Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Labyrinth. That delicious masterpiece belongs to Jim Henson Company. And in the words of our beloved Sarah, "It's not fair!"
Author Note: I want to thank the people who have reviewed so far: LDeetz, notwritten, and WonderHell. I know three reviews may not seem like much but it's three more than I ever expected this early on. So thank you!
Chapter 2 Make a Wish
"We're giving you the night off, Sarah."
"Huh?"
"You don't have to watch Toby tonight."
"Who's gonna watch Toby then?" A hint of panic colored Sarah's voice.
"When we go to the restaurant we're taking him with us. We'll drop him off at Nana's house for the weekend."
"But, Dad, Nana's old and I'm sure Toby will be handful and it's really no trouble for me. I don't have plans. I can take care of him. Really." The words tumbled out of her mouth as rapidly as she thought them. Fear always seemed to make things faster and slightly incoherent.
"Whoa! Slow down there, Sarah. Look, Nana will be fine with Toby. She wants to see him. And this way you can still make plans if you want. You work too hard, Sarah."
Toby, who was sitting on Sarah's lap, pulled her hair to get her attention. Ever since they were in the labyrinth, Sarah was the only thing that could really calm him. But it was more than that. When he learned to walk, she was the one he took his first steps to. When he started talking, his first word was not "mamma" or "dadda" or any variation of the two. It was "Sarah" or more specifically "Sawah".
"You've earned a night off, Sarah." Sarah glanced at her stepmother, Irene. They had been getting along a lot better lately; but at that moment, Sarah felt some of her old resistance firing up again inside. Instead of fighting back, however, she bit her tongue and remained silent.
She could argue all she wanted but nothing had really changed. Her parents would win the discussion, no matter what she said. She might as well agree to it instead of getting in trouble.
They took her silence as acceptance and left her and Toby. Sarah looked down at him. His cheeks were round and rosy, his eyes wide and bright and his hair was soft and curly, the same shade of blonde as his mother's. Toby smiled up at Sarah. Some of his teeth were coming in and made his smile comical and endearing. Sarah laughed and kissed his chubby cheeks. How did I ever wish you away? she thought.
A few minutes later her parents came back into the room, cleaned up and ready for a night of alone time. Her father put on his shoes and grabbed the car keys, while her stepmother went to the car.
"Okay, Sarah, we're leaving now."
"All right have fun," said Sarah, still holding Toby in her arms. She knew it was a long shot, but she hoped they had forgotten about the arrangements they had discussed earlier.
"That means hand over Toby," her father said firmly. Sarah sighed and handed him the child reluctantly. Her father smiled at her and said, "Don't worry, Sarah. You'll see Toby on Monday. Let Nana have some time with him this weekend."
Sarah could only nod. Her throat felt tight with worry. I won't cry, she told herself. She had an awful feeling though, one that she couldn't just ignore. She waved as her family pulled out the driveway and drove down the street, around the corner and out of sight.
A cold, wet nose pressed against the palm of her hand. She glanced down at her big fluffy dog. He gazed up at her with his big brown eyes expectantly.
"Hey, Merlin. You hungry?"
As if to say 'yes', Merlin licked her fingers. Sarah laughed and led him over to his food bowl. She filled it up and as if to thank her, Merlin licked her once more then dived into his food. Sarah smiled half-heartedly and trudged up the stairs to her room.
Once upon a time her room had been a sanctuary. Now it and the whole house, for that matter, seemed like a prison with the insufferable silence. A year ago she would have given anything for that silence, even wish for the worst possible thing to get it. Now she mourned in the silence, craving some chaos to interrupt her not-so-pleasant memories of the yester-year.
She had to make plans. Anything to break the monotony of being alone in a silent house. She picked up the phone and dialed one of her friend's numbers. Her mother answered.
"Hello? Warner residence. Patty speaking."
"Hi, Mrs. Warner. This is Sarah. Is Jenny home?"
"Oh, hello, Sarah! No, I'm sorry. Jenny's not in. She's on a date with Billy Jenkins and won't be back 'til late. Would you like me to let her know you called?"
"Oh, no thanks, Mrs. Warner. I'll just talk to her on Monday. Bye."
"Bye, bye, sweetie." The line went dead.
Sarah hung up the phone and flung herself on her bed. Of course! It was Saturday. Her friends naturally had plans since they all had boyfriends. Normally she would've joined them with one of her dates; but since she'd given up on ever finding a boy who was right for her, she was alone.
"Why can't I find someone who will love me, treat me right, and not be a total asshole? Why does it seem that those kind of men don't exist?" she exclaimed, pounding her fists into her mattress.
"I wish… I wish…Oh, wishing won't do me any good!" she huffed.
Sarah walked over to her bookshelf and picked out a book with some of her favorite children's stories. She needed a distraction and hoped that a little trip down memory lane would do just that.
Bad idea.
As she flipped through the stories, the hero was always perfect, a Prince Charming with some subtle variations with each passing tale. Sarah, completely exasperated, threw the book at the door. For a long while she sat glowering at her wall. Then, when she finally got bored with the sight of a blank wall, she shifted her gaze to the corner.
Her eyes fell on the three stuffed animals sitting there: Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus. Her throat tightened. It had been a long time since she tried calling them and she doubted they would answer her, but right then and there, Sarah needed them more than she ever need them before.
"Hoggle?" she said, barely more than whisper, gazing into her mirror. "Ludo? Didymus?" She waited for an endless minute for some kind of reply. Nothing.
Sarah could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Perhaps if she tried again a little louder. "Hoggle? Ludo? Sir Didymus?" Again she waited. Again there was no response.
Feeling completely broken, Sarah cried, "Hoggle, Ludo, Didymus? Can't you hear me? Please? I need you!" She paused, her sobs hung heavily in the air. When for a third time there was no response, Sarah completely broke down.
"Why won't you answer me? Why? Why can't I see you? Where are you? Can't you see that I need you?" She flung herself onto her bed and sobbed into her pillow for a good fifteen minutes. It felt like she would have given anything to see them at that moment. Anything.
"I… I wish…" she faltered, "I wish I could see them again. I would give anything for that."
"Oh would you now?" came a cruel purr from behind her.
Author Note: Dun. Dun. Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun! If anyone is wondering where our beloved Jareth is, he is giving me the silent treatment (he is still fuming about the topless incident XD). I will try to smooth things over. In the meantime, review, review, REVIEW! Please?
