Secret Santa
It had been early autumn when Sarah had won Toby back, when she had defeated the Labyrinth. She rejected the Goblin King even though she didn't know to what she was saying no. All this had taken place without anyone noting the passage of time but time has a way of going by, even when we don't pay attention. Christmas would be here soon and that meant vacation from school. But unlike the other children, Sarah wasn't looking forward to the holidays.
Walking down Christian Herald Road from the huge brick structure that was Nyack High School, she kicked at the little white pebble she'd found on the ground with the toe of her blue Nike trainers. Life at home had not gotten any better. She hated her step-mother, Karen, more than ever. Karen had succeeded in driving a huge wedge between her and her dad, forcing him to choose between his daughter or his wife and small son. The choice was a lot simpler for Robert Williams than it should have been. Sarah got frosted! Father and step-mother turned all attentions to Toby, nearly completely ignoring her. All her basic needs were met: she had a home, appropriate shoes and clothes and enough to eat. But where was the love? Where were the comforting words, the sincere encouragements? There were none. Only Toby gave her smiles and hugs.
Toby: the same toddler she had wished away had become the focal point of her very existence. He commanded her full attention and the parents knew they have a free babysitter anytime they wanted one. Rarely could one find a more pleasant, attentive or loving sibling. It was the one bright spot that made life at 508 Hudson View Road livable for the sixteen year old. He could always make her smile.
Thinking about Christmas, she snickered to herself. She had walked dogs, helped classmates with essays and homework papers and even babysat for other families to save up a little money to get Toby something special for Christmas. She already had put it on layaway and tomorrow, Friday, December nineteenth, she would go to the toy shop and pay it off and bring it home. Too bad, she had little to look forward to on Christmas morning. There would be one outrageously expensive gift from her mother, almost always something she really couldn't use and clothes from her parents. Nothing that wasn't practical. Sarah chose to focus on Toby's joy and enthusiasm rather than dwell on her meager life.
"Sawah! Sawah home!" Toby ran as fast as his two year old legs would carry him towards the front door. A toe-headed boy dressed in beige overalls and a green and black checked shirt, he was laughing as he threw himself into his big sister's arms.
"Hey, munchkin. I missed you." She wrapped him into a warm, loving embrace and tenderly kissed his cheek, noticing he smelled of the aftershave she'd given her dad last Christmas. "Mmm, you smell good."
"Daddy gived it to me. Said I could have it. Can you play wiff me?" He looked up at her, his blue eyes shining with the kind of joy only children seem to feel.
"Toby," she sighed, "if your Mama doesn't need my help in the kitchen. I always like playing games with you." She grinned down at him as she moved towards the kitchen. "Hello, Karen. Do you need me in the kitchen tonight? Toby wants to play."
Karen turned from her magazine and looked a bit peeved. "No, silly girl. We're going out tonight, remember? Your father has a business dinner and you're babysitting. Pizza is on it's way." It was only then that Sarah noticed the way she was dressed: in a fine Chanel skirt suit and her best jewelry, her hair in a fashionable up-do.
"Right, I forgot. School has been very stressful. I am taking extra AP classes, so it slipped my mind. Of course, we'll be fine, hope you and father enjoy yourselves." Before Karen could answer, she was already heading to the living room to get settled with Toby for the night.
SG***************************************************************************
Sarah sat, crossed legged, on the floor, trying to wrap the present she'd bought for her beloved little brother. She had been lucky to get the original Paddington bear and the companion storybook. Ever so carefully she wrapped the gift in bright green wrap with laughing Santa faces all over it and a big red bow. Satisfied that the package was securely wrapped, she tiptoed down the stairs to put this new gift under the beautiful tree. It was a lovely tree, Karen has truly done a fine job. It was fancy, just like she was. Many gifts lay under the tree already but she instinctively knew none of the boxes for her would be fun, they'd be needed and practical.
SG***************************************************************************
"Quiet!" The goblin king roared. "Can you fools not see I'm trying to hear what the Labyrinth champion is saying?" The goblin hoard cackled and belched but quieted down enough for Jareth to hear the prayer Sarah was reciting.
'Bless us all and please help me be grateful for what I have instead of wishing for all I can't have'.
He watched, transfixed, as the young beauty climbed into her bed and snuggled under the heavy covers. He'd watch her through crystals and very rarely visited her world in his owl form. He looked in on her and the baby. He was quite fond of the tot and as for Sarah, well, everyone in the entire Goblin kingdom knew that he'd lost his heart to the dark-haired beauty.
"Every youngling in her world is excited for this Christmas. We have Yuletide here but it is nothing like the celebrating they do Above. Why does she not feel this excitement? I know things are difficult between her and her parents. Perhaps I can find out something from the King in the North, Kris." He stood from his throne and transmuted into his owl form, flying out the window to head to see King Kringle.
The King in the North was famous, more famous than any of the other beings that lived in the Underground. His realm bordered the two worlds: the Underground to the east and the Above to the west. Kris Kringle presided over the enchanted winter lands, where the smallest of the elves lived and worked all year, making toys. Currently, he was sitting in his study, checking the list.
Suddenly, there was a tapping on the window. A magnificent barn owl was flapping furiously as there was no ledge by the window for him to land upon. The king inside looked up from his book and recognized a fellow king in no small amount of distress. Chuckling, he rose from the desk and walked to the window to let Jareth enter.
"King Jareth. I would have never expected you to show up at my castle and on Christmas Eve no less. Tell me, my good fellow, what brings the King of The Goblins to Santa's castle?" The jolly old man laughed and his big belly shook.
Jareth bowed his head in respect. "King Kris, I seek an audience with you. I have so many questions about this Christmas holiday and I hope to know something of two Aboveground younglings: Tobias Williams, aged two and his sister, Sarah Williams, aged sixteen." He kept his face down but his eyes sought out the other monarch's face, looking for a sign of agreement.
"So, you want to know about Christmas? Why? You've never concerned yourself with the other kingdoms: you've always kept to yourself. Only bringing wished aways to the high court to be adopted out. What could persuade the mighty Goblin King to come to Father Christmas, hmmm?" He looked stern, but there was a knowing and mischievous twinkle in the clear blue eyes of the older man.
Jareth heaved a heavy sigh. "Yes, I have ulterior motives. I wish to see to it that the siblings are properly taken care of. They were recent visitors to my kingdom. I feel a connection to them and want them to be happy." He raised his face to look Santa in the eye. "You spread joy to the children of the Above, why can you not help me give a little something more to the Williams children?"
"Now, now, Jareth. I didn't say I wouldn't help, did I? I wanted to make sure your intentions were pure. I can see those two have captured your notice and perhaps more?" Again, he smiled and that twinkle was there, giving away what he already knew without the asking.
Over the next several hours, Kris explained to Jareth all he could about Christmas and its many traditions. And more importantly, he filled Jareth in about the Williams offspring. Toby was well loved by all in the home but Sarah was horrible overlooked and neglected. She received proper care but nothing extra; nothing that a young lady could have to feel special and desirable. This made Jareth equal measures of angry and sad. He knew he needed to give both Sarah and Toby something special.
"Kris, could I impose on you for a favor?" He watched as the expression on his jolly looking face slowly changed to serious.
"Jareth, I do not want you tampering with Christmas."
Jareth shook his head and chuckled. "No, Kris, nothing like that, I promise. I am unable to cross the barrier between worlds without being summoned. The week around Samhain is the only exception, of course. I wish to have you bring gifts to the Williams' children, special presents just from me. Can I prevail upon you?" He watched as Kringle's smile grew and his cheeks took on a warm, rosy glow.
SG***************************************************************************
Christmas morning dawned with a steady snow falling from the cold December sky. The first snow of the winter, covering everything in its clean, white glistening mantle. The trees and evergreens looked like they'd been dusted with powered sugar, the lights and decorations reflecting off the surface of the newly fallen snow. Sarah gazed out her window, thinking of how much fun Toby would have playing in snow for the first time. Christmas would be fun, if only because Toby would be more actively involved in opening his gifts. She rose from the window seat and stepped into her slippers and shrugged on her warm robe, to make her way downstairs. No one else was awake yet as she tiptoed down to the kitchen and started to make coffee, feeling certain her father and Karen would be up soon.
She poured herself a glass of orange juice and sat on the couch, staring at the Christmas tree. Her gift to Toby stood out among the professional wrapped boxes. Karen was too busy to bother with gift wrapping. She had the stores do it for her. The lights on the tree twinkled brightly making Sarah feel a bit more Christmasy than she had when she woke. As she tried to imagine what totally expensive and useless thing her mother sent this year, she heard Toby running and jumping around upstairs. The rest of the family would be down shortly.
Toby was carried downstairs by their father and Karen was right on his heels. "Now wait until we're all around the tree before you start opening presents." Like Sarah was excited to see the new jeans or sweater she would find in her boxes. Maybe her mother had finally come through? After all, she had turned sixteen, surely Linda Williams, great stage actress knew that much about her? "Oh, what's the point. I need to be happy with clothes and stopping wishing for things."
"Sarah, stop mumbling. People will think you're not right in the head, dear." Karen laughed, clearly thinking she was extremely funny, which she wasn't. Even her father made a sour face at that crack. Toby was tearing the wrapping off one of the presents from 'mummy and daddy'. Sarah picked up the small box that was clearly from her mother. A little round box, wrapped in silver foil wrap and topped with a bright red bow. Just like it's sender, not to be ignored. Carefully she removed the bow and peeled the paper back to reveal the velvet box it covered. 'Don't get your hopes up, Sarah' she repeated in her mind. As she removed the lid, a delicate pair of gold earrings winked back at her. A little gold fairy dangling from the gold posts she could wear in her pierced ears. She smiled, but on the inside her heart was singing! Finally, a gift that wasn't practical or ridiculous.
Toby tore all his packages open, but when he got to Paddington and the book, he dragged them to Sarah, sat in her lap and announced, "wead to me, Sawah." She laughed and grabbed the book but Karen stopped them.
"Toby, come play with your new tricycle. Look it has a bell!" She made the bell chime, and Toby stood and ran over to the trike, Sarah and the book forgotten. As the tangle of wrapping paper and discarded bows was being picked up, Robert noticed two boxes that had been missed. "Hey where did these come from? I don't remember this wrapping paper. Karen? Did you buy these?"
Karen squinted as she looked at the two small boxes, clad in simple green paper and encircled with red ribbons. "Not a clue. That's odd. Are there tags saying who they're for?"
Robert looked and found gift tags: one was marked for Sarah and one for Toby, the careful calligraphy that indicated the recipient just helped to further deepen the mystery. "Sarah, this one is for you and the other says Tobias. That's funny, we never call him that." He handed the box to her and she felt a tingle go up her spine. When she held it, it felt familiar, which was crazy.
She tore at the paper and ribbon to get to the box inside. It was a simple wooden box with a hinged lid. She lifted it and pulled out a tawny barn owl, carved from marble. She held it in her hands, in a mild state of shock. It was beautiful and it wasn't clothes. And Sarah remembered the owl that sometimes would sit outside her window, the very same owl from that night. She was a little scared until she read the gift tag: 'Sarah, Merry Christmas. Santa.' It didn't make sense.
"Dad, what did Toby get?" She watched as her father tore the wrap off and opened another hinged wooden box. In the box was an odd looking, hairy creature with horns and covered in reddish brown fur. Sarah gasped when she saw it. That was Ludo, she was absolutely certain. But who was the Santa that gifted them these items? Was it the real Santa Claus or could it be the Goblin King?
Although the mystery of where these gifts had come from remained a mystery, the parents accepted them as just one of those odd things that tends to happen around the holidays and Sarah was left as the only person to ponder their true wellspring.
SG***************************************************************************
Several years went by and the new tradition of the mystery gifts to the Williams children continued. Robert thought his wife was buying the gifts and Karen was sure the gifts were the brainchild of Robert. Toby, being still a child, didn't care where the gifts came from, he just looked forward to them because they were always such unusual and extraordinary gifts. And as for Sarah? She was more convinced than ever that these presents were not from Santa Claus. No. they had to be from the Goblin King. After receiving the carved marble barn owl and Toby Ludo, the next Christmas Sarah received a red rose encased inside a crystal sitting atop a gilded stand and Toby two little Goblin figures made of plastic. The next year it was an elegant pair of jade earrings and a plush chicken followed by strand of jade beads and a plastic sword with shield.
Sarah was no longer a high school student. She had turned twenty and was a junior in college and coming home for the Christmas break. She looked forward to Christmas now because her mother would give her money and her father and Karen did the same. It was great to be able to buy things for herself but she really looked forward to the treasured Christmas surprise that would be waiting under the tree. The Goblin King had been kind to them and given her such lovely things that it made her wonder if perhaps the last encounter in the shambles of the Escher room hadn't been a trick or part of defeating the labyrinth. Had he meant what he said?
She rose early Christmas morning as she had always done, walking down the stairs to start the coffee. The tree was already lit, its lights twinkling merrily, the presents all in place, waiting to be opened. She smiled as she spotted the gifts she had brought for everyone, even Karen. She sat on the couch and tried to find the green wrapped, red ribboned boxes for herself and Toby.
Just as she was going to grab the one she spied, Toby came tearing down the stairs, closely followed by the parents.
Sarah watched with joy as the presents were unwrapped and opened. All the first were appreciated, to be sure. When Robert picked up the last package, he was surprised there was only one. "Toby, this one is for you from Santa. It looks like Santa didn't bring one for you Sarah. I guess you didn't make the Nice list this year, young lady." The all laughed, Sarah too, but she didn't feel like being jovial. Had the Goblin King forgotten her? Was she now too grown to get gifts from 'Santa'?
Robert and Karen took Toby to church while Sarah chose to stay home and read the book her professor had assigned to her for next term. She wanted to get ahead on her English Poetry class. She sat in her old bedroom, reading the textbook and occasionally staring out the window at the bare trees. Sitting among the snow covered branches was a barn owl. She hadn't noticed it at first. She leaned forward and touched the latch that kept the window locked.
"Goblin King? Is it you?" She couldn't help thinking she was losing her mind for believing it. And just when she was convinced the owl, was just an owl, it came to window sill and tapped its beak on the window pane. Sarah slowly moved to unlatch the lock and pulled the window open as she stepped away from the window seat. The owl glided in through the window and in the blink of an eye, Jareth was standing in her bedroom. "Why are you here, your majesty?"
He smirked at her and raised one eyebrow as he addressed her. "Sarah, you know very well why I'm here." He took a step towards her and she tried to step back but fell onto the window seat instead. He chuckled warmly. "I'm hear it wish you a 'Happy Christmas' and give you your gift."
"I thought I was too old for gifts when there was none under the tree." She looked a little sad.
"And what made you think that, precious? I'm afraid Kris couldn't bring this gift to you, I need to give it to you myself." He reached his hand out and took her small, pale hand in his gloved one and raised it to his lips and kissed it tenderly. "Merry Christmas, my Sarah."
Sarah blushed and giggled. "Merry Christmas to you, too, your majesty."
"Please, call me Jareth." He smiled at her, no malice or cruelty in that smile whatsoever.
"I come to renew the offer I made once before, Sarah. I have waited for you to grow up a bit more and now that you are nearly twenty-one of your aboveground years, it seems the right time." He knelt down on one knee and held up a crystal. "Last time I asked you to fear me, love me, do as I say and I would be your slave. Do you remember?"
"Yes, Jareth, I remember." She was shaking a little out of fear.
"Sarah, will you marry me and be my wife and queen?"
"I do fear you, I'm not sure if I love you and I doubt I'll do what you say. And if being my slave means you love me, then I say, yes, I'll marry you, after a proper engagement period."
Jareth stood and pulled her to her feet and into his arms. He slowly lowered his head towards her lips and kissed her tenderly. "I love you, Sarah. Now and forever."
"Forever's not long at all."
********************The End********************