AN: Just a note to my reviewers (I have reviewers, yay me!) Thank you, you're all being so nice. To Lee, Thank you, and everything in good time J, To Ifonly sorry about the layout I've never used Ffnet before and haven't quite got to grips with it yet. Lady Sorrow, I'm so relived someone liked it I was so nervous. Screamin-psiren, Taren is a bit of a bitch isn't she? To Zephyr, Your wish is my command. Thank you, all for your nice comments.

By the way I'm British writing about America, if I get something wrong and write an English word where I shouldn't, (e.g. Jam instead of Jelly, Crisps instead of Chips) please tell me, especially if it annoys you.

Disclaimer: (Still pouting mumbles) Don' own nufing

Mine

Sarah parked her old and battered car in one of the spaces provided. Turning off the engine, she sat for a minute before getting out. She had come to the park to think before she went home.

How was she going to explain to her father and her step mom, she could just see it now, walking in and saying, 'Hi dad, Hi Karen how are you all? Me? I'm fine I just thought that I'd drop in, I was in the neighbourhood, Oh and by the way I dropped out of college! What's for dinner?'

She gave a cold laugh, Yeah and everybody would live happily ever after.

"In a pigs eye!" she muttered. 

Walking over to a bench she sat down looking at the small man made lake, She had used to come to the park all the time when she had been a teenager alone in a strange city without friends. She had found it a comfort to come here to think or play out her fantasies that involved fairy princesses and handsome Goblin Kings, She could see herself running across the bridge, dressed in an long ivory dress with the full skirts that concealed her jeans beneath. The long vaulted sleeves and the flowered headdress that had completed the look of a fantasy princess. Life had been so simple then, when all she had to worry about was the animosity from her step mom, and the unfairness of having to baby-sit her baby brother.

How she wished for the days when tomorrow was a long way off. But then again Sarah silently reprimanded herself. 'Be careful what you wish for…'

She hadn't really wanted to come home, had tried to resist the pull of homesickness that had finally driven her back here. And had managed it for a whole year this time, The trouble was she always had the feeling that she should be at home instead of in her dorm room at college.

When she had first left, for the first few weeks she had driven home every weekend to visit, but it was the same each time, she would get home, and the depression would creep up on her. It was a mixture of longing of loneliness, restlessness and of mourning. She had felt it for the last six years ever since…, that night! But when she was home it was twice as bad.. She would find herself sinking into deep bouts of depression, that came and went intermittently, and would leave her shaken and longing to leave to get away. Her sleep patterns would become erratic and when she did sleep she would dream of him!

'Stop it!' Sarah chided herself, Best not to think of him, but her traitorous mind zoned in and created a picture from her memory. He was standing in front of her, his expression bewildered as her words echoed around them 'you have no power over me!'

Pressing her trembling fingers to her lips, Sarah rose and began walking back to her car. Thinking about the coming confrontation would take her mind off its perilous musings.

Driving up to the house, Sarah thought maybe, she should have called instead of just turning up.

'No' she had thought about this, and calling would have only given them more time to think of lectures of telling her to wait for end of the college term.

At least this way she would have the element of surprise in her favour.

She could almost hear her stepmothers reaction,

'Your so fickle Sarah, it's time you took you head out of the clouds, and started to think what your going to do with the rest of your life, and dropping out of college, etc etc etc…' Both her step mom, and her father were always telling Sarah to grow up, but they both insisted on treating her like a child, questioning all her decisions, and actions,

' Well wait till they heard her reasons for dropping out. Ha, this could turn out to be interesting.'

'Hello.' Sarah called as she let herself in and put cases down in the hall, 'anyone home.'

She walked forward peeping in the rooms as she past, 'hi, it's me.' Adding in an under breath, 'just thought I'd come home drop a big bombshell, stay a few days, and be on my merry way again.' Still no answer. 'Karen, dad?'

'Sarah' the call came from upstairs 'Is that you?' Karen appeared at the top of the stairs.

'Well what are you doing here? The summer holidays don't start for three weeks? Are you ill, has something happened at college? You should have called, in fact I said to your father just the other day, Sarah just doesn't call often enough anymore, but then I expect your busy what with your studies and all your friends, don't have time for us any more, but you really should have called to tell us you were coming home.' All this was said without pausing for breath. Sarah said nothing knowing more was to come.

'So, how long will you be staying, Toby will be so happy to see you, he misses you so much, and of course you don't think of coming home to visit any more, I mean how long has it been since the last time, must be coming up to a year now, but then I expect you miss us in your own little way,'

A change of subject again, Sarah always felt a little dizzy with the way Karen changed topic with out pausing.

'Is that a new dress, I bet it looked quite nice on the hanger. Well come into the kitchen I'll make a cup of tea you must be quite tired from your long drive, I thought just then, that you looked wretchedly tired' Karen stopped talking as she led the way into the open plan kitchen.

Sarah was grateful for the reprieve as she tried to collect her thoughts. She could never quite understand if anyone else noticed that whenever Karen talked to her, that every word she uttered was in disapproval of Sarah. In fact Sarah could never tell if she was being cruel or not, she always made it sound like constructive criticism. As if she were pointing things out for Sarah own benefit.

Actually I think I'll pass on the tea.' Cannot deal with you just now, Sarah thought to herself.

'I'll just take my stuff upstairs, if that's ok?' Not bothering to wait for a reply she turned to walk out of the kitchen, throwing over her shoulder as she went. 'Your right Karen I'm tired, I'll just rest till dad comes home.' Sarah knew she was being deliberately rude, but once Karen started talking there was no way of stopping her.

Picking up her cases from the hall, Sarah glanced round noticing that it had been redecorated since she was last here.

'Well she thought stubbornly they better not have changed my room,' Her father had told her just before she had left for collage that her room would be there for her whenever she wanted it. And she was now anxious to see if he had kept his word.

Opening her door she noticed that nothing had changed, a bit stuffy perhaps, but opening the window would soon sort that out.

Her room had changed over the years, she had put a lot of her things away.

Gone where the stuffed teddy bears, and in their place ornaments now stood, ornaments of Regal ladies in a range of period dresses, porcelain black horses and a myriad of candles that varied in size and colours were scattered around. Works of William Shakespeare, psyche books and art books, had replaced her fairy tales. Her dressing table now had old cosmetics on it. In fact the only reminder. Of the old Sarah  was her music box, with the finely dressed porcelain doll, that played such a sweet and simple melody. Sarah had put it away long ago, that night in fact. But had taken it out when her mother had been killed in a car crash when Sarah was sixteen. Her mother had given it her the music box for her fifteenth birthday. And it meant a lot to her.

Finished with her inspection of her room, Sarah lay down on the bed and folded he arms behind her head.

She shouldn't have come here especially not today. It was six years exactly since, that night. In the past she had always managed to be elsewhere on the anniversary. Staying with friends, and then she was at college. It didn't matter where as long as it wasn't here. But tonight she had wanted to be here. To put it all behind her finally before she set out into her new life. She needed to say goodbye to him. Now all she needed was the courage to do it, and she was desperately afraid she would not be able to.

She suddenly felt like crying it was easy to put away the possessions of her childhood quite another to put away her memories, her mother leaving to make a name for herself on the stage, her father remarrying, Toby's birth, Jareth…

'No, No, NO!' she said aloud turning her head into the pillow. 'Don't think about him, don't say his name. Think about something else.' Turning back over she forced her mind to think about the coming evening, and what she was going to tell her father about college. Her mind set she began to revise what she would say.

Unheeded two tears rolled down her cheek she was home, and the longing claimed her.

Sorry about the lack of dialogue, but I needed to fill in blanks.