Pounced

By: Scuff

Authors Note: I own nothing accept the cat and my story plot. That is all...  Oh yeah, reviews are very welcome. Tell me how to improve! ^~^

Sarah popped a piece of Halloween candy into her mouth as she let her eyes travel over her living room filled with a variety of underground residents.  The wise old man, whose bird hat was ducking down in fear of the ceiling fan, had claimed her armchair as his perch for the night.  The little blue worm had taken a place on the edge of a brick that protruded from her fireplace.  The worm's wife, or "Missus" as he called her, was home sick with a touch of flu.  Ludo had placed himself in front of her television set to gaze at the 'pweedy' colors flashing across the screen.  A few goblin guards had come to her party as well and had made themselves at home in her kitchen.  Sir Diddymus had found her Scrabble board game, his personal favorite, and was playing Hoggle in the middle of her living room floor.  Her cat, which she had dubbed Schneider, sprawled out on one of her coats that lay over the back of her couch, his bright orange fur no doubt covering the garment. She smiled softly and made baby noises to him as she passed, scratching him behind his ears.

Sarah had thrown the party to celebrate her first Halloween out of school.  The years had seemed to fly by with her friends at her side and her busy schedule.  She had called upon her friends quite often, quickly picking up methods to hide her small parties from her parents and baby brother, Toby.  The easiest, and simplest, way to do this was to wait until she had the house to herself.  When she moved out of her parents home she could afford to call upon her pals whenever she wanted.

"Sarah?  Hows do ya spell botched?" Hoggle asked, staring hard at his small wooden pieces.

"Like this," she said kneeling down and re-arranging the letters. "B-o-t-c-h-e-d…botched." She was surprised her little dwarf friend even knew the word.  Hoggle had a good heart but he lacked on brains.

He beamed at her.  "His Majesty used that word a lot whens I'm around."

"Ah," she thought.

She now lived in one story white house with red tile roofing.  It wasn't a large house, but it sufficed for her, a single woman in her twenties.  She had one bathroom (no tub), one bedroom, a living room, kitchen and small front yard.  She had decorated her entire house in a fantastic manor, using all types of mystical figurines and accessories to brighten up her home.  She had several Escher posters framed and placed on the walls in her living room.  Several of her own abstract artworks hung along the short hallway leading to the bathroom and bedroom.  Shelves lined almost every wall, filled with mostly books but also containing knickknacks her underground friends had brought her.

She caught one of the objects as it was hurled across the room by a firey.  It was her personal favorite statuette.  (Although she would never admit to it).  She quickly set down the small figuring looking vaguely like Jareth on a shelf and continued to travel around the room, attempting to be a good hostess.  All in all Sarah was content with her life, but as she scanned over the crowd, she couldn't help but feel that something was missing.  As if she had forgotten to do something but couldn't quite remember what it was.  She had been having that feeling a lot over the past year.  At first she had thought that maybe she was lonely for a companion, and so began to allow her friends, the human ones, to set her up on blind dates.  She had met nice boys, and a few very handsome nice boys, but had never longed to be with any of them for a long length of time.  It was then that she got her cat, which kept her company, as well as left little reminders that he was present on all her clothing.  However, although she loved Schneider dearly, he still failed to fill the blank space inside of herself. 

At that moment something caught her eye.  One of the goblin guards was opening her living room window.  She started forward to tell him that there was no need because she had the air conditioning on, or "magic cold wind box" as they tended to call it, when a huge white owl flew through the window and landed on the arm of the couch.  All clamor in the room quieted. Everyone was painfully aware of the Goblin King's sudden appearance.  Sarah paled but found herself gravitating towards her couch.  Quickly, as if to take back his mistake, the goblin guard closed the window.  The sudden bang of the window meeting the sill made everyone jump.  Everyone but Sarah, that is, who was transfixed and deaf due to the pounding of her own heart.  The air was thick with tension and Sarah broke it the only way she knew how.

"Jareth?" she said, her voice barely audible.

The owl had a moment to look cocky and ruffle it's feathers, puffing up importantly, before Schneider pounced on it.