chapterone

It was raining. Hard. As Fern patiently waited for her mother to come, she silently prayed that the rain would stop it's harsh pounding on the windows and roof of the school. The last thing she wanted to do was have to run out in that rain in order to get to her Mom's car...when her Mom finally arrived. This was the third time her Mom had forgotten to pick her up from the Fourth Avenue School for Girls and Fern was getting sick and tired of always having to wait. And if she wasn't waiting for her to pick her up, she was waiting for her to get ready in the morning in order to take her to school. This was the third time this week alone that Fern's mother had forgotten to pick up her daughter and Fern was about ready to cry. Too bad she lived on the other side of town, or she would have walked home. It would have gotten her home a lot faster than this waiting was. Fern glanced down at her watch. It read 4:15. School had ended almost a half hour ago. Sighing, Fern leaned her head against the brick column she was sitting against. Where was she?

The fire was warm and cozy and Sarah felt herself doze in and out of a deep and peaceful sleep. She hadn't been sleeping well since...well, since she was fifteen or so. The dreams never really went away, and yet they were never really there to begin with.

The dreams.

The dreams of a land and people and places and adventures that she was never quite sure were real or not. Dreams of power, lonliness and hoplessness all at once. The dreams had come and gone ever since she was young and every once in awhile she wished they would leave her alone. But then she would always wish them back. They were like a dear friend who was always there for her, no matter what. Friends like that were hard to come by nowadays. She'd learned that a long time ago.

There was a book in her lap. A worn, tired book with a red cover. Opening her eyes, Sarah ran her hand over the familiar cover and her fingers traced the gold-lettering of the title, The Labyrinth. Ah, the Labyrinth. She knew this book well, knew the story and knew the heroine. She'd raised her daughter, Fern, on the same story; reading it to her before bed every night. Even after Fern's father left them, Sarah still read the book to her daughter, opening to keep some of the magic in their lives.

Sarah sat up straight on the couch, her eyes wide and panicked. "Oh my goodness!" she said. "Fern!"

"Fern?" a voice asked from behind, "what are you still doing here?"

Fern turned around to look at her teacher, Miss Timber. "My Mom's late," she answered carelessly, "again."

"Again?"

Sighing, Fern nodded and turned her head down to the notebook she had sitting in her lap. Her own handwriting filled the pages. It was a soft, vibrant handwriting, like wind across water.

Miss Timber shook her head. "Is she usually late?"

Fern shrugged. "Not until recently. She use to always remember when to pick me up. But these last few weeks she's been...forgetting."

"Want me to call her for you?"

"You can try, but I can't gurantee she'll answer the phone."

Miss Timber's face softened and she sat down on the cold linoleum next to Fern. "So what are you writing?" she asked as she glanced at the notebook.

"What? Oh, this. Well, growing up my mom always use to tell me the same bedtime story, so I've decided to write it down and put it on paper."

"Really?" Miss Timber asked, intrigued. "What is it about?"

"This is going to sound crazy, but...Well, the story starts with my mom and she's babysitting her brother, My Uncle Toby, and he gets kidnapped by these goblins..." She saw the look on her teacher's face and smiled, "Just work with me on this one, okay? So, anyway, these goblins live in this castle in the middle of the Labyrinth and the Labyrinth is run by this evil King and my Mom had to solve the Labyrinth in order to get her brother back."

"Well, your mother certainly has quite an active imagination," Miss Timber commented, "I can certainly see where you get yours."

Fern nodded. "Yeah, I guess she had a dream about it when she was my age and could never forget it. I decided to write it all down for her."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate it when you're done."

"At this rate I'll probably be done with it before she even shows up."

Miss Timber frowned. "Are you sure you don't want me to call her for you?"

Fern smiled. "Yes, I'm sure, but thank you anyway. She'll show up eventually. She always does. It's just that since her divorce she's been a little...scatterbrained."

"Scatterbrained?"

"Yeah, scatterbrained." Fern shrugged and ran a hand through her curly dark hair. "I'm sure it's just a phase she's going through."

"How long ago was the divorce?" Miss Timber asked gently.

"Well, Dad left when I was about ten, but the divorce was only finalized a year or so ago. Ever since she's been..scatterbrained."

"If you'd like, I can stay here with you until your Mom arrives."

"Nah," Fern said with a smile. "That's okay. I'm use to taking care of myself."

"Only if you're sure."

"I'm sure."

Nodding, Miss Timber stood up and brushed the dirt off of her skirt. "I'll be in my classroom if you need me."

"Okay, thanks!"

Fern watched as the woman walked towards the other end of the school. After she was out of sight, Fern turned back to her notebook and her hand started to swiftly move across the clean, white paper, lost in the world of dreams and memories...

She was so lost in the mystical world that she didn't even notice the sudden wind that was sweeping through the empty corridor, shuffling her papers in the notebook. "What the..." she asked, feeling a sudden chill run through her body. Her deep green eyes flashed upward and she saw a sudden movement of black velvet, and a tall, dark shadow appeared before her.

Her eyes registered the figured that towered above her and her mouth hung open, speechless. "Okay..." she said slowly, "I must have fallen asleep or something because you look waaaaaay too much like-"

The figure held up a hand to silence her, his blue eyes sparkling and his long, willow blonde hair shining. "Ah," he said thoughtfully, "you look so very much like your mother..." Cocking his head to one side to study her, he smiled. "You're Fern, I presume?"

"Yes," she answered, her eyes narrowed as she glared at him. "Who are you?"

Laughing vibrantly, he bent over in a mock bow and brought his billowing cape up around his body, "I'm exactly who you think I am," he answered as a flash of smoke arose from the ground and both were whisked away into the darkness....

Sarah ran into the school, not minding the cold rain as it drenched her body. "Fern?" she called out when she reached the foyer. "Fern, honey, where are you?"

Only silence greeted her.

"Fern?" Shaking her wet hair out, Sarah started to walk around. Her feet and voice echoed and bounced off of the white walls. Her eyes peered around every corner, into every classroom. "Fern? Sweetheart, this isn't funny. Look, I'm sorry I'm late, but I fell asleep and well-"

A hand gently tapped her on the shoulder and Sarah jumped fifty feet into the air.

"I'm sorry," Miss Timber apologized, "I didn't mean to startle you. Are you Fern's mother?"

Sarah nodded. "Yes, I am. Have you seen my daughter?"

Miss Timber nodded. "Well, she was sitting right over there..." She pointed to the empty spot along the wall where she'd been sitting with Fern only five minutes before. "That's funny. I wonder where she went."

But Sarah wasn't listening to her. She was too busy looking at the notebook that had been left behind.

Miss Timber came up behind her. "That's something Fern was working on. A short story or something."

Sarah nodded automatically. "Yes, I...I recognize the names." And yet, she also noticed that something was different. It was the same story all right, but something was...different. Something she couldn't quite place her finger on. She flipped to the first page, and gasped when she read the title, written in big letters across the very top of the page...

Dropping the notebook onto the floor, Sarah started to run around the school, fearing the worst. "Fern! Fern, where are you! Fern, please answer me!"

But she knew it was no use. She knew exactly where Fern was...now all she had to do was figure out how to get her back.......