Shannon sat curled
up on her bed, listening to the rain drum against the windows, staring at the
book in her hands. It was old--so old that if she held it close to her face she
could practically smell the age of the cracked red leather and yellowed paper.
The title on the front, in gold lettering, was the only thing that always
seemed new about it: The Labyrinth. The door was locked, so there was no chance
her mom would come in and nag her about needing new books to read. She didn't
want a new book, though--she wanted this one.
Shannon couldn't
count the times she'd read it. All she knew was she'd read it enough to able to
quote every line of it, without even trying. Still, it fascinated her. Which
was why she was about to read it again tonight. As she opened the cover, the
words came to her mind before she even saw them: "Through dangers untold,
and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle..."
Shannon tried to imagine it, questing through a strange world of goblins and magic,
fighting time itself to defeat the Goblin King. It sounded kind of hokey when
you thought of it that way, but you had to know more about her to really
understand why she felt so strongly about a book. All her life she'd been
constantly y on the move, and never having had any real friends led her to turn
to books as her only source of entertainment. It was just so real for her, as if she were actually
there living it. Whatever it was, she always liked this book best of all.
Dreamily, she thought what it would be like to really live in the Labyrinth....
suddenly she blinked. It must be later
than I thought, for me to be falling asleep already...slowly her eyelids
dropped down, the book still open in her hands. Her last murmured words, as she
thought again of her parents and friends criticizing her for her 'bookishness',
were, "I wish I could live in the labyrinth..."
It was raining in
the Labyrinth. The Goblin King lounged on his throne, arrogant and bored at the
same time. Goblins were no proper entertainment for someone of his
stature--what he needed was a little fun with one of the mortals. He held up
his hand, and a shimmering crystal ball appeared out of nowhere. Gazing into
it, he turned his thoughts towards who he might be able to bring here. You
couldn't just drag anyone here--they had to want to come, or be wished there.
He soon found one
of the former, a slip of a girl sprawled across a bed, with a little red
leather book in her hands. Yes, she would do. Smiling, he concentrated...
Shannon opened her
eyes, frowning--why was it so bright? And since when was her bed so hard? She
sat up--and looked around in surprise. She was sitting in the middle of a dusty
plain, with no signs of habitation. Except for in front of her...she stared
harder at the crazy rambling maze, the old decrepit castle...it could only be
one thing: The Labyrinth.
This wasn't the
kind of thing that happened every day, even for her. She didn't get up right
away, but merely took stock of the situation. She needed to get home--presumably
she could only do so through the Labyrinth. How much time did she have?
Thirteen hours...depending on how long she'd been there already. Sighing, she
stood up--it looked like that adventure she'd been wishing for was finally
here. She swore that, whoever had brought her here, would be getting a
significant piece of her mind before all was done.
It wasn't more
than about 15 minutes walking to reach the Labyrinth--but of course she
couldn't find the gates. What did you
expect--that they'd hang up a sign and break out the china? She berated
herself. It must be around here somewhere...
The Goblin King
stared into the crystal dancing above his fingertips with a chilly smile--the
girl hadn't found the gates. Perhaps she would need help. After all, the fun
wouldn't really begin until she was lost in the Labyrinth itself. There was
little amusement in watching her flounder about on the fringe of his kingdom.
He decided to push her along...
After what felt
like an eternity of pacing the gray stone wall, Shannon plopped onto the ground
with a heavy sigh. Her hair tumbled forwards into her face, and she absently
shoved it back over her forehead.
Where are those gates? You don't build a
maze like this without an entrance. It had to be close...unless there was
some trick to finding it, some optical illusion that needed to be looked at in
just the right way before it revealed itself...pushing herself off the ground,
she turned and began to walk back the way she had come. There, set into the
face of the wall, were two large, wooden, iron bound doors that seemed to swing
open of their own accord. An eerie fog shrouded whatever might lie inside.
Taking a deep breath, Shannon stepped into it.
Emerging from the
fog, she looked from side to side. In front of her lay more of the same, solid
brick, both of the walls forming a narrow road paved in cobblestones between
them. No matter how hard she stared and squinted, though, she couldn't see
anything different about either route--both could have gone on forever, for all
she knew. She didn't like the idea of just setting off in an unknown direction;
time after all was precious. Could she climb the wall, and perhaps get an idea
of where she was headed? It's worth a
shot, she reasoned.
The wall was
rough, with plenty of fissures in the rock to offer handholds. Digging her
fingernails into it, she hoisted herself up inch by inch. Glancing over her
shoulder, she felt a trickle of sweat slide down her forehead. It was far from
easy, and she got the feeling that landing on her back on those paving stones
wouldn't be the most pleasant experience ever. Persevering, she finally reached
the top. Swinging her legs up, she straddled the wall and gazed about her. The
Labyrinth was immense--and the road behind her appeared to go all the way
around. She gave a wry smile; thank God she hadn't taken that path. Grinning
triumphantly, she lowered herself over the other side of the wall and dropped
down…
Disbelief painted
her features--she was right back where she'd started, same road, same wall,
same gates. What the hell...she knew she'd climbed over that wall. This has to be another illusion, like the
gate. There's a trick to it someplace...but can I find it? Muttering under
her breath about adventures, idiots, and how well the two went together, she
leaned back against the inner wall. No good trying the road, at least not yet.
It was an effort to calm her thoughts, as the knowledge that time was slowly
slipping away chiseled panic into her brain. The yellow sun beat down on her
from directly above, the wall offering no shade in the noonday heat. Angrily
she spun around and delt the wall a hefty kick. To her incredible surprise, her
foot hit nothing, but kept on moving through the wall until she overbalanced
and fell almost flat on her face. Sitting up, she realized she was not
incapable of further surprise: she was on the other side of the wall.
Shannon dusted
herself off and dug a quarter out of her pocket. Heads left, tails right, she decided. Flipping it high into the air
and watching it flash as the sun caught its surface, she reached out and
snagged it on its way down. It was heads. "Left it is," she said
aloud as she headed deeper into the Labyrinth.
Shannon had been
walking for a good ways before she began to fully realize the nature of the
labyrinth. A clear path could suddenly turn into a dead end behind her, or a
turn left might really lead right. All in all it made for a frustrating time,
unrelieved by any change in the solid stonework around her…until she saw the
goblin.
It was a short,
squat little thing, so ugly it was almost cute. It gazed up at her, blinked,
and scuttled into a bush. Patiently, Shannon waited, fully prepared to pounce
on the thing and shake it till it showed her the way out.
After a long stint
later, she decided it was pointless--the goblin was not going to put in another
appearance. She had just straightened from her crouch, when suddenly she spied
the familiar figure waddling into an archway of hedge. As silently as she could,
she crept up behind it and made a grab.
"EEEEEEK!"
Resisting the
temptation to clap her hands to her ears at the sound of the earsplitting
screech, she held on firmly to the small creature. After a moment of useless
kicking and squealing, it began to babble.
"Notta hurt Meeki!
Meekino noting! Spara Meekiiiiiii!" it wailed.
Raising a brow and
wrinkling her nose in distaste, Shannon dangled it higher and summoned up her
most threatening voice. "Yes hurt Meeki, or whatever the hell your name
is. Tell me how to get out of here and I'll let you go."
More babbling.
"Gooda Meeki, notta hurt, putta good Meekidown, yisyis!"
She gave it a
shake. "Show me the way out!"
It stopped
struggling, and a crafty glint entered its eyes. "Meekishow, yisyis, dropfirst
'do."
"You must think
I'm a low watt bulb, buddy," she remarked dryly. "Listen, I'll make you a deal:
Meeki show way out, me not make Meeki one with stones." She stomped her foot
down on the cobbling to illustrate her point. "Now…which way to the center of
the Labyrinth?"
Meeki sobbed
pitifully. "Nuno, Meeki nuno!"
Rolling her eyes
in disgust, she lowered it most of the way to the ground before dropping it.
With much squeaking and scuttling, Meeki vanished into the nearby hedge.
It was hot.
Desparately wishing she'd been wearing a lighter t-shirt when the Goblin King
decided to snatch her away, she wondered if she was any closer to the center.
She was almost ready to start walking towards the walls, in hopes that another
illusion would somehow lead her to the center. Pausing at a three way
intersection, she was pondering which path to take when she heard a slight
cough.
Jerking around,
Shannon found herself face to face a slight, human girl. The stranger's face was girlish, framed with dark hair, and
her brown eyes were studying Shannon with intense interest.
"Hello," the girl
said shyly. "Who're you?"
Shannon gave her
name hesitantly. "And you are?"
"Mara. I'm by
myself," she added forlornly. "Are you
alone too?"
Sighing, Shannon
glanced around. "Not anymore…Mara, do you happen to know the way to the
castle?"
The child's face
clouded. "I don't go there," she muttered sullenly. "Don't like goblins."
"I don't blame
you," Shannon replied under her breath. "Listen, Mara…it's very important I go
there…I won't make you take me, but could you at least show me a path there?"
Mara shook her
head violently. "No! Don't go there…you gonna be just like the others." Before
Shannon could ask her to explain the cryptic statement, she switched
gears. "Come with me, to my house…you
can play with me." With that, she began skipping down the right hand path.
Glancing at the sun, Shannon followed what was, unfortunately, her best bet out
of the Labyrinth.
The Goblin King
glared into his crystal a moment longer before flinging it out the nearest
window. He'd completely forgotten Mara…the game was losing its amusement
rapidly. Perhaps, though, he could still enjoy himself.
A slow, cruel
smile spread across his features. Perhaps he would provide the girls with
another playmate.
Mara's path was
taken seemingly at random, and Shannon was getting edgy. Over white flagstone
paths and under low arched hedges the child went, leaving her companion to
squeeze through as best she could. Abruptly, the path they were on ended at a
solid wall of hedge and thorn. Mara, however, was not at all perplexed.
Carefully reaching through a gap in the greenery, she held perfectly still a
moment. A faint voice emerged from behind the bush:
"Marawait, Meeki
open!"
Shannon gaped. Not
that bloody thing again, she thought desperately.
Meanwhile, Mara
had retracted her arm. What she was waiting for became apparent as one of the
flagstones suddenly slid aside, revealing a small tunnel just big enough to
allow a person to crawl through on hands and knees. Dropping to the ground,
Mara scuttled through without a thought. Shannon followed more slowly, with
much muttering as she scraped her elbows on the rough stone.
Both emerged in a
small circular clearing, totally surrounded by hedge. At the sight of Shannon,
Meeki the goblin made a startled noise and attempted to escape under the
greenery, but Mara made a grab for him,
smiling.
"Wherrago Meeki?"
she inquired curiously.
"Meeki nowanna be
onewit stones!" he gabbled fearfully, his beady eyes swinging back and forth
between his exit and a frowning Shannon.
May as well
apologize. "I didn't mean it, Meeki…I promise I won't hurt you."
