Sarah flopped down on her bed. She was exhausted but happy. Toby was safe, and she had made all sorts of new friends. All was well.
As she lay thinking about all that had happened, she realized that her room had gotten quite stuffy. Sarah got up to go open a window. As she crossed her bedroom, her eyes fell on one of her many knickknacks, and she stopped dead in front of it. It was a figurine on her desk of the antagonist of her favorite play, Labyrinth.
It suddenly dawned on her that she had a statue of Jareth residing in her bedroom.
Sarah halted in front of it and stared, her tired mind sluggishly working through the implications of this. The first coherent thought to make its way to her consciousness was, Crap. What do I do with this? But she gave herself a little shake and said aloud to herself, "It's just a figurine. Even if he is actually real, this is just a figurine."
She stared a moment longer; then, reluctantly pulling her gaze from it, Sarah continued the last few steps to her window and opened it. Sarah shut her eyes and enjoyed the deliciously cool night air. All was peaceful and quiet.
Suddenly, a raspy screech broke the silence. Sarah snapped out of her reverie. What was that? she wondered, alarmed. It had sounded distant, but she really couldn't tell. She listened carefully for several moments, but the sound did not repeat. She narrowed her eyes and unconsciously chewed at her lower lip, considering her options. It was probably nothing, but she couldn't be sure. She would not take it for granted that all was safe, not anymore.
After a moment's hesitation, Sarah opened the window wider, just enough that she could stick her head out for a better look. While she peered out, she positioned her arms and body so that nothing could fly in past her. She looked around intently but saw nothing that could have been the source of the sound.
Sarah was still concerned, but it was late and she was exhausted. She sighed. I can't worry about this right now,she thought. And...it was probably nothing... She cautiously shut the window until it was only open a crack.
As she turned to go to bed, something flashed by outside in her peripheral vision. Sarah whirled around to look, but it had gone. "Oohh, damn! What is going on?" she growled to herself. She clenched and unclenched her fists, trying to decide what to do. Her frustration level spiked. "Ugh, it's not fair!" Sarah whirled around and pounded her fists down on her desk, rattling all the sundry possessions resting on top. "I beat him. I beat him!" Now she was almost in tears. Standing with her hands still braced against the edge of the desk, Sarah buried her face in her arms and moaned.
A strange sound coming from the direction of the window interrupted her moment of self-pity. It was a sort of high-pitched twittering. "CHEEEPA! Cheepa cheepa CHEEEEPAAA!"
"What the hell?" Sarah jerked her gaze towards the window.
The source was a barn owl, a barn owl which looked entirely too pleased with itself. "CHEEPA CHEEPA! Cheep cheep cheep. Cheepa! Cheepa! CheeEEEEP?"
Sarah just stared.
Then she stepped to the window and in one swift, smooth movement pulled it open, grabbed the Goblin King figurine from behind her, and flung it with as much force as she could muster out the window. The owl, too busy twittering at the girl to notice the incoming projectile, didn't have time to move out of the way. He was hit full in the face. "Cheepa cheepa CHEEP cheep! CHEEP cheep! CHEE-SKREEMPFLERAWMMPPHHH!"
Sarah watched with pleasure as he sailed backwards, flailing his wings uselessly against the weight of the statue. "Ha! You stay the hell away from me, Jareth! You have no power over me!"
She slammed the window shut and went to bed.
FIN
Author's Notes:
1) Protip: male barn owls attempting to attract a mate make a repetitive, high-pitched twittering sound. :D
2) Special thanks to my betas Feni and kanboku91 for their marvelous help and advice!