King of Dreams, Owner of None
by Bunniko
AN:?I'm back! My family is visiting me here in Kyoto, so I haven't had much time to write, but I can now. Happy? Tell me! Anywho, another chapter with oblique references to me and my friends. So again, there's some stuff I own. I own: Trixie/Jeannie, Melinda, Deborah, Rikki, Solei and other things as they appear. I do not own: Texas (bummer), England (yay!), the Labyrinth (sniffle), Jareth, Sarah, etc. To my real life friends: See if you can find yourself. Did I write you in? lol
Please Note: This chapter is set AFTER the movie, and will actually deal with both girls.
PS: Thanks to all my reviewers!! By the way, what do y'all think of Trixie/Jeannie? Like her? Hate her? Don't care? I'm really curious, since she is one-third of the story. : So, please, lemme know? You can also always drop me a line at fieryfaerie@yahoo.com. Don't kill me if the replies are slow, I am in Japan, y'know.
Without further ado, Chapter Six! (Can't say that in Japanese yet.)
Chapter Six -?Three Lives, One Book
Sarah stood at the window for a long time after he'd left, rain mingling with the tears on her face. She called and called, but to no avail. He was gone.
She didn't know how long it was before Toby's hoarse crying finally broke through her daze. Pulling the window shut, she idly noticed how the rain had soaked into her carpet, her curtains and had even been blown into the room to dampen many of her toys and books. She shivered as she walked down the hallway to Toby's room. She comforted him distractedly, not noting his unhappiness at being clutched to her wet clothing. In the end, it was only his deep exhaustion that finally wore the baby out.
Sarah made her way to the bathroom at the end of the hall, the night's confrontation playing out in her mind. She thought back to how shocked she'd been to see Jareth standing behind her, shocked, happy, and, what had Trix accused her of? Being in love with him? She stared at herself in the mirror and her lips curled sardonically. In love? With him? She laughed harshly, tears standing on her lashes as she looked at her lips and remembered how he had looked at them, both in the ballroom and in her bedroom before she'd insulted him. Like he'd been going to kiss her. She could see the heat in his eyes, her own reflection fading from view. He'd told her the truth, he loved her.
Slowly she let her eyes slip over the body he had stared at, lain over, with such possessive audacity. She slid her damp pajamas to the floor and turned her back on her reflection, running the tub, filling it with hot water. She avoided the mirror's gaze as she watched the water gurgling up. She poured a generous helping of lavender bubble bath under the tap and amused herself by watching the bubbles float in clumps.
When the tub was filled to just the perfect height of water to accommodate her body without sloshing out, she slipped in, closing her eyes and savoring the heat after the chill of the rain and damp clothes. She forced everything from her thoughts, choosing to compose her next essay for history class in her mind.
**************
Jeannie's mother pulled into the garage, the noise of the garage door alerting her to the end of her solitude. She quickly grabbed her backpack and slipped into her room. She shoved the book under her pillow just as her mom walked into the house, following two arguing preteen boys and a singing 9 year old girl. "Hello!" her mom sang out, opening her door after a quick rap on the French doors of Jeannie's room.
"Hi, Mom." Jeannie replied distantly, feigning concentration on her homework.
Her mom smiled tiredly. "Sorry we're so late. I'm going to order pizza."
Jeannie looked up and forced a smile. "Yum!"
Her mom, tired and worn out from her long day and long drive home with three grumpy kids, smiled and closed the door, happy to not have to endure Jeannie's complaints about dinner on top of everything else. She headed to the family room to call Pizza Hut, then to get back to grading papers. The boys moved upstairs to take out their hostility towards each other through Mortal Kombat and Lisa turned on the TV and chattered to her distracted mom.
Jeannie hid in her room, staring at the book, almost hypnotized. Finally, she decided it was too personal to read about Sarah like that. But, as she went to stuff it in her desk, her hand was shaking so badly it fell to the floor. She looked down at it and noted that it had fallen open at the beginning of the book. Absently, she glanced over it and realized that the beginning had changed. Curious, she picked it up, and found a brief history of the Labyrinth.
****++++****
"Jareth has been the King of the Labyrinth since its creation. A war between the Fae kind and the Human kind was tearing Earth apart. In desperation, his parents, two of the last powerful Fae left on Earth, created a land Underground, where they sent their infant son, a few of the older Fae, many of the pacifist Fae, as well as all those creatures of magic that preferred to accept life in exile rather than almost certain death at the hands of the Humans."
"In order to build this realm, it had to be built on magic. But the cost of sustaining that magic could not be bourne by the inhabitants of the Underground alone. It had to also have an above ground source. That source was chosen as dreams. Human dreams give magic to the Underground to keep the land stable. If Human dreams can not provide this magic, the drain is bourne by Jareth himself."
"Jareth grew up bitter. He did not wish to be trapped here. He despised the Humans for their selfish need to steal Earth for themselves. He wanted revenge for the deaths of his parents and the enforced exile of his people. He found out his special power when he turned 10 Human years. His was the ability to not only see a Human's dreams, but to affect them. But, in order to stay young and powerful, in order for his lands to stay fruitful and peaceful, Human dreams were vital."
"The perfect plan for revenge came to Jareth as he watched Earth through his crystals and wandered through their dreams at night. Some of the most valuable dreams for his lands were boring and mundane to him. Simple dreams, most often young women's dreams, the dreams of a good man, a nice home and children, fed the stability and peacefulness of the Underground. But they also gave Jareth an idea. Most people cherished their children; but sometimes, they grew angry or frustrated. Suppose he wove a spell, that if they said the right words, he could take the children? He set about his plan, and on the night of its completion, he manipulated a playwright's dreams. The next morning, the playwright began writing a play that told of a frustrated young woman who was forced to take care of a child that was spoiled and loved, whereas she was abused and despised."
"She wished away the child, the love of the Goblin King an additional hook added by the two-bit playwright hack for sentimental value. The play wasn't a hit, but it served its purpose. People turned the play into an old wives' tale. People wished their babies away."
"In some lands, Jareth sent goblins. In others, he sent brownies. But in no land did someone realize they could challenge him for a very long time. But for all Jareth's plans for revenge, he found he could not harm his new subjects. So, he took care of them, raising them up as if they had been born to the Underground. He never told them they had been rejected. As time passed, the people above ground became more and more cruel. Many times children were wished away by neglectful, abusive parents. Jareth began appearing himself to deal with the remorseless wishers. He gave them the chance to face his Labyrinth. Very few accepted, all failed."
"In all the wished away children, he looked for the potential to be a companion. He found many girls who, at one time or another, were happy to share his bed. He made good friends of both sexes. But he never found the perfect companion, not a friend to be his right hand, his most trusted advisor, to understand the burdens of his position; nor a woman to be his queen, his succor, his perfect match. He grew lonely and heartsick, wondering where he could find his own dreams. Was it too much to ask that he might have true love and true friendship?"
"Centuries passed. Logic and science took the place of faith and wild dreaming. Jareth became a mere myth, something to be laughed at. His name had long been forgotten, except sometimes parents might conjure him up as a Boogeyman, terrorizing naughty children with the fear that if they misbehaved, "the Boogeyman will get you!" Dreams became wrapped up with war, lust, greed, vengeance and hate. The simple dreams remained, but the dark dreams lent instability to the land, counterbalancing the good of the simple dreams. Jareth grew disillusioned and began to spend long hours moping, trying to leave everything behind. He searched the heavens for answers, but none came. To find the kind of dreamers he sought, he had to search long and hard. He only found them by chance. But when he found one, it was like a new lease on life. He followed the dreamer's life with great interest and hope."
**************
Jareth could feel Jeannie's hands on his soul. He knew she was reading about his past. He didn't care. He had shut himself up in his study, with a good bottle of old wine and a very old friend. He drank until he didn't see Sarah's face anymore. Drank 'til he didn't hear her saying she didn't believe in him anymore. But when he'd drunk 'til he slept, he dreamt of her.
He settled into a deep depression. He broke his crystal viewing pane, occasionally amusing himself by watching the above ground through its fractured lens. It fit the way his soul felt, he decided.
His friends, his subjects, all but his goblins steered clear of the Labyrinth and the Castle Beyond the Goblin City. Only the short-memoried goblins could withstand the moody king's rages. And a good number of them got dropped into the Bog for their efforts to cheer him up. Not that there was much difference between their previous rank stench and the Bog's. The Bog's stench was just stronger. But a goblin's nose isn't very sensitive and Jareth didn't care what he smelt, what he ate, what he did. He was alone.
**************
Jeannie hid the book. The prologue had interested her a great deal, but once the pizza arrived and hit her stomach, she realized the danger of the book. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life watching what Sarah was doing. She didn't think Sarah would want that. So, she went into her nightmare closet, a one-time walk-in closet that was now a climb-in closet. She climbed to the top of clothes and games and toys and books and she made a hole that burrowed about halfway down. She put the book in the bottom of that hole in the pile of junk and covered it back up. And there it sat until Jeannie moved out for college.
When it came time for college, she and her best friend Melinda decided to go to the same college. They got a dorm room together at first, but although they loved each other dearly, they didn't make good housemates. After a big fight, they split up into separate apartments, still nearby each other, but far enough away that each girl's bad habits didn't drive the other crazy.
Jeannie maintained contact with all her friends, Sarah, Debbie, Mel, Rikki and Solei. Debbie moved to the coast to study ecology. Rikki was still in high school and Solei studied music, composing professionally for a play in her home country, Greece. She didn't see any of them often, with the exception of Mel. She dated casually, but didn't get seriously involved with anyone. At 18 years old, she and Sarah were still Trix and Honey, still writing letters by hand to each other, though emailing everyone else. The crystal ball that had appeared on her dresser the day of Sarah and Jareth's big fight collected dust. She never allowed it to be touched and she always handled it with a cloth. It made her nervous.
**************
Sarah reluctantly left the warm bath and shivering, wrapped herself up in her teddy-bear brown fluffy bath towel. She padded over to look at herself in the steam-covered mirror. She tilted her head as she studied herself. She was unaware that she was speaking out loud. She traced the curve of her jaw with her finger. "Do you find me beautiful, Jareth?" she murmured. Her hand strayed to her mouth. "Is this the mouth you long to kiss?" Her eyes were mocking despite the soft, almost languid tone of her voice. She imagined him looking at her, was certain he was watching. She slid the towel from her body and glanced down at herself. Then, looking at her reflection but imagining Jareth watching her, she asked, "Do you want me? You do?" A harsh laugh escaped her throat. "Never you, Jareth. Never!" There was no wildness in her eyes now; only a determination to hurt him.
He was always watching wasn't he? So surely the little prick was watching now. That thought impelled her. She moved to her closet, so neatly arranged, and began putting together some new outfits. A tight dress her mother had bought her. A few blouses she had put away because they were too short, ending at or a little above her waist. A pair of jeans that hugged her curves just right.
She pulled out her diary. With a bold red pen, she wrote:
Dear Diary,
Today begins a new plan for my life. Soft and sweet Honey is dead. From now on, I will be bold and sexy Sarah. He has been watching me, waiting for me to grow up, thinking he can have me if he waits long enough. He claims to love me, yet he set me up. Probably hoped I would fail and then he could keep Toby and me! But I am going to deny him his dreams. And I am going to start tomorrow. Tomorrow, I am going to get a date.
Step one: New clothes. No more dreamy, loose clothes for me. If J. noticed my body, then with the right clothes, I can attract any man. And to hurt J., any man will do.
Step two: New attitude. No more rushing off to the park. No, I'm going to hang around school and get noticed. I'm going to learn how to turn guys' heads.
Step three: Get a date. Any guy, as long as he's good- looking, will do. Preferably with a car.
Step four: First kiss. Gotta stage it just right. Make sure J. can't miss it. Let him know just how glad I am that I escaped his kiss in the ballroom.
I'll detail the rest of my plans later. Have to make it look like I went to bed at a decent hour before the parents arrive home.
Sarah tucked the diary back into its hiding place and went to bed. The next weekend, Karen had to find a babysitter; because, after all, she couldn't give up her dinner with Robert just because Sarah had a date. Sarah and her date shared a most romantic kiss under a full moon, a perfect night for a white owl to see everything, should he be watching.
Sarah's new style was carefully hidden from Jeannie. She still signed her letters "H." and still called her Trix, but much of her life was kept out of the letters and phone calls. She moved towards graduation, trying not to think of Jareth and yet to hurt him at the same time. She had many one- sided arguments with him in her mind, arguments that she always won. She was very careful to never say his name.
**************
Jareth spent five years in deep depression. Each year was no better or worse that the one before it. It was just an interminable expanse of time of which he could see no end. He wanted to die, but he couldn't do that to his subjects. He wanted to blot out her memory, but the drunker he got, the sooner he dreamt of her. Neither girl picked up his crystal or touched his book. He had lost them both. Disappointment filled his soul with rages and moodiness. His children stayed away, not because they were afraid of him, but because he refused to see them.
It took a desperate cry for help, to be summoned by his own name, to break through the lethargy. He didn't even pause to think. His name echoed throughout the castle, a high-pitched scream, but in a flurry of feathers, he was already gone. He left behind a rudely awakened nest of goblins who looked around blearily, wondering who had screamed.
by Bunniko
AN:?I'm back! My family is visiting me here in Kyoto, so I haven't had much time to write, but I can now. Happy? Tell me! Anywho, another chapter with oblique references to me and my friends. So again, there's some stuff I own. I own: Trixie/Jeannie, Melinda, Deborah, Rikki, Solei and other things as they appear. I do not own: Texas (bummer), England (yay!), the Labyrinth (sniffle), Jareth, Sarah, etc. To my real life friends: See if you can find yourself. Did I write you in? lol
Please Note: This chapter is set AFTER the movie, and will actually deal with both girls.
PS: Thanks to all my reviewers!! By the way, what do y'all think of Trixie/Jeannie? Like her? Hate her? Don't care? I'm really curious, since she is one-third of the story. : So, please, lemme know? You can also always drop me a line at fieryfaerie@yahoo.com. Don't kill me if the replies are slow, I am in Japan, y'know.
Without further ado, Chapter Six! (Can't say that in Japanese yet.)
Chapter Six -?Three Lives, One Book
Sarah stood at the window for a long time after he'd left, rain mingling with the tears on her face. She called and called, but to no avail. He was gone.
She didn't know how long it was before Toby's hoarse crying finally broke through her daze. Pulling the window shut, she idly noticed how the rain had soaked into her carpet, her curtains and had even been blown into the room to dampen many of her toys and books. She shivered as she walked down the hallway to Toby's room. She comforted him distractedly, not noting his unhappiness at being clutched to her wet clothing. In the end, it was only his deep exhaustion that finally wore the baby out.
Sarah made her way to the bathroom at the end of the hall, the night's confrontation playing out in her mind. She thought back to how shocked she'd been to see Jareth standing behind her, shocked, happy, and, what had Trix accused her of? Being in love with him? She stared at herself in the mirror and her lips curled sardonically. In love? With him? She laughed harshly, tears standing on her lashes as she looked at her lips and remembered how he had looked at them, both in the ballroom and in her bedroom before she'd insulted him. Like he'd been going to kiss her. She could see the heat in his eyes, her own reflection fading from view. He'd told her the truth, he loved her.
Slowly she let her eyes slip over the body he had stared at, lain over, with such possessive audacity. She slid her damp pajamas to the floor and turned her back on her reflection, running the tub, filling it with hot water. She avoided the mirror's gaze as she watched the water gurgling up. She poured a generous helping of lavender bubble bath under the tap and amused herself by watching the bubbles float in clumps.
When the tub was filled to just the perfect height of water to accommodate her body without sloshing out, she slipped in, closing her eyes and savoring the heat after the chill of the rain and damp clothes. She forced everything from her thoughts, choosing to compose her next essay for history class in her mind.
**************
Jeannie's mother pulled into the garage, the noise of the garage door alerting her to the end of her solitude. She quickly grabbed her backpack and slipped into her room. She shoved the book under her pillow just as her mom walked into the house, following two arguing preteen boys and a singing 9 year old girl. "Hello!" her mom sang out, opening her door after a quick rap on the French doors of Jeannie's room.
"Hi, Mom." Jeannie replied distantly, feigning concentration on her homework.
Her mom smiled tiredly. "Sorry we're so late. I'm going to order pizza."
Jeannie looked up and forced a smile. "Yum!"
Her mom, tired and worn out from her long day and long drive home with three grumpy kids, smiled and closed the door, happy to not have to endure Jeannie's complaints about dinner on top of everything else. She headed to the family room to call Pizza Hut, then to get back to grading papers. The boys moved upstairs to take out their hostility towards each other through Mortal Kombat and Lisa turned on the TV and chattered to her distracted mom.
Jeannie hid in her room, staring at the book, almost hypnotized. Finally, she decided it was too personal to read about Sarah like that. But, as she went to stuff it in her desk, her hand was shaking so badly it fell to the floor. She looked down at it and noted that it had fallen open at the beginning of the book. Absently, she glanced over it and realized that the beginning had changed. Curious, she picked it up, and found a brief history of the Labyrinth.
****++++****
"Jareth has been the King of the Labyrinth since its creation. A war between the Fae kind and the Human kind was tearing Earth apart. In desperation, his parents, two of the last powerful Fae left on Earth, created a land Underground, where they sent their infant son, a few of the older Fae, many of the pacifist Fae, as well as all those creatures of magic that preferred to accept life in exile rather than almost certain death at the hands of the Humans."
"In order to build this realm, it had to be built on magic. But the cost of sustaining that magic could not be bourne by the inhabitants of the Underground alone. It had to also have an above ground source. That source was chosen as dreams. Human dreams give magic to the Underground to keep the land stable. If Human dreams can not provide this magic, the drain is bourne by Jareth himself."
"Jareth grew up bitter. He did not wish to be trapped here. He despised the Humans for their selfish need to steal Earth for themselves. He wanted revenge for the deaths of his parents and the enforced exile of his people. He found out his special power when he turned 10 Human years. His was the ability to not only see a Human's dreams, but to affect them. But, in order to stay young and powerful, in order for his lands to stay fruitful and peaceful, Human dreams were vital."
"The perfect plan for revenge came to Jareth as he watched Earth through his crystals and wandered through their dreams at night. Some of the most valuable dreams for his lands were boring and mundane to him. Simple dreams, most often young women's dreams, the dreams of a good man, a nice home and children, fed the stability and peacefulness of the Underground. But they also gave Jareth an idea. Most people cherished their children; but sometimes, they grew angry or frustrated. Suppose he wove a spell, that if they said the right words, he could take the children? He set about his plan, and on the night of its completion, he manipulated a playwright's dreams. The next morning, the playwright began writing a play that told of a frustrated young woman who was forced to take care of a child that was spoiled and loved, whereas she was abused and despised."
"She wished away the child, the love of the Goblin King an additional hook added by the two-bit playwright hack for sentimental value. The play wasn't a hit, but it served its purpose. People turned the play into an old wives' tale. People wished their babies away."
"In some lands, Jareth sent goblins. In others, he sent brownies. But in no land did someone realize they could challenge him for a very long time. But for all Jareth's plans for revenge, he found he could not harm his new subjects. So, he took care of them, raising them up as if they had been born to the Underground. He never told them they had been rejected. As time passed, the people above ground became more and more cruel. Many times children were wished away by neglectful, abusive parents. Jareth began appearing himself to deal with the remorseless wishers. He gave them the chance to face his Labyrinth. Very few accepted, all failed."
"In all the wished away children, he looked for the potential to be a companion. He found many girls who, at one time or another, were happy to share his bed. He made good friends of both sexes. But he never found the perfect companion, not a friend to be his right hand, his most trusted advisor, to understand the burdens of his position; nor a woman to be his queen, his succor, his perfect match. He grew lonely and heartsick, wondering where he could find his own dreams. Was it too much to ask that he might have true love and true friendship?"
"Centuries passed. Logic and science took the place of faith and wild dreaming. Jareth became a mere myth, something to be laughed at. His name had long been forgotten, except sometimes parents might conjure him up as a Boogeyman, terrorizing naughty children with the fear that if they misbehaved, "the Boogeyman will get you!" Dreams became wrapped up with war, lust, greed, vengeance and hate. The simple dreams remained, but the dark dreams lent instability to the land, counterbalancing the good of the simple dreams. Jareth grew disillusioned and began to spend long hours moping, trying to leave everything behind. He searched the heavens for answers, but none came. To find the kind of dreamers he sought, he had to search long and hard. He only found them by chance. But when he found one, it was like a new lease on life. He followed the dreamer's life with great interest and hope."
**************
Jareth could feel Jeannie's hands on his soul. He knew she was reading about his past. He didn't care. He had shut himself up in his study, with a good bottle of old wine and a very old friend. He drank until he didn't see Sarah's face anymore. Drank 'til he didn't hear her saying she didn't believe in him anymore. But when he'd drunk 'til he slept, he dreamt of her.
He settled into a deep depression. He broke his crystal viewing pane, occasionally amusing himself by watching the above ground through its fractured lens. It fit the way his soul felt, he decided.
His friends, his subjects, all but his goblins steered clear of the Labyrinth and the Castle Beyond the Goblin City. Only the short-memoried goblins could withstand the moody king's rages. And a good number of them got dropped into the Bog for their efforts to cheer him up. Not that there was much difference between their previous rank stench and the Bog's. The Bog's stench was just stronger. But a goblin's nose isn't very sensitive and Jareth didn't care what he smelt, what he ate, what he did. He was alone.
**************
Jeannie hid the book. The prologue had interested her a great deal, but once the pizza arrived and hit her stomach, she realized the danger of the book. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life watching what Sarah was doing. She didn't think Sarah would want that. So, she went into her nightmare closet, a one-time walk-in closet that was now a climb-in closet. She climbed to the top of clothes and games and toys and books and she made a hole that burrowed about halfway down. She put the book in the bottom of that hole in the pile of junk and covered it back up. And there it sat until Jeannie moved out for college.
When it came time for college, she and her best friend Melinda decided to go to the same college. They got a dorm room together at first, but although they loved each other dearly, they didn't make good housemates. After a big fight, they split up into separate apartments, still nearby each other, but far enough away that each girl's bad habits didn't drive the other crazy.
Jeannie maintained contact with all her friends, Sarah, Debbie, Mel, Rikki and Solei. Debbie moved to the coast to study ecology. Rikki was still in high school and Solei studied music, composing professionally for a play in her home country, Greece. She didn't see any of them often, with the exception of Mel. She dated casually, but didn't get seriously involved with anyone. At 18 years old, she and Sarah were still Trix and Honey, still writing letters by hand to each other, though emailing everyone else. The crystal ball that had appeared on her dresser the day of Sarah and Jareth's big fight collected dust. She never allowed it to be touched and she always handled it with a cloth. It made her nervous.
**************
Sarah reluctantly left the warm bath and shivering, wrapped herself up in her teddy-bear brown fluffy bath towel. She padded over to look at herself in the steam-covered mirror. She tilted her head as she studied herself. She was unaware that she was speaking out loud. She traced the curve of her jaw with her finger. "Do you find me beautiful, Jareth?" she murmured. Her hand strayed to her mouth. "Is this the mouth you long to kiss?" Her eyes were mocking despite the soft, almost languid tone of her voice. She imagined him looking at her, was certain he was watching. She slid the towel from her body and glanced down at herself. Then, looking at her reflection but imagining Jareth watching her, she asked, "Do you want me? You do?" A harsh laugh escaped her throat. "Never you, Jareth. Never!" There was no wildness in her eyes now; only a determination to hurt him.
He was always watching wasn't he? So surely the little prick was watching now. That thought impelled her. She moved to her closet, so neatly arranged, and began putting together some new outfits. A tight dress her mother had bought her. A few blouses she had put away because they were too short, ending at or a little above her waist. A pair of jeans that hugged her curves just right.
She pulled out her diary. With a bold red pen, she wrote:
Dear Diary,
Today begins a new plan for my life. Soft and sweet Honey is dead. From now on, I will be bold and sexy Sarah. He has been watching me, waiting for me to grow up, thinking he can have me if he waits long enough. He claims to love me, yet he set me up. Probably hoped I would fail and then he could keep Toby and me! But I am going to deny him his dreams. And I am going to start tomorrow. Tomorrow, I am going to get a date.
Step one: New clothes. No more dreamy, loose clothes for me. If J. noticed my body, then with the right clothes, I can attract any man. And to hurt J., any man will do.
Step two: New attitude. No more rushing off to the park. No, I'm going to hang around school and get noticed. I'm going to learn how to turn guys' heads.
Step three: Get a date. Any guy, as long as he's good- looking, will do. Preferably with a car.
Step four: First kiss. Gotta stage it just right. Make sure J. can't miss it. Let him know just how glad I am that I escaped his kiss in the ballroom.
I'll detail the rest of my plans later. Have to make it look like I went to bed at a decent hour before the parents arrive home.
Sarah tucked the diary back into its hiding place and went to bed. The next weekend, Karen had to find a babysitter; because, after all, she couldn't give up her dinner with Robert just because Sarah had a date. Sarah and her date shared a most romantic kiss under a full moon, a perfect night for a white owl to see everything, should he be watching.
Sarah's new style was carefully hidden from Jeannie. She still signed her letters "H." and still called her Trix, but much of her life was kept out of the letters and phone calls. She moved towards graduation, trying not to think of Jareth and yet to hurt him at the same time. She had many one- sided arguments with him in her mind, arguments that she always won. She was very careful to never say his name.
**************
Jareth spent five years in deep depression. Each year was no better or worse that the one before it. It was just an interminable expanse of time of which he could see no end. He wanted to die, but he couldn't do that to his subjects. He wanted to blot out her memory, but the drunker he got, the sooner he dreamt of her. Neither girl picked up his crystal or touched his book. He had lost them both. Disappointment filled his soul with rages and moodiness. His children stayed away, not because they were afraid of him, but because he refused to see them.
It took a desperate cry for help, to be summoned by his own name, to break through the lethargy. He didn't even pause to think. His name echoed throughout the castle, a high-pitched scream, but in a flurry of feathers, he was already gone. He left behind a rudely awakened nest of goblins who looked around blearily, wondering who had screamed.