Labyrinth 4

It was the incessant barking that woke her. A frustrated groan escaped the semi-conscious brunette as she fumbled for the edge of the bed. She tried to wiggle out of her blanket, but fell onto the floor in an ungraceful heap of arms, legs, and fabric. Sarah struggled to her feet, all thoughts centered on murdering the yapping dog she loved.

"Shut up, Merlin!" Sarah called as she glanced behind her, feeling pity through her annoyance and growing headache for what looked like a massacre behind her. Stuffed animals were strewn haphazardly, motionless and silent on a sea of a red quilt. She paused momentarily, thinking to give them some dignity by at least throwing them on the bed, but her dog somehow managed to howl even louder. Sarah whirled to the door, her headache pounding in time with her heartbeat.

"Oh! Merlin, shut up!" In the time it took to barrel down the stairs and throw on a pair of old sneakers, her beloved dog, and headache, reached a maddening crescendo. Sarah slammed the front door open, only to pause in confusion, for Merlin sat in front of the porch, staring at her calmly, his tail wagging lazily behind him. Sarah frowned, still feeling the need to kill and stalked toward the scruffy beast.

"What was that all about!? What do you want? You little-" Suddenly, Merlin tuned and ran down the driveway, leaving a baffled Sarah behind him. She growled before taking off after him, her befuddled brain vaguely noting that they were headed toward the park.

She chased the exasperating canine across streets, through yards, down sidewalks, and all too suddenly, she was there, in her park, the place she spent so much of her life, acting, reading, sketching, writing, and dreaming. She gazed around nostalgically, hazel eyes unfocussed as she reminisced. She suddenly noticed, Merlin was gone, and as she carefully scanned the area, she realized, it wasn't important anymore. That wasn't why she was here. But, why was she here? There was something she needed to find, something she wanted.

The sun began to set behind her, reflections of orange, gold, pink, and blue danced across the nearby lake. Sarah closed her eyes, trying to concentrate past the pounding of her head and heart when she heard it, an owl's soft hoot, a quiet question that made the maddening pounding cease. Sarah's eyes snapped open and rested upon a calm white barnyard owl. She reached toward him, toward Jareth, relieved and shyly smiling despite herself. Her mouth opened, ready to call to him, but only breath passed her lips. Sarah frowned and tried again, feeling the stirrings of fear and uncertainty.

The barnyard owl blinked slowly and gave Sarah a half lidded gaze that made her feel guilty, as if he was disappointed in her. Sarah's frown grew deeper, feeling irrationally angry at him. How could he look at her like that when he hadn't tried to help her? The owl gave her a sad look before silently and gracefully taking flight, thus dissipating her self-righteous anger just as quickly as it began. She chased after him, suddenly desperate to catch him.

"Wait!" She called, racing after the disappearing creature, but her efforts were in vain, for he was only flying further and further away from her. A smooth and silky voice whispered her name "Sarah…" She impatiently tried to wipe away the tears that blurred her vision, unable to stop them at the sound of his voice.

"Sarah…"

"Sarah!"

"SARAH!"

With a gasp, Sarah awoke. The world was tilted on its side and she saw only the edge of her desk and the crossed arms of her annoyed Chemistry teacher. She blushed, feeling confused and timid at the glare the older woman was giving her. "Um… I-I'm sorry, Mrs. Wall." Sarah stuttered sheepishly, trying to hide her red face from the snickering class.

Mrs. Wall paused, raising an eyebrow before carefully asking, "Should I be insulted?" An awkward silence hung in the air as Sarah mentally scrambled for a reply, but it was broken in moments as Mrs. Wall returned to the days lesson, stoichiometry. But Sarah couldn't concentrate, all thought returned to the dream she had just had, hazel eyes drifted toward the floor, filled with worry, unable to believe that one of those dreams had happened during school, that the line between reality and fantasy had become so blurred that Sarah could no longer tell which was the dream.

She carefully rubbed her eyes with a sigh, and chose to stare out of the window, subconsciously looking for a barnyard owl, the owl that gave her such a sad and disappointed look. It made her squirm with guilt, for the last time he looked at her like that, she had rejected him, always the victim of her irrational and childish, self-righteous anger.

Jareth, "I'm sorry…"