When I was young, my mother hand-fed me all kinds of stories – fantasy, humor, even tragedies. She would tuck me in at night, my expectant face glowing in the light of my Barbie-lamp. Her moss-green eyes would twinkle with love as she retold her endless chronicles. I would listen, entranced, as the magical words poured from her lovely mouth.

But the story that I admired the most was the story of Labyrinth, the real, living account of it.

My mother always got a faraway look in her eyes, a bit of a longing as she told me it. She would speak of Jareth, the cruel Goblin King who snatched up her baby brother, and how she had thirteen hours to solve a mind-numbing labyrinth. She told me how she had befriended a goblin by the name of Hoggle, met a charming blue worm, and saved a large beast named Ludo. My mother would also recount of how she nearly went headfirst into the Bog of Eternal Stench – a bog so foul-smelling, even the tiniest drop could make you smell like cow manure for the rest of your life. She told me about Sir Didymus, a tiny fellow with a large heart. Together, they fought their way to the Goblin Castle to retrieve her baby brother.

Inside there, my mother raced against the clock, and ran into a mind-puzzling room with dozens of archways and stairs. There, Jareth tried to distract her while she tried to save her brother. And when she finally did, the Goblin King begged of her to stay with him, to love him, to fear him. She rejected him, and to this day, my mother said the hurt in his mismatched eyes was indescribable.

My mother always told me not to worry about the Goblin King. She made me swear to never say those hurtful words, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!" to anyone. I promised, not knowing many years later I would knowingly break that promise.

It was an average night, dinner being done and the faint sound of a Disney Channel sitcom playing from the living room. My mother was in her office, most likely doing the bills, and my father was away on another business trip. Sir Didymus (our moody black-and-white cat) was lounging lazily in a fading sun spot. All was peaceful.

I was sitting at the kitchen table, my beaten backpack on the floor next to me. Large textbooks were scattered on the table along with many papers. My plastic reading glasses were perched upon my nose as a headache grew. An everyday thing such as math shouldn't be this hard! I thought, letting out a frustrated huff of breath. My pencil tapped against the paper, its beat raggedy.

"Hey, Nadia?" my mother's voice rang out from the room over. She must be done with her bills, I thought, which only meant…

"I'm going to head to the grocery store for a bit, could you watch Jennifer, please?"

Bam. I withheld a sigh and put down my pencil. At least it would postpone me from doing my math homework. "Sure, Mom."

"Thanks, Nadia. I'll be back in an hour." I heard shuffling and saw my mother walk down the hall. She gave me a grateful smile before heading out the door.

"What'd she want?"

I felt my nostrils flare and my brows furrow with irritation as my younger sister walked into the kitchen. As usual, her tiny stick-arm was poised over her hip.

Jennifer and I hadn't always been so hostile to each other. As children, we would laugh happily together and do childish things that children normally do. It was when I grew older that we fell apart. I became quieter and more mature, while she became bratty and needy. I supposed it came with the age she was in, but I couldn't recall ever being that obnoxious.

"Mom's at the store, you should finish your project. Isn't it due Tuesday?" I told her, letting my anger simmer on the backburner for now.

"It's Friday." Her tone was vicious at me getting her date wrong. She frowned at me, her glossy lips set into a scowl.

"Excuse me," I retorted, my tone becoming a bit more biting. "I would appreciate if you put away your plate, too." I eyed the dirty plate in the living room.

Jennifer let out a huff of breath and crossed her arms. "I'll do it later. Geez, you're just like Mom. You're so naggy."

I turned sharply to her, my eyes burning. I nearly shouted out how incredibly rude she was being, but bit on my tongue. "I'm sorry that my flaws are that obvious to you. But you know Mom is going to ask you the same thing later, so I'd do it now."

I turned my back to her, shuffling my math papers together. I couldn't start another argument with her; it would be silly and immature. The clink of a plate meeting the counter meant that she had obeyed – for once.

The tension and hatred in the air was becoming a bit too much for me. I could feel Jennifer's brown eyes burning holes in the back of my head. I cleared my throat, turning to face her. "Jennifer, I think you should go take your shower now. I'll clean up the kitchen." I tried to make my tone as calm as I could.

"Fine." She unsuccessfully tried to flip her mousy, brown hair like the starlets on Hannah Montana would, only for strands to end up in her mouth. I pretended like I didn't see it.

As I began to unload the dishwasher, I heard her feet stomp up the stairs. I smiled with relief as soon as the little monster was in her room. I still didn't understand why she was so mad at the world all the time. Was it for attention? Most probably.

Once I was finished with the kitchen, I took my backpack upstairs and tried to concentrate on my homework again. But I couldn't. There was some kind of mind-block going on and the growing storm outside didn't help at all. And my thoughts were all circling back to that one story my mother told me as a child – Labyrinth.

I finally put down my pencil and went to examine the figurine on my desk. It was of the Goblin King, whatever he looked like, standing tall and a passive expression on his porcelain face. I observed it briefly, gently brushing a stand of white-blond hair away from his eyes.

A thud from the next room awakened my senses. Jennifer let out a high-pitched squeal and another thump emitted from the room. I walked to the door, wondering what the heck could be going on.

Jennifer jumped out of her room, face white. "Nadia," she hissed between clenched teeth, "your little rodent is in my room."

I bit back a laugh, considering that Ludo (my hamster) was probably sniffing around for any leftover Halloween candy that my sister unceremoniously stashed in her room. He must've gotten out again.

"His name is Ludo, and he wouldn't hurt you," I told her as I walked into her room. I soon spotted Ludo munching on a Tootsie Roll in the corner.

"My candy!" Jennifer shrieked, racing to her precious sugar-filled taffy.

I calmly scooped up Ludo, removing the treat from his chompers. His whiskers tickled against my palm and he nibbled gently on my finger.

"That ugly little thing ate my Tootsie Roll!" Jennifer glared scaldingly at the hamster. Ludo stared back with curious eyes.

I stroked his fur as I rolled my eyes. "You shouldn't leave your candy out in the open like that."

"You shouldn't let your rodent run all around the house!"

I narrowed my eyes at her, frowning. "He accidentally got out. It's just a mistake. Chill out."

Jennifer crossed her arms and clenched her knuckles. "Learn to control it!"

I had to giggle at that point. "You can't train a hamster, Jennifer." She was acting really stupid.

"Just get out of my room!"

I smiled to myself, strolling out of her room as she slammed her door shut. I walked calmly back into my own, safely putting Ludo back into his cage. As I turned around, I spotted a leathery red book sitting on my desk. It was embellished with golden lettering that read Labyrinth.

"Through dangers untold, and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child you have stolen."

A booming thunderclap shook me out of my reverie. Jennifer was singing loudly to the music in her room. I bent my head down, trying to remember the rest of the scene.

"For my will is as strong as yours, for my kingdom is as great…"

I furrowed my eyebrows, reaching a mind-block. What was that line? "Damn," I muttered, "what was that line?"

Another thunderclap jiggled the house. I looked up, hearing Jennifer sing again obnoxiously through the walls of her room. I walked to the door, deciding I should ask to her turn down her music.

I rapped my knuckles against her door, and she answered with an irritable expression. "What?" she asked, nose scrunched.

"Can you possibly turn down your music? I'm trying to do my homework," I told her. Okay, that was a lie, but her music was getting on my nerves.

She put her hands on her hips, scowling at me. "No," she replied defiantly, raising her chin.

I almost wanted to smack her. Why was she being so damn rude? "I'm asking you nicely, Jennifer, could you please turn down your music?"

"No." Jennifer glared daggers at me.

"Please, Jennifer." I was becoming impatient and fed up with her. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"I said no! Are you deaf?" Great, she was becoming even more obnoxious than I thought.

"Jennifer! Would you quit being such a brat for one second and take notice to the people around you?" I nearly screamed at her, my face becoming red with anger.

"Nope." She wasn't even looking at me anymore. She was examining her badly-painted nails with a newfound interest.

I pushed past her, ripping her precious iPod from its speakers. "I've had just about enough of your rude attitude!" I yelled at her, venom dripping from every word.

Somewhere outside, an owl hooted.

Jennifer was staring at me with a mixture of rage and hurt. "You totally stole my iPod! Don't rip it out like that! You'll break it!"

I huffed out a breath, feeling my rage grow. "Is that all you care about? Your precious little mp3 player?"

"Why are you acting so mean?" Her voice edged towards a whine.

"Because you're acting like a goddamn brat!" I replied, gnashing my teeth together, gripping her iPod tightly in one hand.

"I am not!" she whined in protest, tears pinpricking in her eyes.

"I've had enough of this!" I mumbled stiffly. Feeling a burst of a vibe, I dared myself to say the childish, immature words, "I wish the goblins would come and take you away right now!"

Jennifer's face froze for a minute before crude amusement appeared. "You actually believe in that stuff?" She snorted before the lights went out.

I was so startled that I dropped her iPod. I tried to reassure myself that it was only from the storm, but Jennifer's wailings were getting to me. Could this really be happening to me?

There was little chitterings and giggles around the room. I felt my blood go cold as something beat frantically against the window. As lightning flashed, I saw white and tawny wings.

"We're going to die!" Jennifer yelled in the darkness.

"Oh, shut up!" I mumbled, eyes trained on the window. The bird continued its pursue against the window until it finally broke open.

Jennifer let out a scream as I took a step backwards.

The Goblin King was standing in my house.