Author's Notes: Thanks to b00ks mom and musicgirl141 for the reviews! I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far...

Chapter 4
How many of our daydreams would darken into nightmares if there seemed any danger of their coming true!
 ~Logan Pearsall Smith, Afterthoughts, "Life and Human Nature"

            Luckily for his nose, Hoggle was able to convince Sir Didymus to have the meeting at his cottage instead of Sir Didymus's shack in the bog. Ludo brought his slightly smaller, more articulate sister, the monster Rina.

            "Him ain't letting me into her dreams," Hoggle grumbled, "She called. Me thinks Sarah is'n trouble. I warned her!"

            "Verily, Fair Maiden is distressed; it is our duty to rescue her from her fate." Sir Didymus jumped on his chair, waving his staff in the air. "I will fight anyone, anywhere!" Ambrosias huddled underneath the table.

            "Ludo save Sarah," Ludo wailed.

            "Pfft. You boys," Rina said, "You couldn't save her even if you did storm the castle. What would you do to wake her, whack her over the head with that stick? We need a plan…"

            "Whats can we do, Jareth won' let us do anything anyhow. And whats if she don't wanna wake up?" Hoggle slammed his chair into the table and dashed outside, reluctant to let anybody see his sorrow.

            Even after Hoggle's display, Rina was not prepared to surrender. "Well, we have to do something to save the first to ever best the king—friend or not. I will go question an acquaintance at the library, perhaps together we can find information that helps," she said, making it clear who received all the brains in her family.

*          *          *

            Picking at her lunch, Sarah sat in the cafeteria giving audience to her court of followers. All the girls wanted her approval and all the boys just wanted; but every one of them was oblivious of her distraction.
They don't even see me. Everyone is my friend, no one knows me.

            The tabletop was covered with thousands of tiny peach dots; she tried to count them all. After she lost count for the third time, Sarah started stabbing her French fries into a huge mound of ketchup then abandoning them again on the side of her plate.
How can I even complain? What would they say if I did? Poor child, that spoiled brat criticizes even a 'perfect' life. Ha.

            "Sarah, you're coming to the party later, yeah?" one of the guys shouted from a few tables away.

            "Yeah, Sarah, you gotta come, wouldn't be a party without ya!" someone on the other side of the group said.

            "Of course she is," Liz yelled back, elbowing Sarah under the table.

            "Yeah, sure, whatever." Sarah said, pulling her things together and stuffing them in her bag. "Things are always exactly as they seem in this place." She slung the bag on her shoulder and sauntered out the door, ignoring her friends' stares.

            "What's with her today?"

            "Same ol' Sarah, probably just practicing a line or something," Liz said; the entire group laughed and went on with their lunch.

*          *          *

            "Things are always exactly as they seem in this place."

            Sarah's words reverberated in Jareth's brain. Sitting back in his chair, he pulled his gaze from the crystal. Jareth obsessed over watching Sarah in her dream world; he would rarely step foot outside her chamber, and then only for a quick meal or nap. If anyone interrupted him, he would throw a crystal at them—sending them straight to the edge of the bog of eternal stench—without warning. The goblins were quite dull, but they all learned to avoid that room in fear of being dumped in the middle of the bog next time.

            All of his spying seemed to have no affect on the sleeping girl. He was frustrated beyond belief; she had not remembered the Labyrinth, her friends, or the Goblin King since he had started watching. Jareth would not allow her to push him out of her mind so easily. If the spying had no adverse effect, certainly a minuscule amount of meddling would be acceptable…

            Leaning forward once more, Jareth waved his hand over the crystal. "Let us see how you like this little diversion," he whispered. Jareth snickered.

*          *          *

            Sarah pulled outfit after outfit out of her closet, shook her head, and put them back in. She anticipated nothing but mind numbing boredom at this party; everyone expected her to show up, so she would go. Choosing a simple, short, black dress, she threw it towards the bed. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a tiny flash of red just before the dress billowed over… something. Curiosity got the best of her; she walked over to the bed and grabbed the dress.
Where did this come from? I don't have any books like this—

            "The Labyrinth?"

            Sarah sat down to read.