To live the Dream
Written by Corrie McDermott
January 2002
Disclaimer: The Labyrinth and the original characters from the movie do not belong to me but to Jim Henson Productions. Any other characters are of my creation.
Author's Note: This is my first ever Labyrinth story so please go easy on me! I love all the J/S stories out there and as much as I wanted to write my very own version, I had difficulty coming up with something original and exciting. So I've decided to create my own character, Samantha with her own story and life. She, like Sarah called upon the Goblin King to take a baby from her care when she was younger. If you want to find out more, then please read below.
* * * *
Her long hair moved over her shoulders like fine dark silk. Her blue-green eyes glittered in the warm afternoon sun and her smile and laughter was as devastating and as magical as the first time he laid his eyes upon her. She was older now; a beautiful young woman in her prime of life, and she still had that fire in her eyes as she had in her youth. The fire and desire to succeed on her own which made her a formidable match for himself. She was a challenge he gleefully wished to test again despite what had happened at their last encounter. He would not underestimate her a second time.
"C'mon Sam!"
Samantha McGoff grinned at her 7 year-old cousin Josh. He was crouched down, bat in hand, anticipating her pitch. She laughed at his enthusiasm. "You're sure you're not ready to call it quits yet?"
"Are you kidding? We've just started!" Laughing she nodded and teased him by tossing the baseball to herself. Then growing serious she got into the perfect pitcher stance and fired. The ball rocketed towards him but at the last second Josh fell back into the soft grass. The bat went flying from his hands and he laughed. Sam rushed to him and helped him up.
"Sorry, bud. I forget my own strength sometimes." She playfully rubbed his dark hair with her hand. "Why don't you go on inside and jump in the shower. Your mom and dad will be coming to pick you up soon." He was about to make a protest but she gave him a stare and he complied. She picked up the fallen bat and the baseball, which lay near an oak tree, yards away. She tossed the ball and when she caught it in her hand it wasn't a baseball, but a perfect crystal. Where had she seen a crystal like that before? She looked up quickly scanning the yard. No..it couldn't be not after all these years. After finding nothing out of the ordinary, she looked down into her hand. She blinked. There was no crystal but a beat up yellowed baseball. "I must be a little more tired then I originally thought." She chuckled and she walked into the house.
After Josh had finished his shower, she made him a quick supper and put on his favorite television program so that she could take a shower herself. The hot water energized her. As she was about to turn the water off, she heard a voice, echoing in her mind.
*How you turn my world you precious thing...*
"What in the..?" She started. She put her face under the hot steamy water and the words faded rapidly, filled instead by the thundering sound of the water crashing over her. Satisfied that whatever it was had passed she turned off the water and wrapping a towel around her, stepped out of the shower. She dressed quickly, towel dried her hair and began to comb it in front of the mirror.
*Your eyes can be so cruel... *
That damned voice again! Who was it? Why did it seem so familiar to her yet unfamiliar? She sighed and returned to the task of combing her hair out. After Josh left, she was going to bed! She had seen and heard enough weird things for the day.
Less then an hour later she was standing outside with Josh as his parents pulled up in their gray sedan. "Sam, please can't I stay another night?"
She looked down at her young cousin, sympathizing. She grew up in the same household that he had. Of course she was on her own now, but she knew what he went though. Parents that had no time for him, because they busied themselves with their careers. Josh had to keep himself busy in his own way just as she once had. "You know I'd let you stay another night. I'd let you stay forever if I could."
Josh pouted despite her words. "I know." He said kicking at a pebble near his foot.
"C'mon Josh, we don't have all night!" came his father's strict voice.
"Behave yourself and maybe I can convince them to let you come over next weekend."
"Promise?"
"You bet." She crouched down and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He hugged her tightly and then grabbing his backpack walked slowly to the sedan. She watched him get into the car. She knew all the emotions that he was feeling right now. She had been there herself. Her parents had died when she was only 6 years old and she had gone to live with her aunt and uncle. They never attempted to fill the void she felt. She knew they would never be her parents, but they could have acted better then they had. She had grown up feeling unwanted at times and she often dreamed of being elsewhere. She thrived on books based on fantasy and non-fiction. They managed to fill a piece of the void her aunt and uncle had not filled. She believed the only reason she had turned out to be a decent person was her cousin Josh. At first she hated him. All the attention he received from his parents as a baby. Attention she had not received when she was hurting and devastated from the loss of her parents. She dreamt one night of sending him off to the Goblin King, but in the dream something had happened and she realized that she needed her cousin back. The dream helped her come closer to Josh and eventually as he grew older they formed a brother and sister relationship. The affection and attention he received as a baby faded quickly as his parents realized Samantha could take care of him and soon she and Josh had much in common. She was off on her own now. An adult with her very own house. The place she always dreamed of living in. She smiled to herself and let the memories of the past fade from her mind. She waved as the sedan pulled away. A thank you would have been nice. She thought of her aunt and uncle taking advantage of her. But of course thank you was a phrase that they had erased from their vocabulary long ago. She sighed. "I wish that things could be different." She said turning to walk back to the house.
"Oh so do I. How is young Joshua these days?"
She stopped dead in her path at the sound of that voice. She didn't turn, but instead rubbed her temples. "I must be insane. I keep hearing things." She started back when that voice again rung in her ears.
"Your aunt and uncle are not the only ones being rude. And ignoring me isn't going to make me go away." The voice was cold and emotionless.
She spun on her heel and gasped at what she saw. She rubbed at her eyes. "Ok, I'm definitely going insane."
He chuckled coldly at her words. "Now you understand what I have felt these last few years, while you've been gone."
This time she chuckled. "Wow I haven't had a dream like this since I was 13. I haven't even read the Labyrinth in like 5 years." She laughed again. "First I thought I saw that crystal, then the voice, and now I'm seeing Jareth, King of the Goblins in front of me. This might be better then the dreams I had as a kid. Ok I really need to wake up now. I told myself long ago I needed to get over fantasizing and get on with real life."
"Do not mock me Samantha." His voice sounded so real, that she shivered. " And do not dismiss me so quickly." She blinked and suddenly wondered if that dream she remembered so vividly from her childhood, was really a dream. "It wasn't a dream." His voice told her. Anger ever apparent in his tone. It felt like he was reading her thoughts. This had to be a dream, but what made her think about the Labyrinth? Why now? It had been a long time since she fantasized about that realm, along with the Goblin King.
"Jareth, you mock me by being in my dreams. Go back to your Labyrinth and pretend to be important. Go and make some little kid feel special because they beat your games." She turned without a further word and started for the house.
A sudden hand on her shoulder stopped her from moving any further and for a second she felt fear course her veins. The hand drifted across her shoulder to the other and a black gloved hand touched her face. Her eyes widened as Jareth stood in front of her. "Really, Samantha. I was hoping that you had grown out of that attitude of yours. I'm sorely disappointed to see that is not the case. However, -" He stopped to touch her hair and let it slide through his gloved fingers. "-it can be overlooked, seeing as it has been a long time since we last saw each other." She stood perfectly still, watching him revel in the feeling of touching her hair. She finally pulled back and a frown appeared on his pale face.
"It wasn't a dream, dear girl. I do wish you would stop acting like it was. And it's not a dream now." So she had gone to Labyrinth when she was 13 years old. She had gone and saved her then baby cousin Josh from the Goblin King. She stepped back suddenly frightened as images entered her mind. Jareth was exactly as she remembered him. He still commanded dominance and power in his presence. He had that smug, look on his face. A face with pale, glittery skin that looked as smooth as fine porcelain. His blond hair was still wild and spiky, short at the top, strands dangling in his face as the rest flowed gracefully down his shoulders. One brow arched higher then the other as he studied her. His eyes, one brown, one crystal blue, were the window into his soul, although he would never admit it. In their depths she saw his desire, his arrogance, his fear, his anger and him trying to hide the boyish joy he felt at seeing her again. He still wore the strangely tailored leather jacket. Beneath it, a silky white shirt with his bare chest showing through the low neckline and that silver talisman dangling over his pale skin. The skintight gray pants that left almost nothing to the imagination of what they concealed beneath. And finally knee high black boots with a slight heel. "Is everything to your satisfaction, love?" His voice startled and broke her out of her examination of him.
She hastily pushed him away from her. "Don't call me that. I meant what I said, Jareth. Go back to your Labyrinth. I'm not 13 years old anymore. You had no power over me then and you have even less over me now."
He stepped forward, so close she could feel his breath on her face. "Well I don't know about that." His eyes were full of amusement. "I was very pleased with the reaction I just had on you and I didn't have to utter a word or a touch to get it."
She blushed despite herself. "What are you doing here Jareth?" she asked changing the subject. She didn't like the way he was staring at her. It was disconcerting. "I didn't call on you. I have no baby for you to take and hide in your castle."
"Oh I'm not here for a baby." He giving her a quick look over with his eyes.
"Oh really? Gave up that old routine? What's the matter, lost too many times?"
"My interests are all the same, dear girl. You just never took the time to realize that. Oh I'm definitely not here for a baby." He repeated again. " I'm here for you." His tone was serious as his eyes locked with hers.
She tried very hard not to let the surprise she felt escape for him to see. "Let's just make some sense here." She said ignoring his comment at first. "You take babies when little girls wish you to. You hide them in your castle and they have to make it through your Labyrinth to get them back. I'm 20 years old. I'm not 13 anymore. Unlike you I've aged in the past 7 years and I don't play foolish games anymore."
"What a pity. Has it been that long already? You've aged well in those years. Very well." It was his turn to give her a thorough examination with his eyes. She had let her brown hair grow longer and with time it had lost it's straight appearance and spiraled in curls down her back. Her blue green eyes, sparkled with youth despite her growing older. She had filled out and was not the tall lanky teenager he remembered her as being. She had a slender, but not too slender hour-glass figure. She wore a tank top, that exposed her arms and she wore cotton shorts that allowed him to gaze at her long golden legs. She quite nearly took his breath away. She was more beautiful in person then she was through his damned crystal spheres.
Through squinted eyes she stared at him. "What could you possibly want with me?" His gaze told her exactly what he wanted with her and she swallowed, wishing she could take back that question.
"I ask again, what I once asked you long ago. I'm counting on a better reaction this time.."
"What's to say my reaction wont' be the same?"
He ignored the snide remark and continued with what he wanted to tell her. "Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave. Don't you want to live your dreams?"
Laughter erupted from her and she had to hold onto the porch railing to keep from falling on the ground. She missed the look of hurt that flashed across his strangely handsome features. It was quickly replaced with an honest, real anger. He cursed himself for not expecting this from her. He didn't reply with words but with action. A crystal ball appeared in his hand and he grabbed her wrist pulling her to him. Her laughter died as she realized that they were not in front of her house any longer.
* * * * *
She's not in Kansas anymore folks. Sorry that was really cheesy but I had to throw it in. Like what you read? Please review if you do and if I have an audience I'll start working on the next chapter. Not that I won't work on it for myself. :)
Written by Corrie McDermott
January 2002
Disclaimer: The Labyrinth and the original characters from the movie do not belong to me but to Jim Henson Productions. Any other characters are of my creation.
Author's Note: This is my first ever Labyrinth story so please go easy on me! I love all the J/S stories out there and as much as I wanted to write my very own version, I had difficulty coming up with something original and exciting. So I've decided to create my own character, Samantha with her own story and life. She, like Sarah called upon the Goblin King to take a baby from her care when she was younger. If you want to find out more, then please read below.
* * * *
Her long hair moved over her shoulders like fine dark silk. Her blue-green eyes glittered in the warm afternoon sun and her smile and laughter was as devastating and as magical as the first time he laid his eyes upon her. She was older now; a beautiful young woman in her prime of life, and she still had that fire in her eyes as she had in her youth. The fire and desire to succeed on her own which made her a formidable match for himself. She was a challenge he gleefully wished to test again despite what had happened at their last encounter. He would not underestimate her a second time.
"C'mon Sam!"
Samantha McGoff grinned at her 7 year-old cousin Josh. He was crouched down, bat in hand, anticipating her pitch. She laughed at his enthusiasm. "You're sure you're not ready to call it quits yet?"
"Are you kidding? We've just started!" Laughing she nodded and teased him by tossing the baseball to herself. Then growing serious she got into the perfect pitcher stance and fired. The ball rocketed towards him but at the last second Josh fell back into the soft grass. The bat went flying from his hands and he laughed. Sam rushed to him and helped him up.
"Sorry, bud. I forget my own strength sometimes." She playfully rubbed his dark hair with her hand. "Why don't you go on inside and jump in the shower. Your mom and dad will be coming to pick you up soon." He was about to make a protest but she gave him a stare and he complied. She picked up the fallen bat and the baseball, which lay near an oak tree, yards away. She tossed the ball and when she caught it in her hand it wasn't a baseball, but a perfect crystal. Where had she seen a crystal like that before? She looked up quickly scanning the yard. No..it couldn't be not after all these years. After finding nothing out of the ordinary, she looked down into her hand. She blinked. There was no crystal but a beat up yellowed baseball. "I must be a little more tired then I originally thought." She chuckled and she walked into the house.
After Josh had finished his shower, she made him a quick supper and put on his favorite television program so that she could take a shower herself. The hot water energized her. As she was about to turn the water off, she heard a voice, echoing in her mind.
*How you turn my world you precious thing...*
"What in the..?" She started. She put her face under the hot steamy water and the words faded rapidly, filled instead by the thundering sound of the water crashing over her. Satisfied that whatever it was had passed she turned off the water and wrapping a towel around her, stepped out of the shower. She dressed quickly, towel dried her hair and began to comb it in front of the mirror.
*Your eyes can be so cruel... *
That damned voice again! Who was it? Why did it seem so familiar to her yet unfamiliar? She sighed and returned to the task of combing her hair out. After Josh left, she was going to bed! She had seen and heard enough weird things for the day.
Less then an hour later she was standing outside with Josh as his parents pulled up in their gray sedan. "Sam, please can't I stay another night?"
She looked down at her young cousin, sympathizing. She grew up in the same household that he had. Of course she was on her own now, but she knew what he went though. Parents that had no time for him, because they busied themselves with their careers. Josh had to keep himself busy in his own way just as she once had. "You know I'd let you stay another night. I'd let you stay forever if I could."
Josh pouted despite her words. "I know." He said kicking at a pebble near his foot.
"C'mon Josh, we don't have all night!" came his father's strict voice.
"Behave yourself and maybe I can convince them to let you come over next weekend."
"Promise?"
"You bet." She crouched down and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He hugged her tightly and then grabbing his backpack walked slowly to the sedan. She watched him get into the car. She knew all the emotions that he was feeling right now. She had been there herself. Her parents had died when she was only 6 years old and she had gone to live with her aunt and uncle. They never attempted to fill the void she felt. She knew they would never be her parents, but they could have acted better then they had. She had grown up feeling unwanted at times and she often dreamed of being elsewhere. She thrived on books based on fantasy and non-fiction. They managed to fill a piece of the void her aunt and uncle had not filled. She believed the only reason she had turned out to be a decent person was her cousin Josh. At first she hated him. All the attention he received from his parents as a baby. Attention she had not received when she was hurting and devastated from the loss of her parents. She dreamt one night of sending him off to the Goblin King, but in the dream something had happened and she realized that she needed her cousin back. The dream helped her come closer to Josh and eventually as he grew older they formed a brother and sister relationship. The affection and attention he received as a baby faded quickly as his parents realized Samantha could take care of him and soon she and Josh had much in common. She was off on her own now. An adult with her very own house. The place she always dreamed of living in. She smiled to herself and let the memories of the past fade from her mind. She waved as the sedan pulled away. A thank you would have been nice. She thought of her aunt and uncle taking advantage of her. But of course thank you was a phrase that they had erased from their vocabulary long ago. She sighed. "I wish that things could be different." She said turning to walk back to the house.
"Oh so do I. How is young Joshua these days?"
She stopped dead in her path at the sound of that voice. She didn't turn, but instead rubbed her temples. "I must be insane. I keep hearing things." She started back when that voice again rung in her ears.
"Your aunt and uncle are not the only ones being rude. And ignoring me isn't going to make me go away." The voice was cold and emotionless.
She spun on her heel and gasped at what she saw. She rubbed at her eyes. "Ok, I'm definitely going insane."
He chuckled coldly at her words. "Now you understand what I have felt these last few years, while you've been gone."
This time she chuckled. "Wow I haven't had a dream like this since I was 13. I haven't even read the Labyrinth in like 5 years." She laughed again. "First I thought I saw that crystal, then the voice, and now I'm seeing Jareth, King of the Goblins in front of me. This might be better then the dreams I had as a kid. Ok I really need to wake up now. I told myself long ago I needed to get over fantasizing and get on with real life."
"Do not mock me Samantha." His voice sounded so real, that she shivered. " And do not dismiss me so quickly." She blinked and suddenly wondered if that dream she remembered so vividly from her childhood, was really a dream. "It wasn't a dream." His voice told her. Anger ever apparent in his tone. It felt like he was reading her thoughts. This had to be a dream, but what made her think about the Labyrinth? Why now? It had been a long time since she fantasized about that realm, along with the Goblin King.
"Jareth, you mock me by being in my dreams. Go back to your Labyrinth and pretend to be important. Go and make some little kid feel special because they beat your games." She turned without a further word and started for the house.
A sudden hand on her shoulder stopped her from moving any further and for a second she felt fear course her veins. The hand drifted across her shoulder to the other and a black gloved hand touched her face. Her eyes widened as Jareth stood in front of her. "Really, Samantha. I was hoping that you had grown out of that attitude of yours. I'm sorely disappointed to see that is not the case. However, -" He stopped to touch her hair and let it slide through his gloved fingers. "-it can be overlooked, seeing as it has been a long time since we last saw each other." She stood perfectly still, watching him revel in the feeling of touching her hair. She finally pulled back and a frown appeared on his pale face.
"It wasn't a dream, dear girl. I do wish you would stop acting like it was. And it's not a dream now." So she had gone to Labyrinth when she was 13 years old. She had gone and saved her then baby cousin Josh from the Goblin King. She stepped back suddenly frightened as images entered her mind. Jareth was exactly as she remembered him. He still commanded dominance and power in his presence. He had that smug, look on his face. A face with pale, glittery skin that looked as smooth as fine porcelain. His blond hair was still wild and spiky, short at the top, strands dangling in his face as the rest flowed gracefully down his shoulders. One brow arched higher then the other as he studied her. His eyes, one brown, one crystal blue, were the window into his soul, although he would never admit it. In their depths she saw his desire, his arrogance, his fear, his anger and him trying to hide the boyish joy he felt at seeing her again. He still wore the strangely tailored leather jacket. Beneath it, a silky white shirt with his bare chest showing through the low neckline and that silver talisman dangling over his pale skin. The skintight gray pants that left almost nothing to the imagination of what they concealed beneath. And finally knee high black boots with a slight heel. "Is everything to your satisfaction, love?" His voice startled and broke her out of her examination of him.
She hastily pushed him away from her. "Don't call me that. I meant what I said, Jareth. Go back to your Labyrinth. I'm not 13 years old anymore. You had no power over me then and you have even less over me now."
He stepped forward, so close she could feel his breath on her face. "Well I don't know about that." His eyes were full of amusement. "I was very pleased with the reaction I just had on you and I didn't have to utter a word or a touch to get it."
She blushed despite herself. "What are you doing here Jareth?" she asked changing the subject. She didn't like the way he was staring at her. It was disconcerting. "I didn't call on you. I have no baby for you to take and hide in your castle."
"Oh I'm not here for a baby." He giving her a quick look over with his eyes.
"Oh really? Gave up that old routine? What's the matter, lost too many times?"
"My interests are all the same, dear girl. You just never took the time to realize that. Oh I'm definitely not here for a baby." He repeated again. " I'm here for you." His tone was serious as his eyes locked with hers.
She tried very hard not to let the surprise she felt escape for him to see. "Let's just make some sense here." She said ignoring his comment at first. "You take babies when little girls wish you to. You hide them in your castle and they have to make it through your Labyrinth to get them back. I'm 20 years old. I'm not 13 anymore. Unlike you I've aged in the past 7 years and I don't play foolish games anymore."
"What a pity. Has it been that long already? You've aged well in those years. Very well." It was his turn to give her a thorough examination with his eyes. She had let her brown hair grow longer and with time it had lost it's straight appearance and spiraled in curls down her back. Her blue green eyes, sparkled with youth despite her growing older. She had filled out and was not the tall lanky teenager he remembered her as being. She had a slender, but not too slender hour-glass figure. She wore a tank top, that exposed her arms and she wore cotton shorts that allowed him to gaze at her long golden legs. She quite nearly took his breath away. She was more beautiful in person then she was through his damned crystal spheres.
Through squinted eyes she stared at him. "What could you possibly want with me?" His gaze told her exactly what he wanted with her and she swallowed, wishing she could take back that question.
"I ask again, what I once asked you long ago. I'm counting on a better reaction this time.."
"What's to say my reaction wont' be the same?"
He ignored the snide remark and continued with what he wanted to tell her. "Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave. Don't you want to live your dreams?"
Laughter erupted from her and she had to hold onto the porch railing to keep from falling on the ground. She missed the look of hurt that flashed across his strangely handsome features. It was quickly replaced with an honest, real anger. He cursed himself for not expecting this from her. He didn't reply with words but with action. A crystal ball appeared in his hand and he grabbed her wrist pulling her to him. Her laughter died as she realized that they were not in front of her house any longer.
* * * * *
She's not in Kansas anymore folks. Sorry that was really cheesy but I had to throw it in. Like what you read? Please review if you do and if I have an audience I'll start working on the next chapter. Not that I won't work on it for myself. :)