I don't own Labyrinth. Jim Henson does. I am making no money off of this at all.
I know most of my readers are POTO fans, but I implore you to give this a shot.
I've got a lot of recouperating to do...hand surgery... so I've decided to write...and I've also decided to go back to The Labyrinth.
I hope you enjoy the journey!
-Nico
Sarah awkwardly made her way through the snow, slipping and cursing several times before she reached the small porch her father had built before Toby was born. She quickly pressed her house key into the slot and was about to turn it when the front door opened, revealing a crooked grin.
"Sarah!" Came the excited greeting.
"Hey, kiddo!" Sarah replied, bending down to embrace her eleven-year-old brother.
"Mom burned the dinner," Toby warned her, whispering the information in her ear.
"Thanks for the heads up," Sarah whispered back, stepping into the foyer with her small suitcase.
"Dad! Sarah's here!" Toby yelled.
"Oh, Sarah!" Karen's shrill voice announced her arrival into the foyer. She embraced her stepdaughter awkwardly so as not to get any of the dripping snow from Sarah's hair on her silk blouse. "I'm so glad you made it. It's really starting to snow, isn't it? Well, that's New England for you…"
Sarah smiled, wondering how many years would pass before Karen was comfortable enough around her to stop her nonsensical busy-chatter.
"Sweetheart!"
Sarah turned to the sound. "Dad!" She greeted him, running into a bear hug.
"I've missed you," her father said, squeezing the breath from her lungs. "It was too long this time."
"It was only three months, Dad," Sarah pointed out, taking a breath as her father released her.
"Three months is too long, Sarah!" Her dad said. "You're my only daughter, and I demand to see you more often than I do."
Sarah laughed. "Work has been busy, Dad. That's all."
"Ah, yes," her father smiled. "How is the museum?"
Sarah shrugged out of her coat at Karen's gentle persistence. "It's really coming along," she said, watching as Karen half carried, half dragged Sarah's wet coat to the laundry room. "We're about halfway through cataloging the last shipment and it's only a matter of time before the next, but you should see this stuff, Dad. It's unbelievable. I've actually had my hands on a necklace that was found in a Pyramid constructed three thousand years ago! Can you imagine?"
Robert Williams smiled as he watched the excitement with which Sarah was speaking. As a child, Sarah had been depressed and withdrawn. It hadn't been until college that she really blossomed, as they say. Robert still remembered the first time Sarah had told him of her major change to Ancient Egyptian Civilizations. It was only a matter of time before his daughter found herself immersed in a culture of ancient curses, secret tombs and divine belief.
It was an infatuation that drove Sarah Williams to New York City, working at the Museum of Natural History's Egypt wing.
"I'm glad you're happy," Robert told Sarah warmly. Then, clapping his hand he said, "Who's ready for pizza?"
Sarah smiled as Toby jumped for joy and squealed. Karen rarely allowed "junk food" in the house, and Sarah assumed that her visit home was the reason for the pizza.
As the small family made their way to the dining room, Sarah sighed, feeling the muscles in her back relax slightly.
It was good to be home.
"Spiders."
"Poop."
"Slugs."
"A bug eating another bug that's throwing up."
"Okay, okay, you win," Sarah said, putting her hand to her mouth. "That's the most disgusting thing on earth."
Toby leaned back against the pillows on his bed, a satisfied expression on his face.
Sarah watched him for a moment from her seat at the foot of his bed. She had really missed the kid she had once…
well. She didn't think about that anymore.
She yawned, stretching her back. "I guess I should go to bed," she announced. "It's going to be weird sleeping in my old bed again."
"You don't have to go yet," Toby said.
"Aw, it's getting late, kid. And you've got school tomorrow."
"School's gonna be canceled," Toby declared.
"Oh, you think so, huh?" Sarah said, standing up to peer out the window. A decidedly heavy snow was blanketing the earth, pristine and white under the streetlights. "Well, you might be right," she agreed. "It is snowing pretty hard."
"Eight to Twelve inches," Toby informed her. "I heard it on the news."
Sarah chuckled.
"Maybe…" Toby said hesitantly. "Maybe we could read a book."
Sarah smiled. "It's nice that you haven't turned into one of those kids obsessed with video games and chatting online and all that."
Toby shrugged. "I like Playstation," he said.
"Well, it's good that you still read," Sarah laughed, moving over towards one of Toby's bookshelves. She ran a finger down some titles. "Any of these good?" She asked.
Toby was silent for a moment. "Hang on," he said, getting out of bed and moving to a small trunk at the foot of his bed.
Sarah watched over his shoulder, curious as to what he was digging around for.
Then suddenly, she saw it.
It looked the same; perhaps a bit more worn, its pages fraying just slightly around the edges, but it was the same.
Toby handed it to Sarah slowly. She took it just as cautiously, her fingertips tingling as they came into contact with the leather of the book.
She traced the gold lettering on the cover.
The Labyrinth"Toby," Sarah all but whispered. "Where did you find this?"
"In your room," he admitted quietly. Then louder added, "But I swear it's the only thing I touched."
Sarah barely heard him, she was too busy staring at the book.
"Sarah?" Toby asked after several minutes of silent awe.
"Hmm?" Was the distracted reply.
"Are you mad I went in your room?"
"No, Toby," she said. She heard the small boy breathe a sigh of relief.
"Good," he said, getting settled back into his bed. "Then read."
Sarah's eyes widened. "Oh, Toby…I don't know…"
Toby rolled his eyes. "Come on, Sarah. I know you used to love that book. Mom told me. And I flipped through it. I saw some pictures of trolls or something. It looks cool."
"Goblins," Sarah said, sounding distant.
"Huh?" Toby asked.
"They're pictures of Goblins," she replied.
"Goblins, trolls, whatever. And there was one pretty cool part I read…how did it go?"
Toby was still talking, but Sarah was still lost in the fascination of the book in her hand. It had been so long! So long since she had lost herself in her fantasies…so long since she thought of that night ten years ago…when she had said the words…
"I wish the goblins would come and take you away," Toby said, suddenly remembering the line he had happened to read. "Right now."
The book fell from Sarah's hands. "Toby! What did you just say!"
Toby laughed. "I wished for the goblins to come and take you…"
Sarah practically tackled the boy, clamping her hand over his mouth before he could finish.
"Sarah!" Toby said, pushing her away. "What's the matter with you?"
Sarah was on her feet, looking towards the window.
Toby watched his sister, bewildered.
"What are you looking for?" Toby asked, coming to stand beside her.
Sarah's breath was tight in her chest, waiting for an explosion of glitter and a sweep of a cape.
Yet nothing happened.
"Sarah?" Toby asked again.
Sarah turned to him after several uneventful moments. "Sorry," she finally exhaled. "It's nothing." She laughed nervously. "I guess I was just sort of expecting someone."
"Well, I'd hate to disappoint."
The clipped accent caused Sarah's blood to run cold.
She instinctively clutched Toby as they turned around as one.
And as if he had always been there, standing in the narrow doorway of Toby's room in sleek leather pants and a billowing black poet's shirt, stood the Goblin King himself.