In the beginning, there was a girl. She wasn't an ordinary girl—oh no, she was the only girl to beat the Labyrinth in thirteen hours. What the girl didn't realize was that she, Sarah Williams, never claimed her prize. She had rightfully won the Goblin King's heart, but instead, she disregarded her prize, took her baby brother and left the broken king to recover his senses.
"Mark my words, Sarah Williams, you will be mine. Make no doubt about that. Sooner or later, you will love me again," Jareth declared. He made a vow, but not a wish, for wishes are tricky things, and one must be careful what they wish for.
Six years later
Sarah Williams looked out at the crowd gathering in front of the curtain. Tonight was to be her senior recitation where she and a few of her friends would recite scenes from Shakespeare and other various playwrights. Her favorite Shakespearean play was A Midsummer's Night's Dream. She didn't very much care for the tragedies. They were almost always about love in some form or another. If she had to identify with one character from a tragedy, she'd probably pick Juliet. She knew what it was like to love and have it all taken away due to family issues. Although her family wasn't feuding, she gave up love once for her family. That's sort of the same thing, or at least she thought so. That's another reason she hated the tragedies, they always reminded her of her own past experiences. Not that her life was tragic, quite the opposite. She was finishing her last year of college in England, double majoring in acting and English, which allowed her to act and write. During the summer she was a nanny to a fairly wealthy family in Wales. She was always coming up with new stories to tell the children when they were home for the summer from boarding school. She had almost shared that same fate. Her stepmother Karen used to threaten to send her away when she was younger, until that one night when everything changed.
When she was fifteen, she had a vivid dream of a devilishly handsome king who had taken her baby brother, Toby. Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered she fought her way to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child he stole. It was a good dream, but only a dream. The dream was probably induced by her favorite book. She still read it from time to time, whenever she needed to escape the dullness of her life. Toby believed it was real, but she always denied it, saying that it was only a story. Deep down though, she always hoped that it would be something more, that Jar—the Goblin King would be real. Even know, she somehow hoped to see him in the audience waiting to hear her recite her lines as Juliet. She was performing the "what's in a name" monologue. And in her mind, she was saying it to him and they were in the M.C. Escher room right before she triumphed over him. She had loved him then, the fantasy of an idle teenage mind. That love had not waned over the years, but now she was 21 and had never had a serious relationship, much to the chagrin of Karen. Karen was always trying to set her up, and Sarah always came up with an excuse as to why they weren't the right guy for her.
"With your list of requirements, you'd be better off marrying a King," Karen said. Oh if she only knew the half of it, Sarah mused.
"Hey, Juliet, you're on in five," King Oberon said as he walked on stage.
"Thank you five," Sarah replied snapping out of her reverie. She watched as he sat under the make-shift tree and started reciting his lines. King Oberon was played by Jessie, a boy who always had taken a fancy to Sarah. She had shared countless stage kisses with him, and apparently he thought that meant that she liked him. He was attractive, but she just didn't see a future with him. Why couldn't he see that?
Soon enough, his scene was over and it was her turn. "Break a leg, babe," Jessie said while winking at her. She walked on stage, taking her place on top of her balcony. She closed her eyes and transported herself back to that dream, back to him. She meant every word, willing the man of her dreams to understand how she felt, finishing with "Take all myself." She got a standing ovation, but she didn't feel the rush of excitement that she used to when she was younger. She was in her senior year of college wondering whether or not she made the right choices. She didn't know what to believe anymore, and with graduation a month away, who knows what she'll do after college? She could be a full-time actor, but she's never been leading lady material like her mother. She could try writing, but that would mean living paycheck to paycheck too. Then there was being a nanny, and she did love children, but then how would she start her own family? Not to mention her years spent in college would have been useless, but she needed some way to pay off her debt. I guess that's my future now, she realized as she walked off stage. Who knows, maybe I'll meet someone who will save me before it gets that far.
"Well, precious, if you wish it, it could be," the Goblin King mused while watching the crystal in his hand. She would be his soon enough and he knew it. It was only a matter of time until she'd call for him, and he'd be here. Waiting in the Underground.