Crystal Clear

After his defeat and rejection Jareth has become increasingly difficult to live with. Us goblins are certainly having trouble. This is the story of an unlucky goblin who was unlucky enough to be around when Jareth was in a mood.

Notes: Disclaimer etc. etc. No hard feelings Jim Henson, Dennis Lee..?

And thanks to Kore-of-Myth for giving me confidence to actually post this. Thank you. :)

Dancing Light

He turned the crystal over slowly in his hand. Inside the colours danced, flickering from shade to shade. They were not the only things dancing. Inside the crystal the image of a teenage girl with dark hair and a pretty face was clearly visible. She was frolicking about a garden with a little boy.

They looked happy and content and all the things that he, Jareth the Goblin King, was not.

With a dramatic sigh the Goblin King flung the crystal at the wall.

The crystal shattered, showering the goblins nearest him with small, sharp shards. The goblins flinched but remained silent. No one disturbed the King when he was in this mood, not unless they wanted a one-way ticket to the Bog of Eternal Stench.

I, for one, did not.

So I positioned myself in an out of the way alcove and watched the King brood and my fellow goblins squirm.

"How could Sarah have beaten me?" the King asked, searching the crowd of silent goblin with his chilling eyes.

No one answered. Each goblin was probably too busy trying not to catch the King's eye.

Knowing full well the King's fetish for picking on random goblins to terrify, I burrowed into my cubbyhole and prayed not to be noticed.

"You," the Goblin King ordered, pointing at me and beckoning.

No such luck.

I shuffled over to him, dragging my feet behind me and dropped a clumsy curtsy at his feet.

He looked down on me taking in my smudged face and tangled hair. Unconsciously I smoothed down my stained skirts and hid my dirty hands behind my back.

"Name?" he demanded.

"Flotsam," I answered, glad to have a question I knew the answer to.

The King nodded then after a second, during which he probably forget my name completely, he leant forward and whispered to me, "Why do you think Sarah refused me?"

I bit back my initial response and winced as I managed to bite into my lip as well.

"I don't know, your Majesty," I answered finally, picking the answer least likely to get me relocated to the Bog.

"Exactly!" the King exclaimed leaping to his feet.

I jumped back out of his reach but the King seemed to have forgotten me already.

"No one does know!" he declared, spreading his arms in dramatic appeal to his audience.

"Right?" he prompted.

"Oh yes!" the goblins responded, nodding violently. I joined in as well until my brain started rattling.

Jareth flinched at the grinning faces before him, dropping his head in defeat.

"Why do I live with such nitwits?" he asked himself as he marched out of the hall.

The doors slammed shut and the King disappeared down the corridor. The goblins breathed a collective sigh of relief and returned to chatting and screaming and fighting and laughing as usual.

…

Why am I always in the wrong place at the wrong time?

It happened with the king yesterday and today I was wandering aimlessly around minding my own business when suddenly…

"Hey, come 'ere!"

I spun around and saw my uncle hurrying towards me carrying a cup full of bizarrely coloured liquid.

"Take this to the King," he told me.

Confused, I asked what it was.

"His morning drink, just do it, please!" he begged.

"Why me?" I gasped.

I was distraught, the King is very temperamental in the mornings, even more than usual, and he tends to take it out on goblins that disturb him, or so much as breath too loudly in his presence.

Goblins had been known to suddenly find themselves a head shorter and that didn't appeal to me in the slightest.

"Why me!" I asked again.

"Rather you than me," my uncle said and thrust the cup at me before running off as fast as his stubby legs could carry him.

So much for family loyalty, I thought.

Slowly and uncomfortably I walked to the Kings door, then, after mentally composing my will, I raised a shaky hand and knocked.

"Enter," Jareth's voice ordered from inside.

Then reluctantly I obeyed.

A/N: Please review and tell me what you think. :)