Snippets in Time

"Hoggle! Wake-up Hoggle! I need you I have great news!" Sarah had run home from school after her final grades had been posted. No one was home so there were no worries about Karen, her dad or Toby walking in to ask her who she was talking to. "Hoggle, I know you can hear me and the sooner you come the sooner you can go back to sleep." Hoggle's tired face appeared on Sarah's mirror and he made the most comical creature. He was wearing the nightcap and gown Sarah had given him for Christmas just five months ago. He swore he would never wear it but she had known better and she had just been proven right. "Why Hoggle what nice gown you are wearing." Hoggle tried not to blush but just smiled sheepishly as he shuffled his feet, "Now what is this so urgent you had to wake me?!?" Sarah smiled and sat in front of her vanity, "Hoggle, I passed all my exams! In just a couple of weeks I will be done with high school and I can move on to college, isn't that great!" Hoggle stifled a yawn as he nodded yes to her question, "I'll let you get back to sleep and I won't be able to talk to you for a month or so because I'll be packing to move to school and making loads of arrangements for that but I wanted to let you know." Hoggle placed his palm against Sarah's mirror and she mimicked his action, "Thank you Hoggle tell everyone for me and I will get back to you soon but if I don't call you or Sir Didymus or Ludo in one hundred moon cycles come find me okay." Hoggle nodded and Sarah closed her eyes, when she opened them again Hoggle was gone and she was staring at her own reflection.

When Sarah had returned from her adventures in the Underground just two years ago she had made sure to keep in touch with everyone, well almost everyone. She never spoke of him or said his name out loud when she was awake. She never asked Ludo or Sir Didymus about him but Hoggle and her had devised a code so that she knew what he was doing even though they never uttered his name. She had tried not to think about him when she was awake and made sure to keep herself busy enough so that her mind wouldn't wander to him. Her friends and teachers had noticed a change in her in the weeks that had followed her adventures. She was more focused and determined to get her high school experience done with. In addition, the administration had been surprised when Sarah had walked into school one day with her father in tow to ensure that her desire to add college level courses to her already busy schedule were met. Sarah had not told anyone why she was being so aggressive with her education but when she approached the school counselors for assistance with her college applications the rumor mill went into overdrive. By the next day everyone was aware that Sarah had applied to Harvard, Yale, Princeton and USC business and theatre programs. Even with her college level courses and being president of the Debate and Business Clubs, Sarah had not stopped being a dreamer and had become the stage manager for the school's last four productions. Sarah had not stopped caring for Toby and she had talked with Karen and her dad a couple of weeks after the events of the Underground to make them aware that she wouldn't be there for them but for Toby. That had been an awkward conversation to say the least.

"Dad, Karen can I talk to you?" Sarah had not eaten dinner with the family and had stayed in her room to think. Toby was in his crib asleep and Sarah was standing outside her parent's door waiting for them to join her. They were in their nightclothes and Sarah talked softly so as not to disturb Toby. They came out and closed the door behind them, "Karen a couple of weeks ago you wanted to know what I was doing so I'm telling you now. I will not be able to baby sit Toby from today forward. I am joining several clubs at school so I won't be home until almost seven or even eight o'clock at night." Karen pursed her lips and raised her eyebrow in annoyance but before she could speak, "Honey, are you sure that's healthy you don't want to get yourself sick with to much running around." Sarah smiled at her father's concern but glanced in Karen's direction once more, "Karen. Once I know my schedule better I will let you know what days I can help you but right now for certain Monday thru Thursday nights, Saturday mornings and afternoons I won't be able to assist you at all." Karen's scowl had faded once she realized that Sarah would be available Friday and Saturday nights to help with Toby. "That's fair so every Friday and Saturday you will be able to help us?" Sarah had to face her feet as she softly chuckled at Karen's audacity, "No Karen I will be able to help you every other Friday and Saturday night. The same way I am telling you my plans I would like the same from you. If you have a work dinner or event that you have to go to or you simply want to go out to a movie I will need to know a couple of weeks in advance to make sure my schedule is open and not occupied by last minute club events." "Don't worry sweetie we will make sure to tell you." Sarah hugged her dad and whispered goodnight to Karen.

It's not to say that Sarah and Karen didn't have issues still. There were times when Karen would slip out of the house with out Sarah noticing on Saturday mornings when her dad wasn't home either and Sarah had had no choice but to take Toby with her to her school events. She had missed a couple of events at the beginning due to Karen's silliness and had paid the consequences when the events she had planned had failed miserably in producing funds for the clubs. It had been awkward at first seeing a baby with all the teenagers and sales had been slow but Sarah had asked the Home Economics department to sew a couple of Toby's t-shirts with the words BabyBrother, School Mascot and MBA in Training and since then things had run more smoothly. At first, the club sponsors had not approved of Toby's presence and Sarah had had no desire to voice her unhappiness about Karen's behavior to anyone but when they realized that in fact it did not deter from the event, Sarah's commitment to the club and that the other club members seemed more friendly and responsible when Toby was around they allowed it. And so the last two years of Sarah's school year flew by and now she was graduating in a few short weeks.

Summer Fun ???

Sarah had finished packing what she had hoped would be the last of her boxes. Sarah had hoped that her grades, interview and letters of recommendation would have been enough to allow her acceptance to Harvard but it had not been enough. That was okay her second and third choice had come thru but with USC offering a scholarship for both her drama and business she had chosen USC. It was clear on the other side of the country but a change in scenery may be just the ticket to help her move on from her past. The movers were scheduled to come and take her few belongings to USC in two days and move in day was just a day away. Sarah and her dad would be flying out to USC tomorrow morning and besides her immediate needs she had ensured that one special box came with her on the plane.

A year after her Underground experience Sarah had been rearranging her room and in the process she had broken the mirror on her dresser. She had been moving to try and decide where it would look best in her room and in her haste she had bumped the dresser to hard causing the frame to rock violently and breaking the boards that held the mirror in place. Once the mirror hit the floor it broke. Her father had offered to buy her a new dresser but Sarah had insisted on simply replacing her mirror and the boards so vehemtly that her father finally agreed to pay for only the repair. It had taken several weeks to get the right sized mirror for her dresser and when it had been replaced Hoggle had been beside himself with worry. When Sarah contacted him the night the mirror was replaced they realized that without the original mirror Hoggle couldn't come thru. Sarah had kept the larger pieces of the original mirror and they had tried to see if Hoggle could come thru but again the pieces were to small so only his hand came thru and only Sir Didymus who was the smallest of her three friends could come thru the old mirror pieces.

So Sarah had taken the larger pieces to school and had the wood shop students build several sturdy wall mirror frames for her original mirror. She had a small piece placed in a locket that now that she was going to college she would wear around her neck at all times so she could show Hoggle, Sir Didymus and Ludo their new surroundings. She was sure they would be pleasantly surprised with the California sun and especially the ocean. "Ready to go?" Sarah was pulled from her reverie by her father's question. They were all going to dinner as a family for the last time this summer until she returned for Thanksgiving break.

Lots of Firsts

It had taken Sarah a couple of weeks before she was able to call upon Hoggle, Ludo or Sir Didymus. She was sitting outside the library after researching her first paper and was headed back to her dorm room when she saw the full moon above. The night was so clear she knew that her friends had never seen such a night and she called upon them in her locket. "Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, I need you." She could see her friend's small figures in her locket and whispered hello to them. "Sarah where's have you been, I need to talk to you." Sarah was surprised by Hoggle's response, "Sorry these last few weeks have been real busy but I called you because I wanted to show you three something amazing." Sarah removed her locket from around her neck and laid it on the ground. She moved back so that the sky wouldn't be obscured by her shadow and she heard her friend's gasps. She waited a few moments then returned to pick-up her locket. "Did you like the view?" Ludo answered with nice and Sir Didymus began to recite a long poem to the beauty of the night the moon and the stars. Sarah then remembered Hoggle's statement, "Ludo Sir Didymus can I talk to Hoggle alone, please?" Ludo and Sir Didymus whispered their goodbyes to Sarah and it was her and Hoggle, "What's going on?" She could see Hoggle fretting with his hands and sit on a rock behind him, "He is having friends at the castle." Sarah sat down as well. She knew who Hoggle was referring to. "That's good Hoggle he needs to socialize do his kingly duties and what not." Hoggle scratched his ear and right cheek before crossing his arms, "I don'ts like it." Sarah didn't know what to say to Hoggle but he didn't wait for her response and disappeared back into the mirror.

It would be weeks later that Sarah called upon her friends again and this time it was a bright sunny California day. The drama club had wrangled the van from the athletics department for some much needed relax time and the entire cast and crew had driven out to the beach. Sarah had walked until she found a spot secluded enough to call her friends upon. "Hoggle, Ludo, Sir Didymus, I need you." As usual they came at her bidding and were amazed at the ocean. They had heard of such a thing but had never witnessed one. Sir Didymus again went into a litany of versus of the oceans beauty and Ludo called it pretty. Hoggle was strangely quite so Sarah cut her visit short and sat down to speak with him, "Hoggle what's wrong now." Hoggle twisted in his seat wondering how to tell Sarah what he was going to say, "He is going away Sarah." Sarah tried to hide the shock and hurt from her face, "Where?" Hoggle proceeded to tell Sarah how in the last few months his guest's had dwindled 'till there was only one left. A woman named Auralia. She was an elf from a distant land and she had won favor with the king. The king had just yesterday agreed to go back with her to her kingdom for a visit, a long visit and he didn't know when he would be returning but that he, Sir Didymus and Ludo were to protect the Labyrinth in his absence. He then proceeded to tell Sarah the conversation,

Hoggle was shuffling his feet at the gates of his castle. He didn't know why he had been requested but he couldn't deny him. He had felt Sarah's call but she couldn't answer her now, he would explain later.

"Hoggle." Hoggle turned to the king and lowered his eyes to his feet. "Walk with me." "I know that you sometimes have conversations." Hoggle stopped in his tracks, "Walk with me Hogsbreath this is important." Hoggle ran as best he could and kept his pace as best as he could next to the king. His Highness proceeded to a bench in his gardens and sat looking towards the Labyrinth. "If you see her, tell her…tell her that you have never seen me better. Tell her that there is someone new in my life that has enchanted me. That the days have simply gone by and I had barely even noticed. That she no longer occupies my thoughts and that our encounter is all but forgotten. Tell her I am well, that I've never been better actually. That I am not here pinning away for her. That I am actually thankful to her for because of her I am where I am now." His highness then stood and began to walk back to the castle but stopped and turned to him instead, "Tell her instead that you don't see me anymore. That I've gone on a trip to the countryside and that I don't know when I will return. That I never did and never will wait for her call and that I never did or shall awaken in the middle of the night remembering her, that I am cured. " With that he proceeded to disappear from his sight.

Long Trips in the Countryside

And so the days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months and before Sarah, Hoggle, Sir Didymus or Ludo noticed it was Christmas break and Sarah was headed home for her two-week holiday. She had more time off from school but she was needed back two weeks early for the drama's departments spring show. Sarah sat in her dorm room placing the last pieces into her bag. She was going home for two weeks and had decided to leave all her belongings in her dorm room. She had given her friends their presents early because she knew that once she was home she wouldn't be able to talk to them because her time would be sent with her family and local friends. Besides with him still gone Didymus, Ludo and Hoggle had their hands full with the goblins and the running of the Labyrinth. From what Sarah had learned and gathered from their conversations it seemed that no one knew that his highness had gone on a walk about the countryside and so Ludo, Didymus and Hoggle had made all kinds of excuses for him when guests came calling. There had been one guest that Ludo had been very suspicious about recently. An ogre from the southern realms. Ludo had caught small ogres trespassing or trying to pass by as goblins in the Labyrinth. While the trespassers had been tossed in the dungeons Hoggle was beginning to worry that they suspected his highness wasn't around. Sir Didymus had begun to even prepare the soldiers for war but Hoggle didn't think it would come to that. Sarah had tried to calm Hoggle's concerns as well but Ludo had begun to tell Sarah of his own fears and this giant was perceptive to his surroundings. "Sawah. Ground busy. Noise." Ludo would then point south where at times even in the distance Sarah could see big billowing clouds of smoke, like those from a giant fire or factory. They had all agreed to wait for the a couple of weeks and if Hoggle and Ludo still felt uncomfortable they were going to start calling his highness back.