...he hunts for the Prince...he must find the Prince...must find him before They do...he must rescue the Prince...must rescue him from the Enemies...the Prince does not see the Enemies...the King sees the scaffold...he scales it, but something prevents him from pulling himself over the edge...he sees the stack of metallic disks sitting near the edge within his reach...he makes a desperate grab for them...he clutches them tightly...the sharp edges bite into his hand...he cannot lose any of them...he loses his precarious hold on the platform...he knows he will fall awkwardly trying to retain all the disks...he will hurt himself...he falls...falling...

The alarm blaring, Alia sat straight up in bed, disoriented and groggy. She found herself and turned off the alarm, then flopped back in bed and groaned. She had dreamt, she knew that with certainty, but the alarm had disturbed it. "I dreamed…" Alia tried to remember, but the last faint impressions faded away even as she chased after them, leaving her only with a sense of urgency and the feeling that she had not dreamt as herself. She had had dreams like that before, where she was only a spectator not a participant, but usually she remembered more of them. They always left her wondering where they came from.

"I'd better get up before I fall back asleep," she muttered, throwing back the covers and groaning as she sat up again. She felt no better than she had the night before when she went to bed. "Ohh," she groaned, "I don't want to get up. I wish I could sleep in, but I've got so much to do."

Alia dragged herself to the bathroom to shower and get dressed. Still moving in slow motion she made herself some cold cereal for breakfast using the last of the milk.

"Got to stop at the store tonight – I'm out of everything."

She walked over to the computer and turned it on to check her e-mail while she ate. While waiting for everything to start and load a flare of color on her desk caught her eye. There, in a puddle of sunlight on her desk, sat the rock she had found down in the parking lot the night before. It glowed blue and green in the sun. Alia frowned. Though sleepy and not thinking clearly, Alia could swear it was red last night, maybe purple, but definitely not blue and green.

Forgetting about her e-mail and the computer, she set her cereal down and slowly reached for the stone. She examined it. It felt the same, had the same weight, the same shape as she remembered.

"It changes colors? Must be like those paints that change color in warm and cold water." It made sense. It had been cool and rained last night and now the rock had been sitting baking in the sun. She held it up to the light streaming in the window, mesmerized by the glowing colors shifting in its depths.

The computer chimed, reminding her of her e-mail. "I'll have to look this up later," she said as she replaced it on the desk.

Alia checked her e-mail and turned the computer off. She looked out at the kitchen and groaned at the mess. The dishes from the past week? – she could not remember when she had last taken time to bother with them – accumulated in the sink and overflowed onto the counters on either side. Alia picked up her empty cereal bowl, pulled back her long hair, and tackled the kitchen. In half an hour she had an empty sink, a full dishwasher, a clean counter, and a shopping list.

"Next step, the kitchen table," she sighed as she slumped dispiritedly in one of the chairs and surveyed the small mountain of books, notebooks, papers, and paperwork. Several hours later she had succeeded in making a sizable impression in the mess and gotten most of it under control, at least temporarily. As she was gathering her finished work to carry down to her car, she remembered to write a note to post on the bulletin board about the rock.

When she got back from posting the note and putting things in the trunk of her car, Alia tried to make herself a late lunch. She was left with a jar of pickles, some mayonnaise, half a bottle of salad dressing that she had never liked in the first place, but had not brought herself to throw away yet, a jar of jelly, and no bread (she was not going to count the moldy crusts from the end of the loaf she had missed when cleaning). After very little deliberation, she decided to pick up something to eat on the way to the hospital.

Alia gathered up more papers to grade to take with her, just in case Cara fell asleep and she did not. On a whim, she also grabbed the rock and stuck it in her pocket again. Maybe she would show it to Cara.

Arriving early for visiting hours and having plenty of time to sit down and eat, she decided to try the hospital cafeteria. "Theoretically, it should be better for me, right? And it shouldn't cost any more than fast food."

While eating her meal, she remembered that people do not come to hospitals for culinary delights. "Live and learn," she thought. She gathered her papers and purse, threw out her trash, and headed up to see Cara.

When she entered Cara's room, Alia found the patient listlessly thumbing through a magazine. Cara's large brown eyes looked up and she smiled when she saw Alia. "Hi! Long time no see. What's new with you?"

"Hmm, let's see. Since last night I've won the lottery and met a tall, dark, handsome, and mysterious stranger that I'm running away with as soon as I leave here. I just came to say goodbye."

"My, you're in a good mood today!"

"Ye-es,...yes, I am. I wasn't really when I got up this morning – I was exhausted – and I've got a ton of things to do, but right now I'm in a good mood. Strange. Must be the hospital food. I ate a late lunch here in the cafeteria. It gives you a whole new appreciation for life. You look like you're feeling well. You don't usually feel up to looking at magazines."

"Yeah, I feel pretty good. They let me sit in the sun room for a while this morning."

"That's great! That reminds me...look what I found last night." Alia dug the rock out of her pocket and handed it to Cara. "I found it in the parking lot when I got home last night.

"At first, I thought maybe it was a sample for someone's geology class, but now I think maybe it's some experimental substance. It changes color. See, now it's greenish, but last night, when I picked it up, I swear it was red, a dark purply red. When I got up this morning, it was sitting in the sun and had turned that green color. I think maybe it's heat sensitive, like those paints and plastics they use in toys now."

"But it's cool now. Shouldn't it have gone back to red?"

"Maybe too much heat makes it stick that way. It's a pretty color. Maybe I'll use it as a paperweight. Or you could keep it here if you want it."

Cara laughed, "No, you keep it. You've got plenty of paper laying around you can use it on. It's pretty heavy for its size. I don't think it's plastic. It doesn't feel right for plastic." Cara handed it back to Alia. "So, how long did you stay last night?"

"Until closing time. The nurse came and got me. She had to wake me up and turn off your movie."

"My movie? What movie?"

"The one on the TV. I don't know what it was. Maybe it came on after whatever it was you were watching."

"I didn't watch TV last night. I don't even remember waking up."

Alia frowned, "Maybe one of the nurses turned it on? The scene I saw was pretty weird. It was all stairs, all over the place. And it had this guy in it that I could swear I'd seen before."

"When was this? Maybe it's in the listings." Cara reached for the paper on the table next to the bed. "Let's see, playing last night at the end of visiting hours. What channel was it?"

"I don't know. The nurse turned it off. I didn't see. Have you watched the television today?"

"Hmm? No, but it resets when you turn it off anyway. I have to change the channel every time I turn it on. Very annoying. There are only a couple of movies listed here. You're sure it was a movie?"

"Well, it didn't look like a sitcom."

"No, I guess not. There's 'The Unknown Ranger.' Says that's a western. Sounds like a Lone Ranger knockoff. It wouldn't have fit in that one and it's in black and white anyway. Yours was color, right?"

"Yeah, color."

"The next one is 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights,' and while I wouldn't put anything past Mel Brooks, I've seen that one and I don't remember any scene like the one you described. The only other movie isn't listed here. It's TBA: to be announced. It must have been that one, it was on channel...umm...19. Which doesn't help us much."

"No, it doesn't."

"Well, if it comes on again you have my permission to wake me up or call me or whatever. Maybe I'll recognize the guy." Cara tossed the listings back onto the bedside table and hitched herself up in bed again.

The conversation moved on to other things and eventually lapsed into a companionable silence as Cara went back to her magazine. Once in a while she pointed out something she found interesting, while graded the papers she had brought with her. Eventually Cara laid down in bed and drifted off to sleep. Alia stayed on, continuing her work. She always stayed as long as she could. She had no idea how Cara felt about it – she had not asked and Cara never said – but it made her feel better to stay. So she stayed, even if Cara fell asleep.

Eventually, Alia tired of the work she had brought with her and decided she had earned a break. She reached over and picked up the television listings to see if anything on piqued her interest. Channel 19 had another TBA movie just starting.

"Their programmer must be on vacation. Let's see what this movie is." She turned the television on and turned the volume down all the way before any blaring commercials could wake Cara. She changed the channel, turned it up just a little, and sat down again.

A girl ran through the rain with her dog. Alia watched her disagree with her "wicked" stepmother and run upstairs to change. "Must be a teen movie," she thought.

"That was a quick change of clothes. I wish my hair would dry that fast. Ahh, the magic of movies."

The girl, Sarah, threw another tantrum when she discovered one of her toys missing. Sarah stormed out to take her toy back from her baby brother, the evil spawn of the wicked stepmother.

"I hate you! I hate you! Someone save me. Someone take me away from this awful place!" Sarah exclaimed melodramatically.

"Calgon take her away," giggled Alia before she remembered where she was and clapped her hand over her mouth. She looked guiltily over at Cara to see if she had disturbed her. Not yet. She considered waking her – they always used to have so much fun talking back at movies – but she decided against it. She turned her attention back to the television.

"Did she say it?"

"Shut up!"

These monster commentaries on the side were a hoot, too. Then the baby quit crying. Sarah frantically flipped a light switch on the wall back and forth. "Oh, great, a teen horror movie," Alia muttered. "And why do we flip switches like that? Do we think the switch maybe just wasn't paying attention the first time? The power's out. No, the lights are on in the hall. The bulb must have blown. Oohh, that would give me the creeps, things moving in dark corners like that." Suddenly the French doors blew open, an owl flew inside, and Sarah ducked. Alia's eyes grew wide and she blindly reached out to wake Cara.

"Cara," she hissed. "Cara, it's him. It's the movie! Cara!" She needed Cara to see this for some compelling, unknown reason beyond simple identity verification.

"Hunh? Wha? What's the matter?"

"Look! That's the character from the movie last night. This must be the movie."

"So what's the name of the movie?" She sat up and tried to focus on the screen,

"It doesn't say. Just 'to be announced' again. I didn't catch the beginning. So who is he? Where have I seen him before?"

"Wait a second, let me watch." Cara motioned for Alia to be still. "I think it's David Bowie. You probably saw him in some video recently. You just didn't get a chance to recognize him with the makeup and hair before the TV was turned off."

Alia was skeptical, "I don't know...it doesn't feel like that and I haven't had time to watch any music video stations recently. Did you want to watch the movie? It'd be like old times," Alia wheedled.

"Sure. Why not? I'll schedule my nap in later. Wonder if we can get popcorn from the nurses?" she grinned. "Can you imagine the expressions on their faces?"

Alia scooted closer to Cara's bed and they turned their attention back to the movie. A small man named Hoggle was fumigating fairies. They watched quietly until a little blue-haired worm with a red scarf showed up.

"Nice hair. Must be a movie from the '80s with all these punk hairstyles..."

"...What sort of idiot would ask to go down a hole?" Alia demanded.
"Alice did," Cara reminded her.
"Yeah, and look where it got her. Tea with mad hatters and croquet with a tyrant queen. Off with her head!"

"Now I know where to send all of my plastic costume jewelry."
"That broom closet must contain the only broom in the whole Labyrinth..."

"...Great hat. At least you'd never have to worry about talking to yourself," Cara commented.
"Yeah, the hat would do all the talking for you..."

"...Hey, lady, what about you? Does your head come off?" Alia mimicked the rambunctious orange creatures in the movie.
"Of course it doesn't." Cara sobered momentarily. "I wish it did. Then I could get a replacement." Then she grinned. "Alice could have used them. Off with their heads..."

"...Uh, uh, uh. Don't drop that peach. Big Brother is watching you."
"From a safe distance of course. Wouldn't want to get too close to that smell..."

"...I'll never look at a peach the same way again," Cara sighed after the crystal ballroom shattered.
Alia nodded in agreement, "Yeah, maybe we need to eat more fruit..."
"Or maybe not," Cara shuddered at the sight of the green worm inching across the orange flesh.

Sarah had returned to her room, "It was just a dream. I dreamed it all, Lancelot. But it seemed so real."

"A dream?" Alia repeated. The phrase triggered a feeling.

"What's the matter?" Cara asked.

"Oh, nothing. I had a dream this morning that I couldn't remember when I woke up. What she said reminded me about it. I just had the feeling that maybe that was where I'd seen him before, but I dreamed after I saw that scene so it couldn't have been." They turned back to the movie. By this time the companions were working on getting into the city.

"You know, if everyone had moved a little faster they would have made it through those gates," Alia pointed out. "I wonder when that stair scene comes in? We have to be near the end by now," she said as she checked her watch.

Jareth called the goblin guards out after the group of friends and Ludo summoned the rocks. Just after a rock jammed a firing cannon, three goblin guards blocked the path into the castle. "Hey, those are the bad guys from Power Rangers! This must have been their first job." Cara looked sheepish when Alia gave her a strange look. "I have a lot of time on my hands during the day. I have to watch something. It's either that or soaps."

She turned back to the movie where Sarah and company were climbing a cluttered staircase and muttered, "Geeze, you'd think, being a king, he could afford a housekeeper or six."

"There's the room! That's the room I saw last night!"

"So this is definitely the movie. Wonder what it's called? Maybe they'll show it in the credits at the end."

They watched the rest of the movie in silence until the credits started. "See, there. I told you it was David Bowie," Cara told Alia. "You just saw a video somewhere. Hey, it's a Henson movie. I should have guessed that they were all muppets." Finally, at the end of the credits, it showed the title of the movie: Labyrinth.

"Well, now you know," Cara yawned. "What time is it anyway?"

Alia stretched and looked at her watch again. "About an hour until visiting is over. You can go back to your nap. I'm going to finish up my work here and go. I'll show myself out."

"How kind of you." Cara said in her best high society accent and laid back down in bed. Alia turned off the television and the overhead light and directed the small table lamp away from Cara and toward her work.

She had been working that way for a short time when she registered another presence in the room. She looked up. Standing not far from her, just beyond the reach of the lamplight, was a dark figure watching her.

Disclaimers, credits and trivia:

Labyrinth, etc. belong to you know who.

The Big Brother reference is from 1984 by George Orwell, if anyone was wondering. I've had people not recognize it. What are they teaching in schools these days?

Calgon was this bath bubble stuff – I remember the commercials from my childhood – I have no idea who made it or if it is still made. Alia's line comes from the commercials.