I wanted to give a huge thanks for the many people that read this story. There are lots and lots of you who have either been reading this from the beginning or have caught it somewhere after and it peaked your interest enough to keep going with me. I really just wanted you all to know how much I greatly appreciate it. I used to care about how many reviews I got for my stuff, but in all honesty, seeing the many people who are favoring me and the story and following it for future chapters means so much more, because to me, that shows commitment and, my goodness, you guys are so freaking committed and so freaking cool! Thank you so much for being here with me while I write out my frustrations and my grief with the almighty David Bowie passing. I almost stopped writing this, but because of him, I wanted to finish it, and finish it well, because this is the little weird thing that I secretly do, and he would want all of us to secretly do that weird thing that we work on. (I love that twitter quote, don't you?)
So, thank you. Thank you so much for being here, and I hope you continue to enjoy this weird little story that I have got going.
Enjoy!
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o
Rain patters a bittersweet sound against the windshield as the wind dances with each and every drop. Sarah looks out the water-blurred window to her right as the rain falls and falls, drenching the world all around the car as they make their way home. She sits excruciatingly still in her seat, staring out into nowhere, as a desperate attempt to avoid any kind of conversation in the car. Trying to keep her attention to the drifts of rain passing them on the highway, there is little to see outside of the city, but that doesn't stop Sarah. She can stare and look at the grass and watch the droplets race down the windshield, or watch the many upon many shrubs and suburban houses pass, as long she doesn't have to talk-
"This silence is quite unsettling, don't you think?" Jareth says looking straight ahead at the road taking the driver's seat. Squeezing her eyes shut, she slowly turns her head to the man sitting next to her, whose attention had become fully paid to her while still managing to keep full attention on the road and both hands on the wheel. "especially with two children in the back." he continues as he motions his head to the back as he sees the who young-adults with his rear-view mirror.
She follows his glance behind them as she sees Toby and Francesca in their own little world, comparing which is the better phone between his Razor and her Blackberry while she continually becomes intrigued with the new ipods that have come out and how many songs they can hold. Sarah returns to her original position while slumping as much as she can under her seat belt with a sigh.
"Some would say silence is golden," she says avoiding his direction protesting conversation. "We should heed the wise and divulge in such a luxury while we can." she says while closing her eyes to keep herself calm in her infuriating situation.
He raises an eyebrow. "That, to me, sounds like a very nice way of telling someone to "Shut up", Ms. Williams." he says switching positions to regain comfort. "Surely you jest."
"My sincerest apologies if I've the manners of a wet log, your majesty" she says crossing her arms. "But, due the circumstances at hand here, I am not very happy at the moment, and I am quite, literally wet from the rain. So I apologize if I am not the most talkative. Just be happy Toby doesn't start cracking his stupid jokes."
"If you intend to use your pathetic attitude to derive me of my conversation, it isn't working."
"I can be a whole lot meaner, trust me."
"I like it when you put up a fight."
"Yeah!" she suddenly shoots up in her seat. "I've come to realize that, throughout the... time that I have had the esteemed pleasure of knowing you, but I am beyond sick of this charade, and I just- you know... I'm just gonna go to sleep." she scrunches as small as she can and turns her head to the door.
"Such an atrocious way to act to someone who has helped you in your many endeavors, today alone, no less." he lays an ear-worm for her to gnaw on.
"Well, I'm sorry that we all can't have fancy cars like..." she motions around her area to see an extremely foreign, futuristic car. "What kind of car is this, anyway?"
"It's called a "Tesla"." he muses. "It's a prototype engine that is used electronically, a new feat which delves into the idea that the human race can start using electricity to power their engines instead of fossil-fuels, and thus making this planet a more economic-friendly place- based on the technology by a grand fellow that the brand of car is named after." he sees Sarah gently mocking him to the side. "It's brand new, or in layman terms, a "fancy car", something that they have only been working on for a few years, they say." he shrugs. "I volunteered to give it a whirl, along with a few choice others in the world." he rolls his eyes. "Anything to help this planet. Lord knows it needs it."
"Wow," her sarcasm flows out of her mouth. "Well woopdie-freaking-do for you. Less than a year here and you're just loaded with extra goodies aren't you? You are so lucky to have such good fortune at your side here in America. It's almost like... magic."
The sound in his voice is telling, but also sincere and soft. He isn't angry. "I understand the position that you are in, but you needn't be so immature. I mean, really. You are acting like a-"
"Don't." she warns. "Don't say it." she waves a hand in the air. "Please." she says taking a moment as she sits upright in the correct position. She releases a slow sigh, an apologetic sigh as she she looks into his direction. "I'm sorry." her words have meaning. "I don't mean to be such a premadonna, I just..." again she sighs. "Nothing has gone right today- nothing is really going right in my life right now, and this just takes the cake." she slowly looks up to him to see that he is listening. "I don't like asking for help. From anyone. I have to do things myself. I am not very good at leaning on people, not anymore. I have become extremely independent, becoming a grown-up and all, and having Toby lean on me just makes me protective "mother goose", as it were. I'm just not very good at showing my appreciation, and I apologize. I am just trying to figure out what I am going to do, now."
"Well, it's not a perfect apology," he takes a brief moment to look in her direction with soft eyes. "but I'll take it."
It had first began with the rain at the Fairgrounds. Sarah had just been free from the dumb stalks, thanks to Jareth, chased the stupid tickling freak away, and she had made her way to her car to get a change of clothes so she wouldn't have had to remain in the stupid jugglers outfit for the remainder of the day. Just as she arrived to her car, she started to feel raindrops falling from the sky. She had then gotten upset since this meant that it was time to leave for the day, and she didn't even get her damn funnel cake. She started to get a little damp as she finally found Toby, Francesca, and Jareth returning to the parking lot to leave, themselves. But as Toby and Francesca were saying their goodbyes, Toby had noticed, at the corner of his eye, Sarah struggling with something in the car, and when he went to see what the problem was, they had come to realize that Sarah's car ceased to start. Not even a click. It was completely dead, and she had no idea why. It was as if a nightmare started to play because she started going through her brain to figure out what the hell she was going to do. She was car-less! There was no way to get home. She tried to think of ways that she would be able to find a number for a taxi somewhere, which was going to absolutely SUCK since the fare was going to cost a fortune.
Francesca had overheard their struggles and told her uncle their issue. He had gone to see what the problem was, but he was unable to fix it, at least in the pouring rain, and insisted that he take them home until they could get back and do what they needed to do. Using another vehicle to jump start it was dangerous in the rain, and it was nonsense to call a taxi if she already knew someone who was going in the same direction. Sarah was stretched thin, and with a 3 to 1 vote on the matter, everyone jumped in the to the brand new, nice smelling car to head home, in damp clothing, leaving Sarah's car and all of her equipment in the trunk behind, including her nice medieval dress.
Sarah is now screwed completely, and she just knows that she isn't going to hear the end of it from her step-mother.
"Thank you." she says suddenly. "I actually owe you a few thank you's."
He is pleasantly surprised to hear her words. "Glad to see that my kindness is finally recognized with you." he shoots a sudden glare at her. "And it has only taken you 20 years."
"Geez. Has it really been that long?" she sits in thought, ignoring his tease.
"That long," he scoffs. "Humans have such a warped perception of time."
"Says the man who only gave me 13 freaking hours to-" she comes to a sudden halt. "I'd rather not discuss the topic of time, if you don't mind." she says nodding. "I still need to figure out what I am going to do about port of transportation..."
"If there is anything that I can do-"
"No!" she stops him before stifling a slight giggle. "No, no. You have done enough- more than enough." she finishes with a sheepish grin of her own. "It isn't that I don't appreciate what you're trying to do for me, but-"she pauses sensing familiarity in her words. "whoa..." she suddenly halts her voice. "Deja vu." an array of memories start flooding back to her.
"Quite," he, too, remembers, smirking to her. "That particular force seems to be increasing, as of late."
"Tell me about it," she finishes the conversation on a less static note, leaving the aura a little more friendly than before. She starts to settle through her nerves as she releases the tension to daydream in the rain once more. The kids kept to themselves besides a gentle chuckle here and there, and for both Jareth and Sarah, it has become just a little more comfortable in their surroundings, which is refreshing for the both of of them, since Sarah can ease on the worry about everything for a moment, and Jareth can focus on being a little more human, in more ways than one.
It had become relatively quiet for a few minutes before a familiar landmark stated to catch her eye- a broken down, old gas station that had been closed decades, even past her own childhood. She sees the torn sign, the familiar graffiti on its property and the green fading in color in on the chipped paint and her heart instantly drops.
She shoves her head away from the window, not wanting to see what comes up next. Squeezing her eyes as tight as she can, she grips her seat belt for dear life, desperately trying not to release any tears. She taken in a sharp inhale and tries to focus on the two in the back and their mumbling.
Her sudden change in disposition is immediately calls to Jareth as he takes a quick glance at her to see her try to keep from crying. His whole being is suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to keep her from crying, to keep her smiling. He does not like this feeling of seeing her upset, it suddenly pulls his every sense to her, his heartstrings tugging from his chest.
"What's the matter?" he asks with a tad alarm in his voice. She only shakes her head no. Such sincerity only makes her shed a single tear. She only continually shakes her head. "Are you in pain? Is it your head? Are you getting sick? I told you that you may need to seek medical attention-" his voice strikes a chord in Toby and Francesca's ears as they look up to see Sarah's posture, showing that she is upset about something.
"Sarah?" Toby scoots up close to his big sister. "Are you okay?"
"I'm f-" she struggles to say. "I'm fine." her voice buckles.
"Do I need to pull over-"
"No, don't stop-" she pleads, hanging her head low. "Please don't stop driving." she ends in a whisper.
Toby, too, starts to become concerned for his sister until a familiar sight catches his attention out on Sarah and Toby's side of the car. It's a very large gated cemetery, one of the largest in the state of New York that spans almost two miles against the highway. "Oh man," Toby whispers. "You should have told him on the west highway, Sarah. You didn't have to do this to yourself."
"What's wrong?" Francesca suddenly cheeps in a shy but concerned voice for her friends. Toby looks to her and points to the window behind him.
Toby tries to think of a way to tell the story as kindly as possible. "When... Sarah was six," he starts, "her mom got very sick. It was an unknown disease that was not treatable and she was bedridden for half a year. She passed away the day before Sarah's 7th birthday and now she is, um- well, she's in this cemetery." Toby tried to tell the story in a sincere way, for which Sarah is thankful for.
Francesca doesn't say anything, but her face shows her emotions to the sad story. "oh no," she manages a whisper as she looks to her uncle's eyes in his rear-view mirror only to see his whole face in a very dark disposition, as if he were sharing the grief of Sarah's tremendous loss.
"This cemetery is large, and Sarah always has a hard time concentrating while she drove, which is why, you should have asked if he could take the other route." he changes his words for Sarah's ears. He says that just in time for the cemetery to pass. "We're past it now, Sar." he rubs her back before sitting back in his seat.
"You should have told me," Jareth's voice had become deep and caring. "I would have been more than happy to-"
"That's silly," she says releasing her death grip on her seat belt. "It's like 30 minutes out of the way and-" she gasps out a small laugh while wiping her tears. "Just... It's fine- I'm fine." she says rubbing the tears in her fingers. Everyone remain silent for her. "I mean, it's been, what?- 26 years?" she scoffs at herself. "I'm such a wimp." she tosses her head back on the cushion as she inhales the unique scent of the car.
"Losing a loved one is a traumatic and life-altering endeavor, truly something that can scar one's own for the remainder of their lives." Jareth's voice hums every ear in the car. "Do not belittle your grief for the love of your mother, Sarah. Some people will struggle with coping such experiences for the rest of their lives. And there is nothing wrong with that."
...
Sarah looks to him with a new meaning in her eyes- bewilderment. Had he just said her name? Why was that so comforting to hear? He had only addressed her by her last name this whole time- why is this resonating with her? Something to lash on to do try and avoid the thought of her mother, perhaps? Lightly shaking her head to the forethought, Sarah takes in all of what he says with heart. His voice carries such a different weight this time around, almost as a security blanket for her heart to lean on, and treasure what he says. She hugs his words and smiles what, Jareth believes to be a very pretty smile.
"Do you dabble in psychology as well, Dr. Kingsley?" she says with a small sniff, wanting to find any humor in this situation.
He hears the plea in her voice, "That doesn't even tip the iceberg of what I can offer," he says gently changing his attitude to a humorous one. "if you ever wanted a private session, I'm sure I can pencil you in, Ms. Williams." he doesn't look to her, but rather switches positions once more.
"Such a wide range of skills, almost like magic,"
"You've already used that line." he grins.
"Sometimes history tends to repeat itself." she matches the smile.
Toby suddenly senses a pattern here. The witty banter back and forth, the sudden change in Sarah's tone- oh God... "Oh no, are you two flirting?" Toby's face scrunches in disgust, as he can feel Sarah's cheeks getting red. Toby rolls his eyes slumping back in his seat. "This is getting too weird. This is too weird!" he looks to Francesca. "Isn't this just weird to you?"
Francesca's eyes bulge. She immediately plays the part. "I- yeah." she guesses. "Gross. Weird. Ugh... yeah..." she scoffs as best as she can while switching her gaze from her uncle's bemused eyes to Toby's.
"Okay, I gotta tell a joke."
"Oh, God Toby no." Sarah says slamming her head back against the cushion again.
"Well, I am weirded out right now, aaaand these will make you feel better, so here me out."
"I wanna hear your jokes," Francesca smiles wholeheartedly.
"Okay, okay," he readies himself.
"Oh good lord..."
"Okay, what's the difference between a snowman and a snowwoman?"
"No." Sarah says.
"Snowballs."
Francesca snorts as the two adults in the front fight their laughter at the stupid one-liner. "Toby-"
"Wait, wait, wait, how do fish get high?"
"Stop."
"Seaweed." Francesca finally laughs.
"Shut up." Sarah grins, feeling so stupid.
"Why did the scarecrow get promoted?"
"These are so lame!"
"Because he was outstanding in his field."
"Toby!"
"What kind of car does Jesus drive?"
Francesca is loving these. "What?"
"A Chrysler!"
Sarah turns on the music.
O.o
Regardless of the ear-bleeding singing of "Backstreet Boys" from Toby, the rest of the ride had resulted in relatively smooth one. The station the radio had been pre-set to popular hits, which got both Francesca and Toby singing the rest of the way there, but Sarah would pick a horribly singing Toby to a crappy joke-telling Toby any day.
Finally, the rain subsides a little as everyone has come home, at last, from this ever eventful day. Sarah had directed Jareth to her parents house, and from there she would be able to figure the situation, maybe even use her dad's car that almost always stayed parked in the garage, since he and Karen were out on business a lot. Jareth pays a compliment to the lovely home as Toby jumps out of the car, only for Karen to already be standing on their porch to welcome the kids home. While Jareth added a snarky little comment about how much bigger the front door looked rather than a bedroom balcony, Sarah is just about to give an appropriate reply as her ears hear Karen shouting from the porch.
Sarah rolls down the window to see Karen starting a scene at the front door as she is plainly yelling at Toby for something as she pulls him in the house by the ear and then comes back out to find Sarah's eyes. "You get in here, too, young lady!"
"Great. She doesn't even know about the car and something has already pissed her off," she sighs as she climbs out of the cherry black car.
Jareth hums at the sound. "Sounds to me like your stepmother has heard some off colored news about some happenings involving your brother, maybe?" he says as she shuts her door.
Then it randomly hits her.
She gasps.
She spins around to see an impish smile upon his proud little face. Her jaw drops. "You didn't."
"I have no idea what you're talking about,"
"How?" she is more curious than anything.
"I assume your boss wanted to get a hold of his parents himself." he shrugs. "Francesca was going to ensnare a couple of plots, which would have successfully kept your parents unknowing of the situation, but I believe in fair trade. What goes around, comes around, and all of our actions have consequences. I may have rewarded the boy for his good deed, but that is only in my opinion because what he had done helped me in my favor. But who are we to judge on the events outside of our particular jurisdiction? Right, Francesca?" he looks to the child behind him.
"I still don't know how the hell he found out. I retraced my steps... TWICE." she crosses her arms in anger. Sarah assumes Francesca knows of their history...
"So.. you let it happen, which means you technically didn't do anything." she understands. "Which means-"
"I expect you to follow your end of the bargain, Ms. Williams- or do you prefer I call you Sarah, now?" her name rolls off his tongue in a way that makes her hair stand on end. She slightly falters, he almost didn't see it.
She stands up straight and looks dead in his eye. "My dress is lavender, if you wish to match." a deal's a deal.
"Duly noted," he finishes as he drives away, leaving her to stand in the drizzle. She finally stifles a cheeky grin as soon as he is far enough away.
"Sarah Williams, did you hear me? Get out of that rain. You'll catch a death a cold."
O.o
"You what?!" Karen's eye bulge as she hears the truth from her son.
"She was in trouble!"
"So, you just punch another student! How on God's green earth would you think that would ever be okay, with your teacher, your principal, with authorities, with ME!" her voice rises in anger.
"I-"
"You didn't think of telling a teacher, or something?" she says pointing to his sister for the obvious.
"I know, I got it, okay!" he rolls his eyes. "I got the same freakin' lecture from both Sarah and Principal Mullins, okay? I wasn't thinking!"
"You're darn right you weren't thinking."
"God, why are you raggin' on me?! I didn't do anything wrong! He was an asshole and I had to be there for her, alright?! He had drugs, he was going to frame her, he was being a jackass and I got angry!"
"Oh, and now you have a mouth with me?"
"Mom!"
"No. I refuse to have a delinquent son who gets sent to juvie with the manners of a heathen. You are grounded!"
"What!"
"And because of your suspension, no more car. It's gone until further notice." she says as their father, Robert, holds out a hand for the keys.
Toby is utterly flabbergasted.
Sarah jumps in. "Whoa, hold on, Karen wait-"
"And what about you?" she turns to her stepdaughter.
"Me?"
"Yes you. What is your involvement in this? Why couldn't you control him?"
"Me? He's your son!"
"And you hold absolute responsibility for his actions while on school grounds! You are the first one on the paperwork even before us."
"He is still your child! I didn't even know it happened until I got called in the middle of one of my classes. I may hold a legal responsibility while we are both on school grounds, but I can't be his keeper, and I shouldn't be held responsible for him- I didn't give birth to him." Sarah stands her ground. "This doesn't make any sense- he isn't supposed to be suspended. I already worked it out with my boss so you wouldn't have even had to kno-" Sarah shoves her mouth closed.
"Oh, you did, did you?" Karen crosses her arms.
"Damn it." she curses to herself. "Look, it's already done, the kid is gone-"
"Oh I know!" Karen says hastily walking to the phone in the foyer of the house with a notepad next to it. "Thanks you your boss- your principal, and his little message saying the child is getting jail time. I'm glad someone wants to keep me in the loop about my own darn children." she slams the notepad down. "I swear I can't go anywhere without you two completely falling apart!" she says throwing her coat into the hall closet. "You're both grounded!"
"Excuse me? Wha-" Sarah laughs out of frustration. "I... how? How is that- why!" Sarah's features share a resembling shock as her brothers.
"For trying to keep this as a secret from me and your father. And your punishment will be driving him to and from school until further notice."
"Nuh-uh! No way!" Toby shouts.
"Sounds good to me," their father agrees to the situation.
"This is totally unfair!" Toby cries.
"Unfair and problematic. Because there is a slight issue with this arrangement." Sarah facepalms herself not wanting to add this to this mess.
"And what is that?" Karen bites the question.
Sarah rubs her head for an oncoming headache and a sigh. "Well, it turns out that I don't exactly have a vehicle at the moment... It's kinda... how do I say this?"
"Dead." Toby helps. Sarah shoots an evil glare.
"Excuse me?" Karen demands another answer.
"It wasn't starting. It didn't even click. It was pouring down rain so we couldn't try and jump start it and-"
"And where were you when all of this happened?"
Sarah winces. "That large fairground an hour west of here outside the city?" Sarah scratches the back of her head in nervousness.
"What in blazes were you doing out there?"
"The Medieval Fair?" Sarah shrugs. Karen stay silent. "Part of my punishment was to make Toby do our juggling routine with me there for embarrassment- which worked, mind you."
"Until I got her back-"
"We really did punish each other quite evilly today-"
"That is why you carpooled back here with... whoever that was-who was that?"
Toby and Sarah look to each other. "That is another long story for another day..."
"Oh, this is just great," Karen laughs in frustration slamming her palms at her side. "Another problem we have to fix- fine! Sarah, you are taking Toby's car until yours can get fixed. And you will be his ride to and from school for the remainder of the year."
"This is so stupid. I'm done with all a' you." Toby throws his arms in the air as he makes his way up the stairs and into his room with a slam to finish.
"I don't get it!" Sarah starts to raise her voice once more. "One minute you are telling me that I have full responsibility over your child and I need to do something about his actions, and the next minute you are grounding me for keeping secrets from you about your child! I don't get it!
"You know, I am usually extremely proud of my children. I take great pride in your strides and accomplishments. I have never hidden that from you."
"Honey," their father finally chimes in. "I think what you need to do is go and lay down. It has been a long trip and what you need is a nice bubble bath a glass of wine." her husband stays calm. Someone needs to be.
Karen doesn't say anything more, just makes her way upstairs as well.
"Wow," is all Sarah can say.
"I know," Robert says with a chuckle. "Alright calm down," he says rubbing Sarah's back. "It's all gonna be alright."
"I mean, I know what he did was wrong but... Good lord." Sarah finally turns back to herself.
"We haven't had a fight this big since your little fantasy book incident with Toby and his friends." he side hugs his daughter. "You two sure do know how to keep things interesting around here."
"She's unbelievable, she's blowing this whole thing way out of proportion. It happened yesterday, and you guys haven't even been here to know." she motions to Karen upstairs.
"I know, I know," he says. "It has been an extremely stressful 48 hours at work. We are having some major budget cuts and she has been holding this anger in since we left." he turns his daughter around. "After I get her settled down, I will have her call you and apologize to you, myself." he says holding Toby's keys up to her. "Now go home and chill out and order takeout or something."
"And put it on Karen's tab, right?"
"Absolutely," he chuckles. "And don't worry about the car. We will have it taken care of in no time." he smiles, and it is contagious.
"You guys don't have to worry about my car. I can handle it." she says taking the keys. "But thank you for the offer."
"I'm sorry you got roped into Toby's punishment. We will figure something else out tonight,"
"Oh, don't worry about it. I don't mind. We don't live that far from each other. Carpooling helps the environment, after all," she amuses a past thought that sent an inner giggle to her mind.
"I love how much you've grown." her father beams with pride as they make their way to the door. He kiss her on the forehead and gives her a hug.
"Me too,"
O.o
Sunday is a day for resting, for both the living and the dead, Sarah muses, as she gets out of her car. The clouds hadn't left, since yesterday, so the day is as bleak. Such sad skies make the cemetery looks so poetic with the new-grown spring grass and the illumination of the ruin-white of the headstones that shower the ground for miles. Sarah parked a little further to think on her feet for a moment before reaching her mother's headstone.
She slowly walks the winding path, thinking about memories as new as yesterday, to as old as the tiny snippets she can barely remember of the happier days with her mother and a different father. Although, Robert is the same man, he is very different on the inside. Grief and loss changes much in the hearts and minds of others, and with such a tender heart as he, he was lucky to have found someone like Karen who could keep him on his feet, and keep him wanting to truck on with life, business, and family.
Sarah had always had some understandable resentment towards the woman, but Karen never really blamed her. A little girl has to come with the realization that her mother is gone and suddenly this woman comes along to be the new mommy? Of course, later in life, Sarah understands how life actually works, but that point in time was extremely difficult for a little girl to comprehend. Sarah didn't like her world. She didn't like the life she lived, so she decided that she was going to find a different life to live, and that is when she started to make believe- finding different stories and characters to delve into and escape, and that eventually became somewhat of a sanctuary for her, throughout her pre-teen and teenage years to come.
It wasn't until she was about 11 that her father had given her a special present that her mother had been saving for Sarah's 11th birthday: a beautiful, red, leather bound book with lovely golden letters that spell "The Labyrinth on its cover; a gift that her mother had found, though Robert couldn't exactly remember the story on how his late wife had found it, but Sarah didn't care. The fact that her mother got this and thought of her was enough to get Sarah crying with both joy and sadness, and read the book in 2 days, completely falling in love with what would then become her favorite story to get lost in for those numerous days to come and she could be this heroine who is visited by a charming goblin king that falls in love with her as she journeys his kingdom.
Her mom's gift has literally created the woman that Sarah is today, and after yesterday, it felt as though things were coming full circle for her and her mother, and she wanted to have a chat.
The wind is chilly on this cloudy Sunday morning. Sarah is bundled in a simple hoodie walking the winding road to her mother's resting place, which is fittingly hidden under a tree, which was perfect, because Sarah's mother loved nature and always took naps against trees. Smiling at the known tree, Sarah makes her way closer until she notices another person at her mother's grave.
Sarah halts in her footsteps at the figure far ahead of her.
Sarah's heart thumps deep in her chest. Who could this be? A family member, perhaps? Maybe an old friend? Sarah's mother did have a lot of friends since she enjoyed acting in the community theatre. This figure was hidden behind a purple hoodie of their own, a light purple hoodie and dark jeans to match, a tall woman, by the looks of it, but no one that Sarah can immediately recognize.
"Hi there, do I-"
The person immediately starts running.
"Whoa! Wait! Hold on-" Sarah starts to run after the person, but the person was too fast for Sarah to catch up to. "Wait- you aren't in trouble-" she tries to say but by the time she arrived at her mom's grave, the person jumps the low riding fence and leaves for their car and drives off. All in a possible way for Sarah to remain clueless on who it was. Catching her breath she looks in that direction with utter confusion on her face.
"Do you know who that was?" she asks looking down at the lovely headstone of her mother's grave. She looks around to see if that person may have done anything to it, but the only thing Sarah can see is a fresh bouquet of flowers, as if that person left them there. She starts to let it go as she finds a little spot at the tree and sits down by her mom. "Hey," she greets looking at the image of her mom on the headstone. "You look beautiful today." Sarah smiles. "I hadn't seen you in a while, thought you'd like me to catch up." Sarah's smile weakens as she puts her mother's favorite flower, a little daffodil, on the headstone, like she does every time she arrives here. "I'd actually like to talk to you about a couple of things." Sarah says reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out a book.
A beautiful, red, leather bound book with lovely golden letters that spell "The Labyrinth" on its cover. "Man, I wish I could hear the story of how you found this little beauty," Sarah starts. "Because do I have a story for you..." she says as an introduction to a lovely talk with her mom.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o
Now it is time to play a game called: "Spot the Bowie References!" because I can't help myself and it is too much fun. Anyone notice the BIG nod I used in this chapter? It is a little hard to miss, if you know what the reference actually is lol.
This chapter ended in a different place than I anticipated, but all that means is more story. Yay! There was supposed to be another half to this chapter, but this half ended up being so long, I just decided to split them into two chapters.
I apologize if it's slow but I need to build a good foundation for the BIG bog-tastic plans that I have to come. Some crazy things are going to happen, this chapter was just the calm before the storm. Because... oh man is it gonna get crazy!
I am on a roll, guys so I can safely say that I am writing up a storm, and you should expect chapters as frequent as this for the time being. Tell me what you think.
P.S. Can you believe that they are actually remaking the Labyrinth? Am I the only one who is absolutely pissed about it? :(
I.L.C