Scrambled Eggs With a Dash of Jareth
Disclaimer: I don't own The Brady Bunch or Keannu Reeves. I do own the character Justina.
Sam stumbled into the kitchen, still shaken from the image on her sketch pad. Karen looked up from the waffle iron and said, "Well, you finally decided to grace me with your presence." "I am sorry Mom, I got on the phone with Cindy and got a little side tracked." Karen smiled at her daughter. "You know, for someone that is so different from her sister you sure do share the same feather brained tendencies. Or, do you just forget on purpose?" "I plead the fifth," Sam replied, with a smirk. "O, so you did pay attention in Civics class," was Karen's smart reply. Sam was just about to make a retort when her Mother said, "Why don't you make yourself useful and scramble some eggs."
Sam let out an exaggerated sigh and walked to the fridge and took out an egg carton. "Better make it a dozen, because Toby and Sarah will be joining us." "Mom, when did Sarah's plane land?" "Eight o'clock," Karen replied. Sam looked up at the kitchen clock, which read 9:10. "Then, Toby is probably driving out of the parking garage now," Sam said. Karen turned to her daughter with a knowing smile. "Our Toby, late, never." Sam smiled back and poured the eggs she had been scrambling into a heated fry pan.
There was silence for a few moments when Karen broke it. "So, how is Cindy doing?" "She is good," Sam replied. "Gushing about her new boyfriend." "Whatever happened to Tod," her mother said in a confused voice. "I don't know really. She said the magic had died between them or something superficial like that. Now she is onto her next victim," she said. "I swear that girl falls in and out of love more often than she changes shoes," Karen said, returning her daughter's smile. The smile on Sam's face faded, however, when Karen said, "Samantha, some old college friends of your Father's are visiting in a few weeks and they have a son about your age." Oh boy, here it comes. "Mother," Sam said, warningly. "He is a really nice boy, honey," Karen said soothingly. She took the last waffle off the iron and turned to her daughter. "I am sure he is Mom." Sam took the eggs off the burner and set them aside. "I am just not interested in dating right now."
There was a long pause between the two of them. Finally Karen said, "Your not interested in much of anything, Samantha." "Mom, not this again," Sam replied. "I am just worried about you dear. You seem to have no goals or priorities in life and your getting to an age where that is not an option!" "Mother, stop lecturing me!" "I don't get it," Karen said desperately. "Why won't you let me in? You keep everyone that loves you at arms length. You push people away. If you continue down the course your heading, you will lead a very lonely existence." Karen turned off the waffle iron and walked swiftly out of the room.
Uh,Oh, Mom didn't even clean off the iron, she must be pissed, Sam thought, trying to joke with herself. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't escape the gnawing feeling she had in her stomach. A clap of thunder startled her out of her thoughts. She walked over to the kitchen window and looked outside. Her Father had encountered Karen in the living room and had entered the kitchen. He walked up behind his daughter and placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "I think a storm is coming in," he said, breaking the silence. "Yeah," she said without looking at him. "two of them, named Sarah and Toby." Mr. Williams looked up from his daughter and noticed his other two children pulling into the driveway. Despite the seriousness of the moment he smiled. He let go of his daughter and headed toward the front door, where Karen had already exited. When Mr. Williams saw that his daughter was not following he turned to her and said, "So honey, do you want to see them?" Sam saw her Father motion with his hand toward the door. "Do I WANT to see them," she said deliberately. Her Father shook his head at the comment and walked out of the room. Sam followed, not so enthusiastically, behind.
Sarah hopped out of the car and screamed, "LAND!" When she saw her Father she flew into his arms. "Hi Dad, how I have missed you." "Oh, I missed you too, baby."
"I resent what you just said," Toby said, hugging his Mother. Mr. Williams walked over to his son and said, in a patronizing tone, "Oh, I am sorry Toby. I missed you too, honey." He gave his son a mock hug. "Dad, get off man," Toby said, laughing. His Dad joined in on the laughter. "Sarah, what did you mean by that comment, "LAND"," Toby directed at Sarah. Sarah pulled back from a hug she was giving her stepmother. "Toby, we got here in forty five minutes!" "So," was Toby's mature reply. "Toby, it normally takes two hours to get here from the airport." "Oh, you are such a wimp. A little speed never hurt anyone." "Yeah, if your Keannu Reeves," Sarah said.
They turned toward the house when they noticed Sam, trying to blend in with the background. "Sam," Sarah exclaimed, running up to her sister and giving her a hug. Sam returned it, but, not so enthusiastically. Sarah pulled back and looked at her sister. What's that all about? I mean a person wouldn't call my sister warm, but she usually isn't this cold, even with me. "Hey, shrimp," Toby said, bending down to hug Sam. "Hey, string bean." They both smiled at the use of their old nicknames for each other. Sarah, watching the exchange, felt a twinge of jealousy. She always envied the relationship Toby had with Sam. You wouldn't really say that Sam was close with anyone. But, Toby and her best friend, Cindy, were the only ones she allowed even remotely close. Karen interrupted Sarah's thoughts, "We will get the bags later. Samantha and I made breakfast, let's go eat." Sarah noted that Karen seemed upset, she will have to ask her about it later. Yes, Sarah and Karen now get along. They are far from the Brady Bunch, but, they managed to maintain a somewhat, loving, relationship.
There was silence at the table as the Willaims family ate breakfast. Karen broke it however, when she said, "So, Sarah, how is Danny?" Sarah cursed inwardly. " I wouldn't know, we broke up last month." Karen winced at the tone of her stepdaughter's voice. "I am guessing you two didn't part well." "If you call me taking a baseball bat to his two thousand dollar, stereo system not parting well, you guessed right." "So, Toby how is everything going with you," Mr. Williams asked, desperate to change the subject. "Good, I am just glad the semester's over." "And, how is Nancy," Karen asked cautiously. Before Toby could answer Sarah said, "Let's not get on that subject Karen." After glaring at his sister, Toby turned to Sam. "So, Sam how many boyfriends do you have now, three or four at the least, right?" Sam looked up from her half eaten waffle, giving her brother a death glare. He didn't see it though, for he had looked at his Father. "I bet you have to beat them off her with a bat, huh Dad," Toby continued, completely oblivious.
"Um, ...yeah," his Father replied, suddenly very interested in his eggs. Sam, suddenly loosing it, stood up from her chair. "No, he doesn't, because I am an unmotivated, lazy, unreliable, bum; who couldn't get a boyfriend even if she offered them money!" Everyone looked at her, gawking. Sam, surprising even herself with the outburst, said more quietly, "I have suddenly lost my appetite, excuse me." Sam walked away from the table and up the stairs. Karen looked around at her confused family and said the first thing that came to mind, "So, who wants seconds?"
Jareth shook his head at the disturbing scene that had unfolded in his crystal. "And I thought my goblins had problems. So, Justina, why did you want me to witness this enlightening scene." "Because they need you Jareth," the pretty blonde woman replied. "They don't need me, they need straight jackets," Jareth replied, dryly.
"JARETH," Justina said. "Justina, I don't want to get involved with the Williams family."
"Just because you have a personal history with one of them doesn't justify not helping
them Jareth! I am mostly worried about Samantha Williams, she is in jeopardy as much as we are. Her spirit is dying, and if you don't do something soon, our world will also die," Justina finished. She looked out the throne room window and down at the goblin city.
"What makes you think our world will die," Jareth said suddenly, startling Justina.
"The amount of dreamers in the aboveground make up for the loss of those who aren't. Shouldn't that keep us save?" "No," she replied, "because, whether you want to admit it or not, Sarah is our greatest ally. Her dreams are apart of the reason our world is so strong. But, her sister, Samantha, has a strong spiritual connection with her. One that Samantha is obviously trying to deny. If she doesn't have dreams then Sarah is affected, which in turn affects us." She turned away from the window and looked at the King who was also her brother. Jareth was leaning against the opposite wall, wearing an unreadable expression on his face. Justina walked up to him and looked into his cold, mismatched eyes. "Jareth, what are you hiding from me?" Jareth looked back at his sister, "It has already started," he said quietly. Justina gave him look that said for him to continue.
"Samantha Williams summoned me into her dreams last night, strangely, in owl form." Justina's eyes lit up at his words. "Jareth, that's wonderful. That means there is a part of her that wants to change. She is crying out for help, even though she is unaware of it herself. That will make your job much easier, she may be more willing to open up to you." "What do you mean, my job," Jareth asked, trying to sound aggressive. This, of course, did not phase Justina. "Jareth, you need to continue allowing her to summon you into her dreams. You are her only hope, which means you will have to get her to communicate with you. You need to help her discover her dreams, and herself in the process." "Well, sister of mine, how do you expect me to do that? Should I threaten to throw her into the bog if she doesn't talk to me," Jareth said, sarcastically. "Well, brother of mine, you do tend to get under people's skin. You seem to help people without even trying. Look at what you did for Sarah." "Yeah, and that worked to my advantage," Jareth replied, solemnly.
"Just talk to her," Justina said, rolling her eyes, "everything else will just fall into place." She walked away from him. "Oh, and Jareth, don't overwhelm her. Approach her when you feel she is truly ready to talk to you. Which means you will have to appear in the form she summons you in. I look at you in this way, you are like the neighborhood cat, annoying as hell, but after a while a person gets used to you." Justina smirked at her brother and disappeared. Jareth glared at the spot his sister had been in. What ever possessed me to hire my own sister as my personal advisor? Jareth shook his head and walked out of the throne room.
Moonjava- Thank you so much for your praising, review. Oh, how I love reviews, I wish there were more of them. Hint, Hint to all you fanfiction members.