Disclaimer: I don't own anything, Jim Henson does. All song lyrics belong to their respective artists. I hope you'll enjoy this fic! I've decided to upload all of them at once which is why it's been a while since I've published a fic because it's easier to edit this way. Please review and let me know how you like it!

"When I feel blue in the night

And I need you to hold me tight

Whenever I want you, all I have to do is

Dream

I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine

Anytime night or day

Only trouble is, gee whiz

I'm dreamin' my life away"

-The Everly Brothers, All I Have to Do is Dream

"Please Toby. We've been here for an hour and we're not going to buy anything. Let's go." Sarah tried to grab the four-year-old, but nothing was working. Toby wanted to go to a shelter to see some animals while their parents were doing some other errands. Sarah offered to take Karen's car to watch over Toby and take him home when they were done.

She gave an apologetic look at the workers. "Toby! Come on!" She hoisted him onto her waist just to have him wail and struggle. He struggled so hard that they knocked over an owl cage.

Sarah tried to not lose her temper, but he had been acting out all day. Ever since her Run in the Labyrinth, she had been working on being kinder and more patient. Strange combination, her and the Labyrinth, but it worked.

Picking up the owl cage, she felt it nudge thankfully against her hand. It looked at her appreciatively and nudged against her finger again. She blinked. This wasn't normal, was it?

"Why is there a barn owl here? Was it someone's pet?" She asked the shop owner.

The woman shook her head. "Nah. We found him a few months ago. He was sick and kept coming back. It's a strange creature." She fed some food to the dogs. "He likes some people more than others. But more than that, it's like he's aware sometimes. More than an animal should."

"Hmmm" Sarah said in response. "Why keep him for so long then? Hasn't he healed up by now?"

The owner shrugged. "Yes and no. He's been depressed but doesn't want to go away for some reason. He actually nipped a customer who kicked his cage over on purpose yesterday, so we are expecting to put him down soon unless someone is willing to take him away. Fat chance of that." She muttered.

Sarah felt sorry for this poor owl. It wasn't fair that they'd do things like this to creatures that only wanted to live. "How much for him?"

"What?" The owner asked, surprised.

Sarah repeated herself. "How much? I'll take him off your hands. I like owls."

The owner scoffed. "To get him off our hands so we don't kill him? Free. Just take him please. It's not easy to care for an owl. You'd have to have fresh mice for him often." She handed Sarah a bag of dead mice. "You can buy these for $5 now."

Sarah sighed. She forked over the little money that she got from tutoring children at the local elementary school. She figured that she could just get fresh mice from the traps they set around the house (her dad was going nuts over the pests that roamed their usually clean home). Looping the bag of mice in one hand, she took the cage and held Toby's hand.

Sarah drove Toby and the owl back home, her brother singing some Sesame Street song in the back. She didn't know why she bought the owl. There were a million other animals that wanted a home and she takes the one that's basically a wild animal? It pulled to her for some reason. She just couldn't explain it.

Maybe it was the fact that she needed to care for someone, or something. She was lonely. Ever since she came back from the Labyrinth, life changed. It was no longer the same place that she wanted to come back to. But no matter. She was here, and she was making the best of her life. I have no reason to complain. I'm doing well and I have a comfortable life when so many people in the world don't even have a proper meal.

After getting Toby to bed and feeding the owl, she took out an owl book that she picked up from the local bookstore on the way home and flipped through its pages. She sighed, seeing that owls shouldn't be caged up or else they'd suffer from depression. As it was mid September, the air outside wasn't terribly warm but warm enough for her to open her windows. She opened the owl's cage. "Go on. You can always come back if you want. I'm not going anywhere." The owl chirped and flew out.

Sarah yawned. She had school tomorrow and figured that she'd better get some shut eye. Dressed in her nightgown, the teen fell asleep.

A handsome man sat on the foot of her bed, and yet, Sarah was not concerned. In her dreams, she did not question things but accepted them as they are. He was not a man that most people would conventionally call handsome, but good looking he was. He wore a simple billowing shirt with ruffled sleeves complete with black tights tucked into his thigh-high boots. His messy light-blond hair was flowing in the breeze and his gloved hands were clasped in his lap, a very non-threatening position.

But the most striking part was his face. His sharp and defined cheekbones enhanced every expression. His painted lips added the mystery and allure to his overall being, appearing masculine to Sarah even when the Above considered makeup a feminine thing.

His mismatched eyes were the most surprising part. They gazed at Sarah longingly, just as they during the peach dream. They did not look at her teasingly or annoyedly. They were almost full of regret.

They stared at each other in companionable silence for a while. The Goblin King slowly reached over in Sarah's direction with his gloved hand.

It never reached her.

Sarah woke up with a gasp. What was that all about? She turned over and panicked at how bright the sun was.

She heard a sharp knock at her door. "Sarah! You're late for school!" Karen's voice yelled frantically. "You need to eat breakfast too!"

"Coming!" Sarah yelled. She wore the first shirt and pants she could find and rushed out of her room to the bathroom to brush her teeth, not even once looking at her hair. She zoomed past Karen and grabbed the piece of toast with eggs on it and stuffed it in her mouth. "Have a good day Sarah!" Her stepmother called. Sarah waved back and ran to school as quickly as she could.

She didn't even notice that the owl had gone back to her room.