as she submitted. "Okay, Sarah, I'll drop it for now. But at least just think about it, okay?"
"Okay."
"So, now where was I?" began Karen once again. "Oh yes, your father…"
As the message came to a close, she realized that her father had called for nothing, again. She would probably call him back tomorrow, or maybe the next day, or the next, whenever she wanted to deal with his probing.
Sarah walked over to the freezer and pulled out the Healthy Choice spaghetti TV dinner – her usual food – and placed it into the microwave as she turned on the television. Once again, nothing interesting was on, but she watched it nonetheless. Once her dinner was complete, she took it out and ate it as she sat on the couch, feeling the excitement of real life... yeah, right.
For the rest of the evening, that was what she did. Watched TV, occasionally reading The Thorn Birds on commercial breaks. Then it rolled around to nine o'clock, and she decided that it was time to go to sleep. In her pajamas, she climbed into her bed, and turned off the light, preparing for another lovely nightmare.
