Disclaimer:

Standard disclaimers apply.

The Labyrinth is the property of Jim Henson and its scriptwriters, including but not limited to Dennis Lee, Terry Jones, Elaine May, and A.H.C. Smith. Characters and concept are used without permission and not for product.

Standard disclaimers apply.

The Labyrinth is the property of Jim Henson and its scriptwriters, including but not limited to Dennis Lee, Terry Jones, Elaine May, and A.H.C. Smith. Characters and concept are used without permission and not for product.

Chapter 1

Cleaning out her own bedroom was strangely sad to Sarah, who sighed while plucking the worn issue of the Labyrinth from under her bed. She didn't understand why such feelings of sadness and longing were beginning to cloud her thoughts. Like a memory that was struggling to resurface but was too deep to come afloat. She touched the book softly stifling a laugh, how many times had she read this book? She could probably read the whole thing to someone without actually reading it! She opened it and smelled the yellowing pages, only 7 years later and it looked as if she'd had it her whole life. She tossed it in a box beside her bed, before picking up a familiar toy. Silly, she remembered giving Toby all her old toys. She smiled remembering it, Lancelot! How much he meant to her! She tossed that too into the box.

Her father had been a little weary to call her and tell her to collect her old items. "Sarah," he said, "I was waiting until you were settled into your apartment before asking this, and I think it's been a couple years and I was hoping you could come and clear out your old bedroom." She heard Toby yelling in the background, "I'll help you Sarah!" The little 8 year old would do anything to hang out with his older and caring sister. So Sarah agreed it was high time to collect her belongings, and without complaint drove the two-hour drive to her old house. She passed the park, the old church and the small mini-mart, all reminders of her childhood. Her little town always seemed to be gray and raining, but she loved it. Her friends used to wonder, how could anyone love the ugly rain? It's gray and dull and depressing. No, not in Sarah's eyes, in fact now she inhaled deeply the scent of an upcoming rainstorm.

Sarah reached down into an old shoebox and pulled out 4 folded sheets up paper. One was a beautiful, glowing fairy. It seemed almost golden. She smiled at it, but wondered why she had drawn it with such a mean expression on its face. The other was of a strange dwarf creature, she must have been trying to draw Snow White's Grumpy, but she failed miserably. It was much more contorted and wore old clothes and had a big nose. She laughed at the silliness. The next picture made her freeze, it was The Goblin King. She remembered her dreams about him, how he haunted her. The dream she couldn't seem to wake up from, she had been trying to find Toby in a maze, it was horrible.

She remembered being so sure it actually happened she actually told her mother about it! They were out at a café with her mother's boyfriend, Jeremy. They laughed about recent reviews on their hit production, How Far Can Sheila Go, and were telling in detail how the performance went. Sarah, as always when her mother talked of her work, listened intently, however was a bit distracted.

"Sarah, are you alright? You haven 't even touched the pie." Her mother said after a brief pause. Sarah, whose gaze had been fixated on the hands in her lap, looked up in a daze.

"Huh?" She asked, looking first at her mother, than at Jeremy who seemed curious.

"Is everything alright, dear? You have barely said a word, usually you talk more." Her mother sipped the small porcelain cup in front of her. Sarah thought about telling her mother about her dream, but decided against it. She wouldn't believe her. That night, her mother came into the small guest room and sat on the edge of the bed.

"You know you can tell me anything…right Sarah?" Her mother asked, looking so different without her make-up and extravagant jewelry.

"Yes, of course." Sarah said shyly, trying to avoid the direct eye contact.

"Is everything okay at home?" She said after a long silence. Sarah thought about it, only a week ago she would have been thrilled to share every small detail about her horrible step-mother, her crying brother and her inattentive dad, always too busy for her, but she couldn't.

"Okay, I want to tell you, but you won't believe me," Sarah said, a hint of whining in her tone.

"Tell me," Her mother said, looking worried.

"I wished Toby away, and goblins came and took him!" And upon saying the words, Sarah felt so amazing, like a weight had been lifted from her. She ignored her Mothers strange expression and continued. "I had 13 hours to get him back, and I had to go through a maze and it was all unfair! And there was a Goblin King and we danced at a scary ball, and I defeated him and took Toby back home!" She sighed. Her mother stared at her for a few minutes without saying a word. She looked worried.

"This was a dream you had Sarah, lots of people have strange dreams."

"No, it was real!" Sarah argued, determined to be believed. They went on like that for an hour before her mother silently just shook her head and left the room. In the morning, when her Mother thought Sarah had gone outside to play, she called her Father. Sarah will always remember the conversation. Her mother had been worried that Sarah hadn't been getting enough attention and so was making up wild and impossible stories for attention. Then Sarah had to question herself, did she actually see that? All she knew was that it wasn't a ploy for attention like her parents believed.

Soon she forgot almost the entire dream, and when she got older realized it was just a dream. It had to have been. She had been reading that book too much and that's what triggered it. But she never forgot the Goblin King, only remembering the wicked gaze in his eyes. And, kidding or not, she would never, ever wish away anyone ever again.

She threw the pictures in the box before closing it. The room was empty, just the frame of her bed and the vanity table. She walked over to it, surprised at how bare it was without all the pictures and clutter on top of it. Sitting there still was a lipstick tube. She smiled while turning the bottom and watched as the light pink stick came up. She watched herself in the mirror while applying it, and after putting the cap back on frowned. She had changed so much since she was a teenager girl, she could hardly recognize herself. Sure, she was still somewhat dramatic, but she grew up. She knew what was real and what was fiction.

On her way outside she saw Toby, a stick was in his hand and he was pretending to be in a sword fight. She crossed her arms and leaned on the doorframe while watching him.

"You shall not pass, Blackbeard!" He shouted, energetically thrusting and whipping his sword in all directions. "And I shall walk your daughter down the plank!" He pretended to stab the imaginary foe in the heart before raising his sword forward to point at the imaginary daughter.

"You! Walk the plank!" He yelled, such intensity in his voice Sarah felt she could see the whimpering young maiden before him. He paused as if to listen to her pleas.

"Very well, you shall become my slave!" He said, as a twisted smile appeared on his face. "And you shall bring me and my crew rum and clean the poop-deck!" He laughed an evil laugh before turning to the invisible laughing crew behind him. "Quiet!" He commanded, "Get to work, set the sails." He jumped to a nearby tree pretending to look across the large Ocean, one hand over his eyes blocking out the sun.

Sarah watched for a few more minutes while Toby fought another battle before coming over. In seeing his older and respected sister, he quickly stopped his pretend sword fight and dropped the sword.

"Sarah!" He called and ran to hug her. "Did you clean out your room?" He asked.

"Yes," She answered, squeezing him tightly. "What were you playing, Toby?" She bent so she could be the same height as the 8 year old.

"Pirate ship," He said as a smile shone on his face.

"Come on, Toby. You're too old for that, don't you think? Aren't you a big boy, almost a young man?" She asked, picking up the sword that was lying beside them.

"Yeah, I am." He said, wanting to be considered a young man.

"There are no such things as aliens or pirates." She said grabbing his hand. "Let's go inside and make a sandwich."

"But, it's funner being an alien than just plain old Toby all the time." Toby said, kind of quietly. He jutted his lower lip out and looked up at her. She was silent for a few moments.

"More fun," She finally said, so quietly he could barely hear her, "it's more fun being an alien, not funner." She said more loudly and, still holding onto his hand led him towards the door.

"You're right, pirates are stupid…" Toby whispered, his head hanging low. Sarah felt so horrible she could have kicked herself. Instead, she led him inside where she made his favorite, peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

What Sarah didn't notice while scolding her younger brother was the white owl watching them from above in the trees. The owl had an unreadable countenance and feathers so regal looking a King might wish for them on his cape. After watching the scene play out, it swooped away, not looking back.

She sipped Cabernet with her father and stepmother as they caught up. The fireplace cackled in the background and she couldn't help but be jealous at how her stepmother slumped comfortably on the floor, resting her back against her father's legs as he sat on the chair. Rain hitting the windows and roof played a soothing symphony for Sarah. How romantic the feeling in the room was, and she wanted someone to sit by the fire with.

It was true Sarah was a beautiful girl, but she could never lower her standards enough to be in a real relationship. She felt that sense of longing many times, watched as her friends cuddled with boyfriends and saw how natural two people together seemed, but as soon as she saw an error in a man, she couldn't date them again. She hated that about herself. It was so unfair.

"Well, your Father and I were hoping you could stay the night and watch Toby. We rarely get to go out, and sense you're here, well…could you? He's older now and won't cause much of a fuss…" Her stepmother said.

"And he adores you, Sarah, he really does." Her father said, his hand on his wife's shoulder. Sarah frowned. Of course they expected her to watch Toby, didn't they always just expect her to watch Toby? She knew she would be babysitting Toby tonight even before she came, if she said no she would never hear the end of it.

"Okay, I can do that." Sarah said quietly, of course they knew she didn't have plans. "I was going to go downtown with my friends tonight…" Sarah lied.

"Oh if you had plans…" Her stepmother said, a fake guilty expression on her face. "It's just, me and your father rarely have alone time, and between Toby and us keeping Merlin for you, it would be nice." She smiled kindly. Sarah might have changed vastly, but her stepmother was the same. She was playing the guilt trip on Sarah, just because she asked them to keep Merlin at their house for a while, until she could find an apartment that accepted dogs, big dogs.

"I suppose I can…" Sarah said, trying to hide the resentment on her face.

"It means a lot, Sarah." Her father said.

"He's already asleep; just keep an eye on him." Her stepmother said. Sarah wanted to say, I think I know what to do by now, I've been doing it for long enough, but kept quiet. With the vote of approval, the smiling couple left Sarah alone to the empty house. She sighed locking the door behind them and looked around the house for a book to read. When she realized that there were no good books anywhere in the house, she dug in her box and pulled out the familiar book. It was brown, small and had worn out golden letters that said, The Labyrinth. She smiled opening the page.

It was just barely 10 when the grandfather clock rung, waking Sarah. She hadn't even remembered falling asleep, and when she awoke the book was sitting on her lap and the fire had turned to burning embers. She stood stretching in the dark room and looked around. The only sound to be heard was loud thunder and rain falling heavily on the house. Since her father didn't believe in television in the sitting room, she sleepily followed the stairs up to Toby's room.

The room was pitch black, and besides the rain and groans from the old house, the room was silent. She saw Toby's body outlined in the race car bed and walked to it, laying her hand gently on his back. The steady movement of his breathing calmed her fears that he had once again been taken. She knew the notion was silly and impossible, but still something made her fear it.

She tiptoed down the hall to her old bedroom and tried to flip the switch. The light didn't go on. She ignored it and walked towards the now open box sitting on her bed. She reached down to it when a loud sound at her window happened. Her heart froze as she stared at the window, covered by two flimsy curtains. The scratching sound continued, something was trying to get into her room! She ran towards the window to lock it and saw it was just a tree branch hitting against the glass. She laughed at her stupidity and returned to the box. Now something was lying beside it. It must have slipped out while I was pulling out the book, Sarah thought, unfolding the paper.

It was the picture of the Goblin King. She remembered it being in a shoebox, it couldn't have fallen out. Her heart started thudding violently in her chest. She heard snickering and toward around, seeing nothing there. A movement happened from the corner of her eye and she turned again, still nothing was there. She dropped the piece of paper she had been clutching so tightly and tried to slow down her breathing. Relax Sarah, she told herself, you're just imagining things. A breeze of wind blew past her, moving a strand of her hair. Someone was behind her.