Chapter two: Toby's Gift

Toby's wide eyes watched Sarah carefully as she turned the perfect crystal around
in her hand. She had imagined the glow. It had to just be a coincidence that the crystal
happened to appear after her dream and the stuffed animal. It was a simple toy that Toby
had found in the woods. Some other child had probably left it there.

She placed it gently back in the box and replaced the top. Sarah took a deep
breath and then smiled down at Toby. He had no idea that the crystal would affect her in
this way. There wasn't a point in making him feel bad. It was obvious that he had been
fairly proud of his present.

"It's beautiful, Toby. I'll put it in my room at college just as soon as I get back
there. Thank you so much for giving this to me," she said.

Toby blushed slightly and ran the toe of his sneaker in the dirt. He looked down at
the patterns that he was making and then looked up at Sarah. She noticed that he had
smudged dirt on one of his round cheeks. She bent down by him and gently wiped it off.

"Do you really like it? I thought that it was like the crystals that Goblin King had.
I found it a few days ago. Mommy thought that it was really pretty and she said that it
would make a great present for you!" Toby explained.

Sarah got back to her feet and brushed some dirt from the knees of her pants. She
picked the box up and cringed slightly as the crystal rolled to one side when it shifted in
her grasp. Sarah took Toby's hand in hers and led him back to the house. Their mother
would be waiting to hear about how much Sarah liked the gift.

"Run on inside, Toby. I need to get something. I'll be right in," Sarah remarked.

Toby looked at her and then rushed up the stairs. He threw open the door and
barged into the kitchen. Sarah could hear her mother yelling at Toby to take off his dirty
shoes before he ruined her entire kitchen floor. She sounded very upset with him. Then
the door slammed shut. Sarah could imagine her mother yelling about the door slamming
too. She stifled a laugh with her hand and then turned to walk back to the fence and the
gate that led to the woods.

"Why are these memories haunting me so much today?" Sarah asked the empty
backyard.

She swung open the old gate and bit her lip as the hinges creaked noisily. She
didn't want Toby to know that she was going into the woods without him. She would
never be able to get rid of him. She left the gate open to avoid another noisy screech. If
her mother happened to notice it open, there would be another lecture. Her mother was
full of lectures for every occasion.

Sarah walked down her old worn in path. She knew the way blindfold and
backwards. She had traveled the path many many times. Most of the time she had been a
heroine on her dangerous quest. Sarah smiled at her childhood games.

She held the box in front of herself and carefully opened the top. The crystal still
sat in the far corner and there was no faint blue glow this time. Sarah turned off the path
and then sat down on a fallen tree. She lifted the crystal carefully from the box and gazed
at it. Why would anyone leave such a beautiful crystal ball in the middle of the woods?
Why would any child have such a strange toy? These questions pestered her mind and its
rational explanations.

"'It's a crystal. Nothing more. But if you turn it this way, and look into it, it'll
show you your dreams.'"

The words of the Goblin King seemed to sweep through the dark woods. Sarah
shivered. She quickly placed the crystal back into the box and pushed the top back on.
She couldn't stand to look at it any longer. Her hatred for Jareth burned even brighter as
she thought about the offer he had made when he first had taken Toby. She grew angry at
herself when she remembered that she had been very tempted to take the crystal and
experience her dreams.

Sarah looked out into the woods and noticed a white flash in the midst of the
brown and greens of the ancient trees. She watched as the white flew in between the trees
and finally came to rest on a high branch. Sarah set her box down and then carefully rose
from her seat to get a better look at the strange white flash.

She pushed through a thick bush and gasped as one of the twigs scraped across her
arm. She held her hand to the small cut and continued toward the animal at the top of the
tree. Sarah stopped behind another bush and gazed up into the tree in which it had rested.
Her breath caught in her throat as she realized what she was looking at.

A white owl was perched in the tree. It's wide, yellow eyes scanned the woods
carefully. It opened its beak and let out a low hoot. Sarah ducked further behind the bush
to keep out of its sight. The owl instantly turned its gaze to the bush she had ducked
behind. Its wise eyes watched carefully.

Sarah peered over the shrubbery and found herself staring at the owl's large eyes.
The owl cocked its head to one side as if to ask her why she was trying to hide. Sarah
stood up defiantly and glared at the owl. It gave another hoot and then flew into the air
with a flurry of wings and feathers. Sarah watched as the owl flew between the trees and
rose into the sky. She watched the path it had taken long after the bird was entirely out of
sight.

Sarah finally managed to draw her eyes away from the empty skies and then
started back towards the shoe box that she had left by the fallen tree. She knew that many
owls stopped in the woods. She had seen them all through her life. It was probably just
another common owl. However, it was starting to seem that the strange occurrences of
the day were more than coincidence. The owl had looked at her with so much
intelligence. She had only seen an owl like that in the Underground. That owl had been
the Goblin King. She shuddered at the thought of him watching her in her beloved woods.

Sarah bent down and lifted her present from Toby into her arms. The crystal slid
to the corner of the box, as it had done when she had held it earlier. The box felt strangely
warm to her touch. She would be glad when she was able to set it down in the house.
Sarah didn't want Toby to know how much his present had upset her. He had thought
that he was doing something thoughtful. He had no idea that the stories Sarah told were
about her real past.

"Milady!" a whisper drifted up from behind her.

Sarah spun on her heels, forgetting the fragile crystal that she held in her arms. It
bounced from one side of the box to the other. However, it remained in one piece. Sarah
only briefly worried about the delicate gift. The majority of her attention was on the voice
she had heard in the forest. Was it truly Sir Didymus? Her face instantly broke into a
smile from the thought.

She saw the gallant fox atop Ambrosias. He held his small staff in one hand and in
the other he clutched his hat. Sarah noticed that he was bowing. Didymus straightened
himself and then replaced his hat on his head. He smiled at her and then urged Ambrosias
towards her.

"Oh! Sir Didymus! I never thought I would see you again!" Sarah called.

She carelessly set her box on the ground and rushed up to her dear friend.
Ambrosias seemed to recognize her. He sped his run up a little too fast and Didymus
toppled off. Sarah stifled a laugh but fell to her knees to allow the approaching dog to lick
her. She closed her eyes as his warm tongue covered her cheeks with kisses.

"Ambrosias, stop. I don't need another bath," she teased.

"Sarah? Are you all right?" her mother asked from above her.

Sarah bit her lip and pushed the dog away from her. She quickly wiped her face
and opened her eyes. Her mother stood over her with her arms crossed over her chest.
Sarah got to her feet and wiped her pants off again. She knew that she would have to
change them after all the kneeling she had done that morning.

"I-I'm fine. Why do you ask?" Sarah asked.

Her mother nudged Merlin away from the shoe box on the ground and urged him
to go back to the house. Merlin gave her a glance and then lumbered away. Sarah
watched him go sadly. She had thought that she had seen her friends, when in reality she
had only seen her own old dog.

"You called Merlin by a different name, Sarah. We're worried about you. Your
father and I feel like the school is too much work for a young woman. You need to take a
break and enjoy life, go on some dates and go to some parties. How many parents do you
know who tell their children to have more fun?" she demanded.

She handed the box to Sarah and then started back towards the house. Sarah
rushed after her. It was one of the many joys of being home, fighting with Mother. Sarah
had learned to love her stepmother, but they fought constantly. Her mother was a worried
person by nature, and Sarah wasn't. It was as simple as that.

"I can handle school fine. In fact, I think that I should be leaving soon. I think
that my play's first rehearsal is tomorrow. If I want to be ready I need to leave tonight,"
Sarah explained.

Her mother looked at her and let out an exasperated sigh. She threw her hands up
in defeat and then walked the rest of the way into the house without a look back at Sarah.
She closed the door gently behind herself.

Sarah looked back at the woods one last time. There was something wrong. She
couldn't deny the obvious anymore. She had seen far too many clues hinting that the
Underground was coming back into her life. Sarah didn't want to face it again. She had
to find sanctuary at her college. It was away from the memories and the past.

Still, there was a part of her that had grown uncontrollably excited at the prospect
of returning to the magical Underground. That was the part that hated the monotony of
school and acting classes and social circles and the rest of normal life. That was the part
that kept her from fitting in with the rest of the students and prevented her from enjoying
herself with her success in acting and school. Further, it also kept her from going out with
anyone more than once. Deep down inside she compared everyone to the Goblin King
whom she had danced with in an enchanted ballroom years before. That was the part that
knew that she felt something for Jareth, other than hate. She could feel the emotion burn
in the deepest recesses of her soul. That was her love for him that would never leave, no
matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she hated the man and that he was her
eternal enemy. However, that emotion was hidden beneath the suffering and the anger he
had built in her. It was very well covered and Sarah would never allow it to break free...
NEVER!