As Sarah and Jareth left his parents' manor house, Eimile promised to be there early the next day, to work with Sarah on manifesting her owl. They walked home, as the manor was not far and the night was soft.
Sarah looked up at the millions of stars. These were nothing like the stars back home. For one, the kingdom didn't have the light pollution that was so prevalent back home. But in addition, the stars just seemed closer somehow, and brighter, and there were more of them. Jareth had begun teaching her about the different constellations and the stories that went with them. She wondered aloud if there were one about the owl.
"There is," Jareth answered.
"As you must know, Above, this bird has a reputation for being the wisest of birds and yet it has also developed a bad reputation that stems from the fact that it is a solitary bird that has a nocturnal existence. It has been suggested that it is for this reason that it has been associated with the hours of night time when the darker forces are said to walk the earth. It has even been said that to see one during the day is a sign of bad luck. The Barn Owl is now a threatened species due to many factors such as loss of habitat, road accidents and changes in agricultural practice. They mate for life so the loss of a mate is devastating." At that point he looked at her very meaningfully, took her hand, and squeezed it.
"As one very short traditional tale goes...
"The night they say was still when the voice was heard, calling through the branches of a juniper tree to those that sat in the circle about a fire, kindled with hopes of holding back the hungry hands of winter.
From under the sheltering arms of the tree arose an owl, feathers silver like the moon, soft as the first breath of morning wind, with eyes like obsidian that caught and shimmered in the flickering flames of the fire.
"Death is coming" said the Owl, with a voice that echoed through the air. "Death is coming...".
Those that heard arose to their feet, fear raised, horror was in their footing as they ran away. They ran to the high lands and the low lands, they ran to the burnt lands and to the altars of the stone church. For a day they shook hands, forgave grudges, held each other
tight, lit candles against their own shadows and sung loud of hopes and the glory of life.
That night death did not visit but again the Owl came and again the Owl spoke... "Death is coming. Death is coming..."
Like before the people found the winter chill kiss their bones and fear dance in their mind and once again they held each other tight through the night, speaking words of hope, of kindness, of love...
Again death did not visit...
On the third night the ruffle of feathers against the night air was heard and like before the Owl arose and spoke to the people as they sat about the freshly kindled fire.
"Death is coming, death is coming..."
This time though the people let the words fall on empty ears, some shouted "away with you Owl, we will have no more of you!" Others still threw stones and filled the air with cries of anger. With that the Owl took to the wind and spoke no more to the people by the fire.
In the days that followed most talked of the Owl as a liar and a fool but as the days turned to years and years to decades those who had the hearts to listen, understood the message of the Owl.
Death is coming... be it in the coming dawn or in the far off horizon...however kindness, hope and love are already here.
So, one must ask oneself... do you need an Owl in your life? Would you listen or throw stones?"
"There are two barn owl constellations in the sky, circling one another as they spend their lives together." He stopped, and she did too. Taking her other hand in his, he pointed their fingers almost straight up to the sky to an extremely bright star.
"That," he indicated, "is Geal – the brightest star in our sky. It is always found pretty much straight up. Now if you follow to this next star, you'll see the edge of its head." A magical blue line appeared between the two stars.
Jareth had done this with Sarah before. It was one of the ways that he had helped to point out his world's constellations to her. By the time he was finished, he had described with his hands a flying barn owl at the top of the sky, circling round its mate.
"It's called Tyto Alba,"he said softly, almost reverently.
Sarah stared up into the night sky, mesmerized by the sight of two beautiful owls circling one another, forever. Between the story that he had told her, what she had learned about owls mating for life, the gorgeous image above her head, and her never ending love for Jareth, she was overwhelmed.
She squeezed his hand, wordlessly.
He was smiling as he admired her profile looking up to the sky.
Sarah.
His beautiful wife, his Queen, his lover, the mother of his child, and the one time teenager who had been the only one wise and brave enough to ever beat his labyrinth.
Sarah.
His strikingly intelligent and talented partner, the woman who could exhaust him with her expectations, who could successfully challenge his every argument, who rarely let him get away with anything unless she thought it was funny.
Sarah.
By the gods, he loved this woman. Slowly, he reached over, cupping her cheek with one hand. Blue eyes met green ones, made magical by the sparkling stars above.
"You complete me," he said quietly.
When her eyes filled, he needed to be honest with her.
"I can't take credit for that," he said. "I took it from a film I'd seen when I was doing some future time traveling. But truthfully, it fits. I don't know what I would do without you."
Sarah positively flowed into his arms. Not daring, in the middle of the road, not daring to let himself go — not even daring let himself realize that this (sweet wetness and trembling fire) was the beginning of an ineffable evening which he had willed into being — he touched her hot, opening lips with the utmost piety, tiny sips, nothing salacious; but she, with an impatient wriggle, pressed her mouth to his so hard that he felt her devouring his mouth and shared in the sweet taste of her, the soft peach flesh of her mouth, her tongue longingly exploring his.
She pulled away for a breath, and looked straight into his eyes. "That's my answer," she said. "I have no words for this - for you – for us. Dance with me, my love."
Taking his hand, she led him home, softly singing one of their favorite tunes as he joined in:
"From the dark end of the street
To the bright side of the road
We'll be lovers once again
On the bright side of the road
Little darlin', come with me
Won't you help me share my load
From the dark end of the street
To the bright side of the road
Into this life we're born
Baby sometimes, sometimes we don't know why
And time seems to go by so fast
In the twinkling of an eye
Let's enjoy it while we can (let's enjoy it while we can)
Won't you help me share my load (help me share my load)
From the dark end of the street
To the bright side of the road…"
In the he middle of the road, the two lovers twirled toward home and bed.
~~~Ó~~~
Geal – GELL = bright
Tytus Alba – (Latin) White Owl
Barn Owl ref:
BirdWatch Ireland
TaleoftheBarnOwl - Tale of the Owl - Ulchabhán l'esko
TheMabigonian
Bright Side of the Road – Van Morrison
This is a fantastic song - Van Morrison wrote it in 1979. I suggest you check it out – it's impossible to be in a bad mood when you hear this classic.
In Celtic mythology the owl is a sacred animal associated with the gods and goddesses of the Otherworld /Underworld and is a guide between that realm and ours.
I did borrow from Nabokov's Lolita for some of the kiss details.