Chapter four... is anyone reading this? n.n() Point of interest for ya.
Barn owls have several other names aside from 'barn owl', such as 'ghost
owl' and 'hissing owl'. My personal favourites? 'Hobgoblin owl' and
'Monkey-faced owl', of course. n.~ *snickers*
Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah... not mine. *sigh*
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Sarah didn't sleep well that night. Mostly, she thought about Merlin. The vet hadn't shown much confidence in his recovery when they had first brought him in. In fact, he had taken one look at her dog and recommended that he be euthanized. Sarah was terrified that he wouldn't make it. All sorts of awful scenarios kept playing through her mind, until she finally cried herself to sleep.
She awoke the next morning to a chilly, overcast sky, which matched her gloomy mood perfectly. Sarah let out a sigh as she made her way down to the kitchen for breakfast. No one else appeared to be home, and the house was eerily quiet. She sat down with a bowl of cereal and nearly jumped out of her skin as the phone rang. Sarah stumbled out of her seat and ran to answer it, stubbing her toe on the leg of the table in the process. "Hello?" She grunted into the receiver, balancing awkwardly on one foot while she rubbed the other.
"Hello, Sarah Williams?" The voice on the other end asked in a friendly tone.
"Speaking," Sarah confirmed as she attempted to stand up straight with her foot still clutched in one hand. Unfortunately, she ended up overbalancing instead and, flailing wildly, she toppled over onto the floor with a crash, dropping the phone in the process. She fumbled for the reciever with a mutter and brought it back to her ear, blushing at her own clumsiness. "Sorry, what?" She asked sheepishly.
"I was just asking if you were all right over there," the woman on the phone repeated. Sarah nodded, then felt dumb for doing so when she remembered that the woman couldn't see her.
"Err, yes, I'm fine..." '..I just have all the grace and coordination of a tipsy elephant,' she added to herself.
"Good," the woman sounded relieved, "Well, Sarah, this is Angela calling from Eastside Animal Clinic. Do you remember me? Dr. Trapp's assistant?"
"Y-yes.." Sarah stuttered, recalling the friendly young graduate who had helped them with Merlin until the vet had been able to see them. She gripped the phone more tightly to her ear and sat down in the nearest chair, her newly-acquired bruises forgotten. 'Please,' she thought, crossing her fingers, 'let it be good news...'
"Well," Angela continued in the same pleasantly calm voice, "I'm just calling to let you know that Merlin's fine. He made it through the night and he's starting to show some improvement. We're going to want to keep him here for observation for another night or so, but he's making a remarkable recovery."
"Really? He's all right?" Sarah grinned, relieved. "Would it be all right to come and visit him today?"
"Well, Dr. Trapp still wants to run a few tests to make sure that we didn't miss anything, but you should be able to see him in a few hours."
"Really? That'd be great! Thanks so much!" Sarah couldn't stop grinning as she hung up the phone. She finished her cereal quickly and went to put her bowl into the sink, noting that the owl was back and was watching her from the fence outside the window. So she hadn't scared him away after all, she thought happily.
"Hear that, Jareth?" She raised her chin defiantly, the corners of her mouth twitching with the effort to not smile. She gave up and broke into another huge grin. "Merlin's alright, isn't that great?" The owl bobbed its head to the side and continued to stare at her. Sarah giggled. Jareth was a good name for it, she decided whimsically. It would probably drive the real Goblin King nuts if he ever found out. That thought made Sarah snicker as she headed out of the kitchen for a shower.
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Jareth -was- going nuts, but not for the reason Sarah had guessed at. Women were utterly confusing creatures. She'd just done it again, calling him by name and acting defiant towards him. It really seemed as if she knew, after all. So then why had she smiled at him seconds later? The Sarah he'd confronted in his labyrinth would have never acted in such a way towards him, as if sharing in a personal victory. She'd seemed entirely too happy. Unless she had been gloating.
That had to be it, he glowered. She knew it was him, and now she was laughing at him. She had probably come to the conclusion that he'd been the one responsible for her dog's accident, and was trying to rub his nose in it. Ridiculous notion. If he was capable of revenge right now, he'd have thought up something a lot more satisfying than injuring an animal. It was rather insulting.
He jumped as a loud crash of thunder broke into his thoughts, followed a few seconds later by a soft drop of water landing on his head. Jareth blinked as the rain quickly turned into a downpour, soaking him in next to no time. He shook water from his feathers and took off for the nearest dry place, cursing his luck. How typical that it would start to rain. Deciding that somewhere populated would be a bad idea, he headed for the woods.
Not too far off, he managed to find a large hollow in a dead oak. It looked to be inhabited already, but Jareth couldn't tell what lived there, and he was too cold and wet to care. He settled into the down-filled crevice and sneezed, shivering. There was no possible way he would ever get used to this sort of life. Not that he'd never been caught out in the rain, but he had never been forced to deal with it before, having the option of leaving any time he wanted. Now he was stuck here, freezing and miserable. And back to square one.
Jareth wracked his brain, but nothing came to mind. If Sarah knew, he didn't know how he'd get out of this. He had nothing to work with. She hated him, after all. She wouldn't help him willingly. He sighed and curled up to try and get some rest while he could, before that girl decided to run off somewhere. The soft sound of the rain soon lulled him to sleep.
He stirred a little while later, woken by who knew what. The rain was still falling steadily, dripping from leaves and turning the mulch below pungent. Jareth blinked sleep out of his eyes, now fully awake, and listened restlessly for a moment. He'd dreamt that he'd heard something.
He heard it again a moment later, closer this time. A resonating, territorial hoot that sent a wave of primal fear rushing through him, and Jareth could have sworn his heart stopped beating. For a moment, he didn't dare to move, didn't dare to breathe. He suddenly understood what sort of animal lived in his temporary shelter, and the urge to flee took over.
He clambered out of the hollow and practically flung himself into the nearest patch of undergrowth, freezing mid-scramble when he caught the faint sound of wingbeats. Or rather, the almost undetectable sound of rain being displaced. All owls had special wing adaptations that made their flight soundless, which, combined with their excellent hearing, made them all the more deadly as hunters. Only the soft sound of water droplets hitting the raptor's wings and the broken pattern of falling rain gave it away. Jareth held his breath as a Great Horned Owl came into view and alighted on the brim of the hollow where he'd been only moments before. Good gods, it was -huge-. It was so close, only a few meters away... there was no way Jareth would be able to escape if it saw him.
The horned owl gave a soft 'waaa-waaaark' noise as it inspected it's roost, followed by something resembling a screech of indignation. Jareth felt cold terror grip him as the other bird swivelled it's head around to look directly at him.
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Wow, I actually managed to leave off at a cliffhanger! Bwahaha! =3 Remember, boys and girls, reviews make me post faster. n.-
Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah... not mine. *sigh*
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Sarah didn't sleep well that night. Mostly, she thought about Merlin. The vet hadn't shown much confidence in his recovery when they had first brought him in. In fact, he had taken one look at her dog and recommended that he be euthanized. Sarah was terrified that he wouldn't make it. All sorts of awful scenarios kept playing through her mind, until she finally cried herself to sleep.
She awoke the next morning to a chilly, overcast sky, which matched her gloomy mood perfectly. Sarah let out a sigh as she made her way down to the kitchen for breakfast. No one else appeared to be home, and the house was eerily quiet. She sat down with a bowl of cereal and nearly jumped out of her skin as the phone rang. Sarah stumbled out of her seat and ran to answer it, stubbing her toe on the leg of the table in the process. "Hello?" She grunted into the receiver, balancing awkwardly on one foot while she rubbed the other.
"Hello, Sarah Williams?" The voice on the other end asked in a friendly tone.
"Speaking," Sarah confirmed as she attempted to stand up straight with her foot still clutched in one hand. Unfortunately, she ended up overbalancing instead and, flailing wildly, she toppled over onto the floor with a crash, dropping the phone in the process. She fumbled for the reciever with a mutter and brought it back to her ear, blushing at her own clumsiness. "Sorry, what?" She asked sheepishly.
"I was just asking if you were all right over there," the woman on the phone repeated. Sarah nodded, then felt dumb for doing so when she remembered that the woman couldn't see her.
"Err, yes, I'm fine..." '..I just have all the grace and coordination of a tipsy elephant,' she added to herself.
"Good," the woman sounded relieved, "Well, Sarah, this is Angela calling from Eastside Animal Clinic. Do you remember me? Dr. Trapp's assistant?"
"Y-yes.." Sarah stuttered, recalling the friendly young graduate who had helped them with Merlin until the vet had been able to see them. She gripped the phone more tightly to her ear and sat down in the nearest chair, her newly-acquired bruises forgotten. 'Please,' she thought, crossing her fingers, 'let it be good news...'
"Well," Angela continued in the same pleasantly calm voice, "I'm just calling to let you know that Merlin's fine. He made it through the night and he's starting to show some improvement. We're going to want to keep him here for observation for another night or so, but he's making a remarkable recovery."
"Really? He's all right?" Sarah grinned, relieved. "Would it be all right to come and visit him today?"
"Well, Dr. Trapp still wants to run a few tests to make sure that we didn't miss anything, but you should be able to see him in a few hours."
"Really? That'd be great! Thanks so much!" Sarah couldn't stop grinning as she hung up the phone. She finished her cereal quickly and went to put her bowl into the sink, noting that the owl was back and was watching her from the fence outside the window. So she hadn't scared him away after all, she thought happily.
"Hear that, Jareth?" She raised her chin defiantly, the corners of her mouth twitching with the effort to not smile. She gave up and broke into another huge grin. "Merlin's alright, isn't that great?" The owl bobbed its head to the side and continued to stare at her. Sarah giggled. Jareth was a good name for it, she decided whimsically. It would probably drive the real Goblin King nuts if he ever found out. That thought made Sarah snicker as she headed out of the kitchen for a shower.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Jareth -was- going nuts, but not for the reason Sarah had guessed at. Women were utterly confusing creatures. She'd just done it again, calling him by name and acting defiant towards him. It really seemed as if she knew, after all. So then why had she smiled at him seconds later? The Sarah he'd confronted in his labyrinth would have never acted in such a way towards him, as if sharing in a personal victory. She'd seemed entirely too happy. Unless she had been gloating.
That had to be it, he glowered. She knew it was him, and now she was laughing at him. She had probably come to the conclusion that he'd been the one responsible for her dog's accident, and was trying to rub his nose in it. Ridiculous notion. If he was capable of revenge right now, he'd have thought up something a lot more satisfying than injuring an animal. It was rather insulting.
He jumped as a loud crash of thunder broke into his thoughts, followed a few seconds later by a soft drop of water landing on his head. Jareth blinked as the rain quickly turned into a downpour, soaking him in next to no time. He shook water from his feathers and took off for the nearest dry place, cursing his luck. How typical that it would start to rain. Deciding that somewhere populated would be a bad idea, he headed for the woods.
Not too far off, he managed to find a large hollow in a dead oak. It looked to be inhabited already, but Jareth couldn't tell what lived there, and he was too cold and wet to care. He settled into the down-filled crevice and sneezed, shivering. There was no possible way he would ever get used to this sort of life. Not that he'd never been caught out in the rain, but he had never been forced to deal with it before, having the option of leaving any time he wanted. Now he was stuck here, freezing and miserable. And back to square one.
Jareth wracked his brain, but nothing came to mind. If Sarah knew, he didn't know how he'd get out of this. He had nothing to work with. She hated him, after all. She wouldn't help him willingly. He sighed and curled up to try and get some rest while he could, before that girl decided to run off somewhere. The soft sound of the rain soon lulled him to sleep.
He stirred a little while later, woken by who knew what. The rain was still falling steadily, dripping from leaves and turning the mulch below pungent. Jareth blinked sleep out of his eyes, now fully awake, and listened restlessly for a moment. He'd dreamt that he'd heard something.
He heard it again a moment later, closer this time. A resonating, territorial hoot that sent a wave of primal fear rushing through him, and Jareth could have sworn his heart stopped beating. For a moment, he didn't dare to move, didn't dare to breathe. He suddenly understood what sort of animal lived in his temporary shelter, and the urge to flee took over.
He clambered out of the hollow and practically flung himself into the nearest patch of undergrowth, freezing mid-scramble when he caught the faint sound of wingbeats. Or rather, the almost undetectable sound of rain being displaced. All owls had special wing adaptations that made their flight soundless, which, combined with their excellent hearing, made them all the more deadly as hunters. Only the soft sound of water droplets hitting the raptor's wings and the broken pattern of falling rain gave it away. Jareth held his breath as a Great Horned Owl came into view and alighted on the brim of the hollow where he'd been only moments before. Good gods, it was -huge-. It was so close, only a few meters away... there was no way Jareth would be able to escape if it saw him.
The horned owl gave a soft 'waaa-waaaark' noise as it inspected it's roost, followed by something resembling a screech of indignation. Jareth felt cold terror grip him as the other bird swivelled it's head around to look directly at him.
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Wow, I actually managed to leave off at a cliffhanger! Bwahaha! =3 Remember, boys and girls, reviews make me post faster. n.-