Sarah sat on the park bench watching Toby play fetch with their dog. 'He's gotten so big' she thought 'I can't believe it's been ten years since I ran the labyrinth'. But it had. It had been ten years since Sarah had run the labyrinth to gain back the brother she wished away. A lot had changed in that time. Sarah had grown up, put away her toys and graduated high school, yet she tried to hold onto the magic of the labyrinth. When Merlin died, her parents bought another dog – another old English sheep dog. Toby was still a young child, so it made sense that he should have a dog growing up just as she did. Since Sarah would be leaving for school soon they let Toby name him. They were shocked when the four-year old said "Ambrosius" but Sarah secretly smiled. She was glad then that she had told Toby the story of the labyrinth- even if she pretended that the princess named Sarah and her brother Tobias were only fictional representations of herself and Toby and that the story was made up purely for his enjoyment. The new dog gave her something to hold onto from her journey-Sir Didymus, Hoggle and Ludo having only made one journey into this world.
She went away to school, completing a bachelor's in English and Mythology and went onto graduate work in English, her focus being children's fantasy literature. She was as happy as she expected to be in this world.
Yet there was something missing. For ten years she had been happy to have her brother back, never once wishing him away again or regretting her decision to take her brother over the Goblin-king. She missed her Labyrinth friends but went on to make real friends- human friends, who shared her love for the fantastical. While they looked at the stories as myth and imagination Sarah had the joy of knowing the truth behind the stories, of knowing that magic truly existed. But no matter how happy she was, for ten years Sarah Williams had been hungry. Oh she could eat, and sustain the body she lived in. But her soul was never placated. Her body demanded more food than those around her.
"Sarah you're so skinny!" friends would cry out, jealous of how much she could eat without gaining weight. Sarah would smile bitterly to herself when they said that. It was in her first year of university that she realized the source of her hunger. A professor giving a lecture in Celtic mythology discussed the role of faerie food, and the effect it had on mortals. It was then she realized what she had done that day in the Labyrinth. She had broken the golden rule of fairy tales. She had eaten while in the other world. And while she could eat here, and be happy in our world, she would never satisfy the hunger within her that cried out for more.