Walking into her room, Sarah sighed as she flopped onto her bed. She had just come back from school, and spring break was upon her. She studied the ceiling after rolling over onto her back. All of her friends had somewhere to go for their vacation, but Sarah stayed home. Thinking of the alternative, she just groaned. The alternative, as far as she knew, was not an option.
I t had been a whole month since she'd seen her friends from the labyrinth…. Fifteen months since she'd overcome her dispute with Jareth. Sarah pouted and turned to her collection of books, remembering her adventure with her new friends through the labyrinth, and Jareth, who stole her baby brother and threatened to turn him into a goblin.
"Euargh! There's nothing to do, nothing to read, nobody to hang out with. Where is everybody?" The distressed girl let out another exaggerated sigh and turned to her shelf of teddy bears. She pondered lightly until finally drifting off into a weary sleep.
Jareth paced back and forth in front of his chair. The goblins were staring expectantly at him, waiting for a resolution.
The Goblin City was currently under reconstruction; its occupants rebuilding their ruined city with no prevail. It was wholly that girl and her troublesome friends' fault. Rocks and boulders were scattered carelessly in the streets and houses, courtesy of the beast the girl had called Ludo.
WANTED posters of Sarah, Hoggle, and Ludo were posted throughout the city. It was all upon Jareth's shoulders to repair the damage and punish those who are to blame. He sighed and sat down, resting his face in his gloved hands.
He still loved her.
Sarah woke up from her nightmare, her forehead damp. She was in the labyrinth again. It was dark, and she stumbled through the maze with her arms reaching out for a surface. After groping the wall like blind person, she found a dead end. There stood Jareth, his arms outstretched to embrace; his handsome figure had a glowing aura of green.
She reflected on what this could mean, but her reflecting was short lived when Toby started crying. She rushed to her parent's room where his crib was. Sarah and Toby had bonded greatly after the bad experience with Jareth. Now her baby brother only cried when he wanted Sarah to keep him company, otherwise, he would be a quite baby.
The girl picked up her brother and began to play with him. He had grown much bigger since then, she thought to herself. She began to play with the baby as it cooed and laughed. Toby soon grew tired and fell asleep in her arms. Sarah stared at him and began to wonder what he would say if he could talk…and mused over the conversations they would have, knowing they would be interesting and far from dull. But she got distracted from her odd thoughts once again when her arm began to accompany her brother in a nap.
She put Toby back in his crib and tucked him in. As she shook the feeling back into her numb arm, Sarah looked out the window and decided it wasn't that late in the day to go for a long walk. She grabbed her coat and took the shortcut to the park.
Sarah sat on a swing-bench that was set on a hill to view the lake. She watched the people walk by, wondering why they were here at the park. Were they escaping problems at home? Were they here to people watch as she was? Or were they just enjoying the day and complimenting it with a nice, brisk walk? She began to get restless and wandered over to the beach of the lake. The girl preoccupied herself by flicking rocks into the water and watched the ripples run into each other. Soon she ran out of ammo and got up to go home.
Deciding whether or not to take the short or the longer way home, Sarah finally chose the latter. She began to sing catchy songs she'd heard on the radio as she walked the path. Her head instantly snapped to face the direction of the woods that bordered the park. Sarah's singing died down and she stopped as she watched a twinkling object shining in the woods.
"Now that's very odd." Sarah said to herself. She decided to investigate the peculiar sight, seeing how she had nothing else better to do. She began to jog…the twinkle seemed to be moving. Sarah actually found herself in the woods, zigzagging between trees and constantly tripping just to catch up with the small sparkle of light. But Sarah's obsession to find the light did not leave her in a good position.Suddenly, the light went out. Sarah began to notice that she had no idea where she was.
She was alone in the darkness.
Jareth grinned to himself as he looked into the crystal ball in his hand. The girl was falling for his trap. He was alone in his bedroom (pacing again) when he couldn't bear it any longer. He had to see her. A plan developed in his mind as he watched her move from place to place.
It wasn't until he put the last-second plan that his grin began to grow. Jareth was soon laughing as he realized his plan may actually work. Jareth mentally branched out his idea as he observed intently the girl he loved, frightened and alone, through his little crystal ball.