21 CHANGES

Sarah awoke slowly, groggily, not quite sure what was going on, but as she opened her eyes her memory gradually returned. She was soon on her feet, looking around and trying to take stock of the situation. The sight that met her eyes was the last thing she could ever have expected. In front of her was a lake, as beautiful as the one from inside the cavern, but in a different way. The water the most gorgeous blue she'd ever seen. It sparkled in the sun and Sarah caught glimpses of greens and red reflected on its surface. Looking up she saw branches of a tree hanging over her head and over the water, its leaves large and glossy with the largest red flowers she'd ever seen in her life. Reaching up she plucked one from the branch and was amazed at the feel of it in her hand. It felt like pure silk, yet it seemed softer and was the colour of blood. Raising her head she looked around the edge of the pool to see a multitude of bushes and plants all bearing the most luscious flowers and leaves imaginable, it seemed an Eden. As she looked to her side she saw her friends, old and new, looking at her with secret smiles on their faces that she could not interpret. Looking around again she noticed the tree behind her that held the branches hung over her head and it was at that moment she realised where she was.

Stunned, she dropped the red flower she still held in her hands. This was the bog of stench? How could that be? This place was perfect, a paradise. As she looked closer at the flowers she now realised surrounded her feet, she could see tiny butterflies and even hummingbirds fluttering in and around them. Looking back at her friends she asked "How is this possible?"

"Well dear Lady, after your departure the King decided the Bog of Stench was a needless pimple on the landscape of the Labyrinth. He turned more to the places of beauty, of light. He removed the Bog and gave this up to an Underground creature to care for, to turn into the garden you see before you."

"It's beautiful, I can't believe this is the same place. Who did this?"

"Don't ya remember, I did tell ya?" Replied Hoggle.

Confused, Sarah could only stare at him as she searched her memory for the answer. It was at this point she heard a sound she hadn't heard in years and the smile was on her face before she could even turn around?

"Sawah friend?"

"Ludo!" she cried, running into his arms. "Of course we're friends, we're always friends. Oh I missed you."

"Why leave?"

"I'm sorry Ludo, that was wrong of me, please forgive me. I never forgot you, never could. You're my friend Ludo, and I never want to lose you again!"

"Sawah, friend!"

"Always." She replied quietly, squeezing him all the tighter. That was something she'd missed so much in the years she'd had no contact with him, his hugs. They always brought such comfort, like a huge friendly teddy bear. She felt like a child once again, safe in his arms. She was ready for anything now, even Jareth.

Extracting herself from Ludo's arms she turned around and once again took in the view around her. As she looked towards the bridge that had almost tumbled her into the bog of stench she was once again awed by the sight that met her eyes. Instead of the remains of a broken old stone bridge, she was met with a beautiful ornate white metal bridge. The sides of the bridge were made out of metal that had been bent into Celtic shapes reminding her of one of her favourite necklaces, another hint that Jareth had been watching her, that he knew her, knew her tastes. As she walked up to the bridge she noticed that the metal had words carved into it in a flowing gothic script. She began to read it, whispering it out loud, though she did not know why.

"The sun was scorched, it burnt itself out,

The sky turned black, no more life…"

She stopped, shocked to the core by what she was seeing.

"Please, continue fair lady." She heard Didymus say and looking down she saw a curiosity in his eyes, and felt in herself a desire to carry on.

"The pain grew thick, choked with fear,

No more laughter, sea of tears,

The blood ran free, the cuts were deep,

Nothing to heal them, no reason to sleep,

River of life, flow back to the sea,

Washed free of the pain, full of relief,

No way to return, no need, no desire,

No more hell, no more fire,

Breathing ceases, heart slows its beat,

Only then can we find peace."

For a while there was silence, as the others absorbed her words and as she tried to get her head around what she had just read. That was her poem. She'd written it only a month ago. As she looked back at the bridge she saw the whole of it was covered in her poems, carved into the metal sides, the wooden floor. Now she knew he'd been watching her, and not just once in a while. He had her entire collection of poems written on this bridge from what she could see, three years of pain carved before her. He knew her most intimate thoughts, whether he realised it or not, he knew her better than anyone. She'd never shown her poetry to anyone before, they were an expression of herself, the real Sarah, not the face she showed to the world. Her family meant too much to her for them to realise what she really felt inside, the turmoil that was ripping apart her heart. They had enough problems without her adding to them. As for her friends, she didn't have any. Her school friends had all drifted away, gone to college, university, got full time jobs, all of them had new friends now. Her work colleagues, they were nothing to her, they chatted on breaks, but that was it, and the people she knew from various clubs, well, how well did you know someone you met in a club? She was alone, in every sense. All she had was Toby, and he was struggling growing up with an alcoholic father and a mother who showed him very little affection, he didn't need to know her problems. He was too young anyway. So there was no one who knew her, no one she could talk to.

Yet now she realised there was someone who knew her, someone who'd seen inside her soul when he'd read the words she wrote. Did he understand them? Did he understand her? She didn't know, but in her heart she prayed, prayed he had seen the meaning in her words, that he would understand, not shun her. Yet the thought alarmed her, what if he didn't understand. What if he'd put them here to taunt her? There were no answers and her thoughts were interrupted by Sir Didymus finally finding his voice.

"Well I must say, that was beautiful, yet dark. So deep, but where did the words come from? That bridge has never had anything on it as long as it's been there. Before you arrived, it was clear. Well it is a mystery."

And with that he and Devon went over the bridge followed by the rest of the bunch, leaving Sarah to follow, thinking of what this meant. Why had Jareth only just put them there? What was it supposed to mean?