As the World Falls Down

The sky was dark and menacing as she stood before the small powder blue casket. They had chosen and open casket funeral. Karen sat in the front row marked for family her soft sobs seemed to echo through out the church. The young woman who was stoically sitting beside older woman stood and walked up to the little boy who lay in the casket. In the woman’s arms there was a well worn bear, it was old and a little thread bare in some places but for the most part it was still intact and looked well loved. The woman’s dark hair cascaded around her face as she leaned over the small boy and tucked the bear under his arm. “Lancelot was yours now and forever, I love you Toby.” She whispered as she stood up strait and turned back to sit by her stepmother.

Sarah sat emotionless as the funeral proceeded, that’s all she could do. As people came and offered their sympathy and support all she cold do was stare at the casket as they lowered it into the soft warm ground along with the last person in this world that she loved and loved her in return. Everything after that was a hazy blur to her. She vaguely remembered Karen telling her she was going back to Virginia to live with her sister, not that it mattered to Sarah what Karen did. Sarah still didn’t care for the woman that made her life miserable growing up. Karen had done everything imaginable to alienate Sarah from her Father right up to the day he died. The only reason she still talked to her was because of Toby and now he was gone too… just like everyone else Sarah loved. Sarah couldn’t believe Toby was actually gone it was only last week when he was running around and begging her for one of her stories. He was such a lively 10yr old she couldn’t understand why a boy so young and vivacious could die from a heartatack it wasn’t fair he died so young especially since it could have been prevented.
Sarah loved her little brother more than anything in this world. It wasn’t always the case though… there was a time long before Toby could remember when Sarah couldn’t stand being around him. No one could understand why or how Sarah had changed her opinion about having a baby brother, that was a secret Sarah kept only for herself. When Sarah looked at Toby as he grew older she saw similarities between him and someone she fought so hard to forget. As much as she wanted to forget she couldent bring herself to let go of those memories either.

The weather had turned dank and dreary as Sarah’s car pulled into the driveway. The metallic creaking of the garage door overpowered the sound of the rain as it beat against the roof of her car. Once safely inside the garage she got out of her car she smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress as she made her way to the door to let herself into the house. It was unusually quiet and lonely; everywhere she looked something reminded her of everything she had lost. Toby’s dirty sneakers lay by the doorway where he had taken them off after playing in her yard. His toys and movies scattered around the huge TV in the living room from their last movie night together. This was the house she had grown up in where she had practically raised her younger brother as her own child. From the exterior of the house it looks the same as it did when she was a child but the interior was decorated to Sarah’s taste alone. When her father passed away two years ago he left her the house. It was the only thing he had given her in her life that held any significant value in her eyes. As she took off her shoes see spotted the picture on the mantle that was taken of her with Toby last month. Looking at the two of them was like looking at two sides of the same coin, complete opposites yet they were so similar. Where she had straight dark hair he had wild blond, her eyes were green and his were blue with flecks of brown... almost as if he had two different colored eyes. Sarah couldn’t look at the picture any longer. She rounded the corner into the kitchen and went straight to the fridge and grabbed the bottle of wine she kept there. She didn’t even bother getting a glass to pour it in, it besides it wasn’t like there was anyone there to chastise her for her lack of manners tonight and after the day she had experienced she would have dared anyone to have said anything to her if they were there. The cold bitterness of the wine made her scrunch up her nose. She wasn’t much of a drinker but tonight she felt she needed that little bit of added strength that bottle offered. She hated being alone.

Toby had been living with her for the past 2 yrs after their father died. Karen was too busy to have Toby around he cramped her style and social status. Sarah had welcomed him with open arms. She made her way up the stairs to Toby’s room… her old room. Almost everything was the same as it had been when she had occupied the room except for a few distinct differences that made it look more masculine. She had painted the room blue for one and had baseball sheets on the bed. But Toby was at the age where anything was possible and embraced Sarah’s love for fantasy so he had kept most of her old books and toys. She plopped down on the bed and looked over to the dresser. For a fleeting moment she thought she saw something in the mirror but decided it was her overactive imagination. They hadn’t answered her call since the night she had returned from their world. But then again when she called them she hadn’t really needed them she just wanted to see if they would come. Sarah got up from the bed and stumbled over to the dresser the wine taking over her sense of balance. “Well here goes nothing…” Sarah said as she stood in front of the mirror. She had to think for a moment of who she wanted to call. Her thoughts were clouded because of the wine she had drank. Jareth flashed into her mind but she shook that off…why would she want him didn’t he try to keep her away from Toby? But the image of that tall beautiful man kept swimming around in her head as it had for the past 10yrs. He was the one she truly wanted but never had the courage to call. Instead she tried for the hundredth time to call forth the little dwarf that she had befriended so long ago. “Hoggle I need you…”

She stood there for a moment but nothing seemed to be happening she turned away from the mirror tears running down her face “why won’t you come to me when I need you the most…”