Sarah was at an art show.
Not because she wanted to be, it was after all Saturday and she usually hung out with her Labyrinth friends then, but because Karen had set up a blind date and had only told her at the last minute so she couldn't back out. But she had succeeded in bringing Toby with her so it wasn't exactly a date.
As far as Sarah was concerned she hoped it stayed that way. She didn't know where Karen kept finding these dregs of society but she wished... she hoped Karen would stop.
Perhaps, she mused, Karen belonged to some sort of club where mothers bragged about their kids and tried to marry them off to someone else's kid. She thought that out and then started giggling just a bit at the mental thought of Karen standing up in a meeting and saying Hello my name is Karen, and I have a problem my stepdaughter doesn't date.
Toby looked puzzled.
He had been looking forward to having a fun day with Sarah but for some reason they had been dragged off to an art show with a weird guy who had shown up on the doorstep as they were leaving.
His mom had thought this up he was sure of it. But that didn't change Sarah's and his day for the better at all. He decided to get this dumb guy before the day was done. And art is boring to a little kid, especially when its modern art, which he knows, he can do so much better.
At the moment they were standing in front of a painting entitled My Foot and it looked like a lot of purple and red splotches on a background of a turquoise color. Nothing seemed very funny about the painting, and Sarah was still giggling so he looked around to see if there was something that caught her eye, perhaps a goblin was up to some mischief that was particularly funny?
There was a goblin sitting under a hideous statue, it had a string tied to a bench leg and was pulling it tight in anticipation of someone walking past, but nothing had happened yet, and there had been a goblin that had decided to follow the guy to the bathroom.
Apparently the weirdo had a weak bladder.
Toby looked up at Sarah and cocked his head to the side, "what's so funny Sarah?"
"Oh Toby I was just imagining Karen in a weird group where she gets dates for me from the other moms in the group."
Toby opened his mouth but closed it again when he heard wheezing and puffing and he had just enough time to turn around when the date tripped over the string the goblin was holding.
The other goblin came up and attached a large piece of toilet paper to the guy's foot while he was down. Sarah and Toby smiled at the goblins and then had to concentrate on the guy.
His name was Rudolph Fitzherbert and he was a forty something balding guy who was not a little overweight and still lived in his parent's basement.
Apparently that was ok with him and that's why they were at this art show in the first place. Somehow this guy thought he was an artist and one of his pieces was displayed at this show.
They had sent him two free tickets to see the exibit and that was why they found themselves standing in front of a painting like My Foot. Kids came in free so thank goodness Rudolph didn't have to pay any money for him, which he had complained about the whole way there.
Sarah and Toby would have escaped already but he had driven them to the show in his mother's car, and it was an hour away. Also it was a holiday or something because the buses were not running. They were stuck.
Two hours later...
Sarah was at an art show and she was bored spitless.
Sarah wanted to bog Rudolph like she had never wanted to bog someone before.
It was a good thing Toby and the goblins were there or the guy might have actually gotten close enough to kiss her. Every time he tried to get closer to her Toby or the goblins would do something to him. Then he would back off for a bit, but he always kept trying again.
She was royally irritated and if he had had any smarts he would have taken the first flight out of town. But of course he didn't notice a thing and he thought that Sarah would like to be blessed with his "greatly sought after" opinion about each painting and sculpture and whatever else was lurking in this, Sarah was convinced, room of torture.
At least Toby had inserted himself between herself and Rudolph so that he couldn't, shudder; hold her hand or something equally gross.
They were nearing the end of the exhibit hall and they were getting toward the more realistic paintings. Sarah loved these types of paintings and so she unconsciously slowed down to admire them better.
These were much more interesting than blobs on a canvas. Naturally Rudolph thought that it was because she wanted to spend even more time with him.
He waxed even more eloquent on the paintings, which made the goblins irritated and they whispered to each other and Toby another plan that they had, he gave the ok sign and one of the goblins left to go get something.
Now the paintings were of people and some of them were so realistic in their expressions that it was like the people were standing in front of her. She turned the corner and stopped.
In front of her was a large full-length painting depicting a man holding a woman in his arms tenderly as if he couldn't bear to let go and he was resting his chin on her head. But the expression on his face was what stopped her it was one of contentment and love and it was the face of Jareth the Goblin King!
After she saw his face she didn't want to look any lower, she couldn't! She knew that if the lady who he was holding so tenderly was not her then her heart would stop beating.
Beside her Toby had seen the picture, he gave a tiny gasp of amazement and ran forward. Rudolph came up behind her and started saying something about how the colors clashed when Toby called out, "Sarah, I can't read this title can you help me?"
She walked forward in a daze and read the words. "My Precious."
Her heart squeezed suddenly and she felt black spots swim in front of her eyes and suddenly she needed to sit down. She tumbled onto a nearby bench and sat quietly taking deep breaths.
Toby and some goblins that were around, crowded around her to see if she was ok but Rudolph was so deep into his painting critique to notice. Toby looked really worried and he sent one of the goblins for some water. The place they were in was relatively uncrowded in fact there was no one beside themselves at the moment.
Toby asked another goblin to find the nearest exit to where they were so that he could take her out for some air. He didn't know if it was the painting that was the problem but he needed to help her whatever the problem was. From around the corner came a woman's voice, she obviously knew what she was talking about, unlike Rudolph.
Then she and her companion came around the corner behind Rudolph. They were moving at a slow pace like true art appreciators. The woman was saying, "There's where we decided to put your painting for the full effect..."
Then she noticed Sarah and she exclaimed. "That girl looks just like the one in your painting! I thought you said no one sat for it?"
Sarah opened her eyes and found them looking into the very real eyes of the Goblin King.
Her heart immediately felt like it was being wrung through a washer and he looked like something sort of like that was happening to him too.
Toby piped up "Your Jareth, aren't you?"
The eyes swung to look at him and Sarah felt like she was going to collapse without his intense gaze on her. The he answered Toby in a voice that sent shivers up her spine, "Yes, I am Jareth King. Do you think the painting is a good likeness?"
Then the eyes were back on her and thought there was a flicker of something in them that was gone immediately they had a light of concern that seemed to be all for Sarah. "Are you well Sarah? I did not know you were going to be here or I would have displayed a more seemly painting, I apologize for intruding in your life."
He glanced over toward Rudolph who had finally stopped talking when he realized that no none was listening to him, and was staring at him with a mixture of haughtiness and disdain. Jareth was practically two heads taller than him and if Sarah had not been so bewildered she might have laughed at the picture they made.
Jareth standing there with his hair back in a ponytail and wearing a regular outfit of a tee shirt and jeans. And Rudolph with his hair slicked back in an attempt to conceal the bald spot and looking nothing more like a proud rooster before a wolf.
But then the rooster spoke, "so you painted yourself into your own painting, it sort of looks like you but the clothes you decided to paint are totally ridiculous.
It lacks realism because no one would wear things like that. And your hair in the painting looks very tacky not at all something that people would want to look at.
People want to see things that appeal to their minds not just with two people in it. You had better try paintings like mine; I could teach you if you want. Of course you would never be as good as me. And how did you get that frumpy looking girl to pose for you? People want to see real beauty if they do look at a portrait.."
When Jareth heard Rudolph say that the girl in his painting was frumpy he turned on him with a snarl but the lady curator snapped, "can't you see the resemblance! That girl on the bench is the spitting image of the one in the painting and you must be blind because she is gorgeous!"
Sarah lifted her startled eyes to the painting and for the first time saw the whole thing. There she was in the arms of the Goblin King and she saw herself looking back at her with a soft dreamy smile that seemed to invite everyone to share in her happiness.
Sarah was at an art show and she was shocked.
Everyone who was looking at her, which was everyone there except Rudolph, saw her turn and look at the painting and then freeze. They all seemed to freeze too, and Toby crept closer to her and softly said "Sarah?"
Then she was falling down in a dead faint. Fortunately Jareth is a very fast person and caught her before she hit the floor. He cradled her princess style and turned to face everyone with his precious in his arms.
Time seemed to freeze in that instant as they all looked at the new picture that was before them. There was even a slight breeze ruffling Jareth's hair, which had fallen out of its ponytail, as if on command, to make the picture more dramatic.
One of the lights seemed to shine on the couple from up in the rafter to give them a special glow.
Turns out one of the goblins that had been hiding in the rafters, his original goal was to loosen one of the lights and have it fall down on Rudolph's painting, saw what was happening and turned one of the lights on them.
But Jareth instead of whisking her back to the underground like the goblins expected, turned to the curator and asked if she had a couch where he could put Sarah down.
She was still dazed by the display before her and barely managed to nod motioning him to follow her.
Everyone else followed in Jareth's wale and as they passed other show goers and artists, those people turned to stare.
Was that gorgeous guy running away with the girl in his arms?
Was that fat man her father?
Who was the little boy?
Why did it appear like a light was following them?
But the questions remained unanswered. A reporter who was supposed to be covering the event and was bored out of his skull saw them and started snapping pictures wildly.
He could hear the name of the article, Living Art, or Princess Found. Finally he had something worth writing about. He also took postures of the other people who were following behind.
He started following them but they went into a back office. A few minutes later the curator came out and he managed to snag her for a few questions.
She filled him in on some stuff and even directed him to the painting that Jareth had made. And so he scuttled off but not before taking a few more pictures. Meanwhile Jareth had been directed to a couch and was trying to lay Sarah down but her hand was holding onto his shirt,
So though it pained him greatly he gently untangled her hand and laid her down. He was backing up very slowly when Toby said to him "you had better not leave, she will want to talk to you when she wakes up."
Jareth winced at that but went back to the couch and lifted up her head and sat down with her head in his lap. He figured he might as well be near to her for as long as it will last, which if he knew his Sarah wouldn't be long.
He thought that of all the things that had happened between him and Sarah this would make her think he was a stalker of the worst sort. But how was he to know that Sarah even came to things like this, and why had he given in to them asking for that particular painting.
Sarah murmured in her sleep and he looked down on her, and she had become so beautiful that it hurt just to look at her and know that she wanted nothing to do with him. Then he remembered Rudolph and what he had said and looked up at the man with obvious distaste.
Rudolph was also unhappy.
His mother has found the perfect girl for him, she didn't talk a lot and she listened to everything he said. She of course was smitten by him ands he decided that he would ask her to marry him at the end of the date.
Then this longhaired art guy came out of nowhere and took off with her. How dare he try to take Rudolph's rightful property away! Well he was going to put this uppity young art guy in his place, which was not sitting with Sarah's head in his lap.
"You need to leave my fiancée alone so that I may sooth her."
This would take care of the poofy haired guy. But he was wrong instead of apologizing and leaving the guy merely glanced at her fingers and then looked up eyebrow raised. And the response was unexpected as well.
"I don't see a ring, and I highly doubt that she cares for a dolt like you, if she could turn me down when I offered to move the stars for her then whatever you offered her would hardly compare. Besides why would she say yes to a worm, no that's an insult to worms everywhere, a slime bag like you who has toilet paper on his shoe."
Rudolph looked down. Of course this guy offended him but while his brain was trying to think up a suitable retort he saw that he did indeed have some toilet paper on his foot.
Of course what the guy said about Sarah's feelings was clearly nonsense, she hung on his every word. But it wouldn't do to have her see the paper so as he lumbered down to take it off he told Jareth,
"She is smitten with me and I plan to ask her to marry me as soon as this date is over."
When he looked up to see the effect of his words on Jareth he found the occupants of the room, not Sarah of course because she was still out, but Toby, the curator, Jareth, and though he did not know it several goblins, staring at his shoe.
The curator had come back in around the time when Jareth was telling Rudolph that Sarah had turned him down before. She was feeling that this meeting between Sarah and Jareth would have a very nice ending but this guy; apparently a painter was ruining it.
Her attention was also caught when he bent down to take care of the toilet paper. His hand was stuck to the paper.
He looked down to see what they were looking at and was irritated. His speech was very good but nobody heard it because this paper was distracting them. He tried to wipe it off on his shoe and found his hand now stuck to the paper and the shoe.
He tried to pull his fingers away but nothing seemed to happen. He began to panic and flail which just stuck more of the paper to his hands.
When he paused to wheeze and gasp with his efforts the other occupants of the room saw that his hands were now covered with the paper and his hand was more attached to the shoe than ever.
Toby looked at the little goblin that was standing next to him with and empty tube of super glue in his hand and gave him a thumbs up sign. Toby was revenged on the guy who had ruined his day. Then he quietly pulled a candy out of his pocket and handed it over to the goblin for a job well done. Then they both went back to watching the drama unfold.
Rudolph was getting even more tangled if that was possible. Somehow he got both hands stuck to the toilet paper and his shoes and he looked like a beach ball, a balding beach ball. Because when he was struggling he managed to dislodge his hair and it hung in clumps of stringy greasiness down the sides of his face.
Not very appealing. The curator knew she had to do something before Jareth started laughing and so she suggested in a strained voice that he take his shoes off to make it easier to remove the toilet paper. He very huffily did so and she directed him to the nearest bathroom. As he was leaving he glared balefully at Jareth and said in a terrible imitation of the terminator
"I'll be back!"
Then he left and they stared at each other before bursting into laughter. They would have still been laughing but then the curator remembered that Jareth had said something that had puzzled her. She turned to him still chuckling and said, "Oh that was amazing! I wish everyone who was that annoying could have that happen to them."
Jareth started. "I don't think I could have that happen to everyone who was annoying, that would be way to many people."
" I suppose so," the curator said "but that was priceless, it would have been nice to have pictures of that."
Jareth relaxed, she hadn't really meant that wish and so he didn't have to fulfill it. The curators mind was moving on to something else though." did you do something to help that situation?"
"No, actually that had nothing to do with me, I wish it did though because then I could take credit for it."
She nodded and Jareth looked down to Sarah and smoothed back the hair that was falling over her face. He smiled at her and the curator remembered something she had wanted to ask him but before she could Toby spoke up.
"You love her right?" Jareth was startled but he turned to Toby and said "yes I have always loved your sister, even when she rejected me then I still had feelings for her."
Toby shook his head; "you asked her too soon you know, she was to young to know what you were asking. She told me so many times when she told your story to me at bedtime. Why didn't you come back before?"
The expression on Jareth's face was a bit of hope and a lot of longing, as he said" I did not think she wanted me, after all I have no power over her."
Toby snorted as if to say, grownups are so dumb.
Just then a helper ran in and said "one of the light fixtures has broken off and crashed onto one of the paintings, fortunately the ones next to it are ok but that one is completely destroyed."
The curator thanked the girl and was rushing out to see the damage and Toby decided to go with her. The goblins had already scampered off to see who had engineered that brilliant piece of mischief.
So the room was soon empty of everyone but Jareth and Sarah. He looked down at her and found her eyes open. He jumped startled and she felt him start shifting her off his lap. As she was very comfortable where she was she decided to stop him before he succeeded.
" So you love me?"
That did the trick; Jareth was a frozen statue that did not look like he knew what to say. His eyes started darting around the room as if looking for a way to escape.
He could feel her eyes still boring into him.
She asked again, "So you said you love me to Toby, did you mean it?"
Finding nowhere else to go he finally said in a very soft voice, "yes."
Sarah smiled and reached her hand up to his face and said, "I love you too, Jareth."
If she had anything else to say then it was cut off when Jareth swooped down and captured her mouth in his. Both sighed at the contact they had been waiting for so long. When they had declared their love for like the fourth time to each other in between kisses and they said similar other mushy things that can be kept best to themselves, they remembered that Toby had not been back for a while and there was apparently a danger that a light could fall on him so they finally stood up and ambled out looking for him.
Jareth kept his arm around her in a protective embrace and he told her that he had always asked for news of her from her friends after they had been to see her, but the only one who he could rely on to tell him more than that she was fine was sir Didimus who extolled her grace and virtues until even he was tired of hearing them.
Then he had decided to paint paintings of her as he saw her in his mind.
The painting that was displayed right then at the art show was one of the ones with him in it. Most of them just had her or her and her friends in them. There was even a painting he had made of the party that had happened after she had beaten his labyrinth. She had decided to tell the story to Toby and make up her own about things that happened there and she was a writer of a few children's books.
They were under an assumed name, which was why he had probably not heard of them. They talked of a lot of other stuff but suddenly they came upon the painting that was destroyed.
It was as you might have guessed Rudolph's entry into the art show and it was plain to see that they painting was completely destroyed. They curator was talking with a cleanup crew and Toby was standing near her listening to the goblin who had done it.
He was explaining how he had calculated where the light was going to go based on how the king booted goblins and chickens out of the windows and what force was needed to make it land harder. Then Toby saw them and ran up, "are you ok Sarah? You fell down suddenly and Jareth took care of you."
Sarah smiled and ruffled his hair "yeah I'm ok buddy I was just really shocked to see the love that Jareth had for me in the painting it was too much all at one time, and Jareth did a fine job taking care of me."
Toby smiled and went to tell the curator how well their plan of leaving the two alone had gone. Suddenly they all heard a wail and turned to see Rudolph with a wet blobby mess on his hands running toward the painting that was smashed on the ground.
He dropped down and began to try to put the painting back together but only succeeded in getting some of the toilet paper onto the mess which made it look worse. He finally noticed Sarah and Jareth and he stumbled over to them and invited Sarah to help him put his painting back together.
Just then the curator who had finally recovered from his high pitched yelling over his painting, looked down at her list and frowned. She came over to where Rudolph was and politely asked him what his name was.
"I am Rudolph Fitzherbert and I brought that painting that has been brutally smashed by malicious hands. I can only assume that it was someone who has a deep grudge against me."
And he turned to stare very hard at Jareth. The curator looked at her list and said, "yes there has been a mistake, you were not supposed to be entered in this show. I don't know how this mistake has come about; we were to get the painting of a man named Randolph Fitzhubert. I also apologize for what has happened to your painting and we will pay for your canvas and paints that had been used for the painting."
Jareth smiled and said, "don't worry I am sure he is too much the gentleman to ask for payment for something like that."
So what was Rudolph to do but take his ruined painting and bring Sarah and Toby home. He was so concerned with his painting that he totally missed Sarah and Jareth's departure from each other.
When they were almost home Sarah requested that he drop them off in a nearby park and so he reluctantly let them out and drove home. But he was angry with Jareth and he didn't even tell his mother how his date went. And after Sarah and Toby got home after playing in the park Sarah went up to her room and didn't tell Karen anything about what happened with the date and so the two moms called each other and discussed what they thought had happened until quite late.
The next day Rudolph after spending all night up decided to do unto Jareth what he had done unto him. That meant going to the art show and ruining his painting. It was the only way.
As he was leaving he noticed the newspaper had an article about the art show. So he stopped for a moment and tucked the paper under his arm and sped off in a squeal of minivan tires to go ruin Jareth's painting.
When he got there he pulled out the knife he had gotten from his mothers kitchen and went in. He grumbled about the money he had to pay in order to get in but he was still focused on his goal.
He snuck in a very obvious manner, making up his own theme music as he went along until he got to the corner where Jareth's painting was. There seemed like there was a lot more people there today than yesterday but he settled on the bench to wait for them to get tired and then he could strike.
Most people avoided even going near the bench he sat on because he looked very weird and creepy. He decided to read the article about the art show. There were two pictures of Sarah and Jareth. One was the painting and the other was when he was holding her and walking dramatically.
The article began:
Painter Jareth King, famous all over Europe for his series The Underground, has come over to America at the request of the art community. His real life paintings depict fairies and goblins, but with such a realism that you can believe they are going to speak. His most recent work revealed for the first time is a painting called My Precious.
This painting is a tribute to how well he truly masters the canvas. The curator of the art show where this painting was submitted said, "I could see right away who the girl in the painting was. She was just as beautiful as the painting portrayed her."
Mr. King has told the art community that he never had anyone sit for his paintings, and while this may be true he most certainly has seen this young woman before. Mr. King was unavailable for comment at the time. The painting will be displayed for the duration of the art show in the realism section.
The show will only be there for another week, and tickets are being sold out fast.
Rudolph was at an art show and he was livid.
If he hated the painter now, then before what he felt was skipping through a field with daisies and singing to the woodland animals.
How dare this painter! He spat contemptuously, how dare he think that he could sway everyone just because he was an Englishman. Rudolph knew he had more talent in his little pinky than Jareth had in his whole body. Now all he had to do to was prove this by getting rid of the painting and making another one of his own that would catch the interest of the people.
Of course it would be nothing like Jareth's painting, and that was all the better. The people, who heard his weird chuckling, were reminded of the wicked witch of the west. Not in a good way either.
Having creeped out the nearby art enthusiasts so that they left the area of the painting, Rudolph stood up and drew his kitchen knife to destroy the painting once and for all.
What he didn't know was that a goblin named Sludge was sitting under the painting. The King was punishing him because when he was in the throne room he had decided to swing from the ceiling with a rope and had accidentally hit the chicken toss champion out the window and nobody could find her.
The toss was to take place in two days and until she showed up he was told to hang around the painting. He saw the guy with the knife and took action.
The police took the statements of the witnesses who claimed that a wild eyed looking guy with a knife tried to attack a painting but was soon slashing at the air itself and screaming things like I'll get you my pretty and your ugly face too! Then he ran out of the art show still swinging his knife.
The curator mentioned that a disgruntled painter named Rudolph Fizhubert had been there yesterday and had threatened Jareth King the day before. Since he had used his mother's credit card to pay for the new ticket they knew he had been to the show. They set off to his house to find him.
Sarah and Jareth were at the park with Toby. They sat on a park bench watching him run around with the goblins and Merlin. Jareth finally spoke up. "When can I take you home with me?"
Sarah sighed and snuggled closer, "Well we can do a quick wedding and be gone in a few weeks. I don't know what my parents will say though."
" Don't worry darling they will love me, I..."
But that was all he said because at that moment Rudolph roared up in his mothers minivan to the park bench. How he had found them was strange but he must have been on the lookout for Sarah and knew where she would be.
Jareth stood up and confronted Rudolph once again. "I see you have never been very good at parking"
He gestured to the grass and mud churned up by the cars tires. Rudolph snarled and waved his knife in Jareth's face.
"I warn you pretty boy your little tricks have no effect on me. I know you had something at the art show to stop me from ruining your painting as you did to mine."
Jareth had several options at this point. He could freeze time and leave this weird guy alone in the park while he left with Sarah or he could banish this guy to an oubliette or...he smiled.
The police station was startled to discover a man slumped in front of the station with a note pinned to his coat that said:
My name is Rudolph Fizherbert, I tried to slash a painting at an art show today because I am mentally unbalanced and I don't know how to appreciate true art. I would be glad to spend the night in a cell. Sincerely Rudolph
Sarah was at an art show and she was precious.