Disclaimer: Jareth, Sarah, and the Labyrinth are owned by Jim Henson, George Lucas, and all those other guys. Don't sue me;, I'm writing fan fiction for my own measly entertainment, as I fully suspect no one else is reading this. *laughs* Heather, Dawn, and any other characters and places not mentioned in Labyrinth are my own creations. Do not steal my characters. If you would like to "borrow" them for your own storyline, just ask. I like to know where my kids are. ^.^

Time to Choose

Written By Andrea "Dearlady2002" Brink

January 2003

Summary: An aged Sarah had completely forgotten about the nightmare she'd had as a young girl; wishing Toby away, until her granddaughter reads her a book, and Sarah finds herself face to face with the Goblin King again.

This is only the second story I've written, and the first I've posted on fanfic.net, so bear with me if I'm making huge mistakes during posting and all that. I had the Tom Petty song "Last Dance With Mary Jane" in mind and added a twist of Cinderella for flavour. When I first started writing this, it was supposed to be a short, one-chapter piece, but I wanted to go into more detail with it, so since then it has evolved into a slightly longer story.

If you love my story, tell me! I appreciate and welcome comments, even if they are not entirely positive. If you hate it… well, still tell me, but nicely.  ^.-

Thanks!

Andrea

            Chapter 1: A familiar blonde head, and a familiar red book.

            Dressed in her warmest flannel nightgown, Sarah lay in bed, carefully tucked in under several layers of warm blankets. Although it was only eight pm, she had been sleeping, until a noise of some sort had woken her. Most likely the house settling again. The old house seemed to emanate all sorts of strange noises; everything from various creaks and moans, to squeaks and scraping noises. And it had the right to, she thought; the house was well over a hundred years old by now. It was already thirty-something years old when her parents had bought it, and that was long ago. Sarah herself would be eighty-three years old in less than a month, so she knew that when you grow old, things don't sit like they used to. Old cartilage and joints were bound to creak, just as a house's construction would.

            She sighed; even with the warm pajamas and blankets, she was still a bit cold. Damned circulation. It was too long a walk to the thermostat in the living room, so she snuggled down under the covers again, trying to stay warm. A few strands of gray hair fell in her eyes, and she irritably brushed them away with a wrinkled hand. She'd meant to have that mess cut short years ago, but she hadn't the time.

            She was just drifting off to sleep again when she thought she heard another noise. She opened her eyes and looked towards the door. It slowly creaked inward, its antique hinges groaning as it opened. Sarah's heart froze for a second. Someone was in her house.

            The floorboards creaked under the added weight. Sarah buried down under the covers and closed her eyes. They could steal anything they wanted, she just didn't want to be hurt. They wouldn't hurt an old lady, would they?

            A blonde-headed figure shot up from the floor and landed on the bed beside Sarah, grabbing her arm. "Surprise!" Sarah opened her eyes at the sound of the voice she recognized. Her eight-year-old granddaughter was kneeling on the large bed next to her.

            "Heather, you shouldn't sneak up on Grandma like that… you scared me," she said, placing a hand on her heart and putting on an exasperated tone that always made the girl laugh. It worked again; the little girl giggled, delighted she had managed to sneak up on her grandma. Sarah wouldn't tell her of course, but Heather had really had her scared for a minute there.

            She had had been living on her own for over two decades now, ever since her husband Jake had died. Her daughter, Dawn, and Heather came over to visit on weekends, and usually stayed for a few days at a time. She'd had forgotten they would arrive tonight.

            "I thought you were a burglar for a moment…" Dawn knew that Sarah was afraid of burglars. They had tried to get her to move into the spare room at their house so she would feel safer, but Sarah always denied their offer; she would not leave the house. She reached out and collected all the flyaway blonde hairs that had fallen from Heather's pigtails, and tucked them behind her ear.

            At this the girls' smile faded. "Gramma, why don't you come live with me and mommy? We have a bedroom for you, all ready. I'd even let you have my room, if you wanted it." The girl looked up at her grandma, trying to arch an eyebrow as she had seen the adults do before. "It even has these pretty pink bunnies on the wallpaper…" she continued, trying to convince the stubborn old woman lying in bed.

            Sarah smiled. The girls had begged her to come live with them before, but the answer was always the same. No. She wouldn't leave the house. They'd asked Sarah why, but she never would say. She honestly wasn't sure why herself. "So what have you been doing? Sneaking around my house I assume? Hmm?"

            The blonde-headed girl grinned, mischief dancing in her blue eyes. "Mmhmm," she nodded. "I found something…" The little girl hopped off the bed and ran to the door, then turned to look at her Gramma with a grave look on her face. "Don't go anywhere, I'll be right back. Okay?"

            Sarah smiled, which deepened the laugh lines that showed at the corner of her eyes. "I'll stay right here," she promised, snuggling deeper into the covers. Heather nodded and ran down the hallway, then thundered up the stairs somewhere, probably to her room. The truth was, even if Sarah had wanted to go anywhere to get away from the child, she couldn't. She could barely walk anymore. She'd moved to the guest room on the main level of the house years ago so she wouldn't have to try to climb the stairs with her walker. If her joints weakened much more, Dawn would certainly find her a wheelchair, even though Sarah despised the things.

            Heather ran back into the room and flopped down on the bed, holding a book. This didn't surprise Sarah, the child was in the second grade and had been getting rather good at reading, so each time she and Dawn visited, Heather read her gramma a new story. What did surprise her though, was the book she had. The wrinkled, slightly worn, faded red cover read The Labyrinth.

            Heather saw the shocked look on her grandmother's face and quickly explained, thinking she was mad at her. "Me and Mommy were putting away my clothes in the dresser upstairs." Sarah nodded. Heather always stayed in Sarah's old room when she visited. Dawn stayed in what had been her parents' bedroom. "…And I found this in the mirror drawer. I wasn't really snooping, honest."

            Sarah nodded, finally having some control over her heartbeat now. She thought she'd never see that book again, and had hoped no one would ever find it. It had given her such awful nightmares when she was a young girl. She had thought of destroying it completely, burning it or something, when she was younger, but she never could bring herself to do it. She didn't know why, perhaps it was guilt. Growing up, books were her life. It would be like a sin to destroy one, regardless of its effect on her sleep at the time. She'd never read it to Dawn as a child, not after she'd experienced that awful nightmare herself. Wishing away poor Toby. She'd never do such a thing. The occasional dream she'd had when her friends had visited her were lovely, but those were few and far between. Eventually, she stopped dreaming of them altogether. But she never knew when that nightmare would return. She wouldn't wish that on anyone.

            Heather was watching her, she realized, and she looked at the girl, forcing herself to smile. "So you've found a new story to read me?" The girl nodded, glad Gramma wasn't mad at her. "Dear, Grandma is very tired right now, could you…" read it to me later, she thought, but saw the hurt look on the girl's face. Sarah pushed more gray hair out of her face and continued. "…turn on that lamp next to you? That will wake me up. And let you see better to read. You don't want to go blind, do you?"

            Heather grinned, flipped on the light on the nightstand next to the bed, and flopped down beside Sarah. She pulled the plush covers up over her lap, sat back against the headboard and started reading.

            Sarah listened to Heather read, trying to concentrate on how well she was doing, helping her sound out words when she couldn't pronounce them, but her mind kept wandering back to those nightmares she had had. She knew they were just nightmares, and ones she could barely remember anymore at that, but nevertheless, something about them, and that book, still unnerved her.

            Before long, Sarah felt her eyelids growing heavy, and her world went hazy then black as sleep claimed her.

            *****