Never Go That Way!
"What did you say?"
"Never go that way!"
"But why?"
"'Cause that way leads straight to that 'orrid castle, an' you surely don't want to go there."
Sarah grinned. "Oh, but I do! I have to, you see. To find my brother."
"Oh. Well, thass' 'ows you goes, then." The worm smiled doubtfully, trying to be reassuring. "Sure you don' want some tea first?"
"Thank you, but no. I've got to go! Thank you again!" With a final smile she took off at a run down the passage, leaving the befuddled worm behind.
Sarah jogged between the soggy brick walls, her heart full of renewed determination. At least there was one person — er, creature — in this weird Labyrinth who could give a straight answer! Clear dawn sky began to appear in the crack above the passage, glowing brightly in what seemed a good omen.
But as the minutes grew into hours, she wondered whether the worm had really been trying to trick her. "This doesn't lead anywhere," she complained to the attentive lichen. "I must be halfway around the Labyrinth by now, and I'm not any closer to that stupid castle."
Just then she saw a glimmer of light straight ahead. Sarah set off running again, and before long the corridor opened up into a wide avenue. Large stone pillars marked the edge of a deep cliff, and the path broadened into a bridge, lined with creamy sandstone blocks, stretching out into the golden sky. Overhead, clouds blew and transformed into various fantastic shapes, and strange ragged birds flew around and through the bridge's span.
Sarah walked to the side and looked over, breathing heavily from her run. The Labyrinth spread out before her almost as far as she could see, an intricate mandala of textures, shapes, and hues overlaid with the intricate lines of the Labyrinth walls. Various strange and mysterious figures moved within it, rendered toylike by the distance. And soaring over everything at a crazy height rose the bridge, winding up and down like a serpent cutting through the sky, with no visible means of support beyond the cliff where she stood. Beyond its last bend she could just see the topmost spires of Jareth's castle.
"I couldn't even see this from the front," marveled Sarah joyfully. "It must be a secret way! I won't have to bother with any of the maze at all!" She beamed. "Take that, Jareth!"
And, bouncing happy thoughts back toward the little worm, she set off over the Labyrinth.
The bridge curled and dipped so crazily that at times Sarah had to grip the stone railings and carefully an inch her way along, fearing she might fall off. She couldn't see more than a few hundred feet in front of her at any point. Looks like Jareth's been reading Dr. Seuss, she mused. Every so often she paused to look out over the vast Labyrinth below, which appeared exotically beautiful in the long shadows and changing colors of the morning light.
Despite the bridge's crazy architecture, the path was more or less direct toward the center and her progress seemed remarkably swift. The day was fine, the air clear and warm. As she strolled, Sarah swelled with pride. I can do this! She thought. Look, there's the tower right ahead, over that rise — I must be nearly there!
Laughing, Sarah scaled the final slope. This Labyrinth's not so bad — you just have to know who to ask!
And there the bridge stopped. In mid-air.
It came to a complete dead end in empty space. The spire floated teasingly before her. Sarah looked down. The castle walls were directly below.
Far below. A good half-mile down.
Stunned, Sarah surveyed her situation in shock. The bridge had led her to the castle, all right. Just in a different altitude. And there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
"What is this, some sort of trick?" she hollered, disgusted. "I can't reach that! I'll break my neck!"
By now the sun had climbed to noon, and as it reached its zenith the spire in front of her twinkled and vanished, to reappear in its rightful place far down on the summit of the castle. The bridge itself seemed to shimmer, and looking back along its length, Sarah watched parts of it glimmer into invisibility and back. It took a matter of minutes for it to disappear altogether.
An illusion, she realized. A trick of the light, of the brain, just like the brick walls of the outer Labyrinth. Given the right vantage point, she would have been able to tell right away that this wouldn't work. But the bridge had slanted too wildly, and she had never though to look behind her...
She closed her eyes in resignation. "And I couldn't see the bridge from the front of the Labyrinth, because I was looking at it from the wrong direction."
Sarah turned and dropped to her hands and knees to begin the slow route back over the bridge that she now couldn't even see. The Labyrinth waited far below, stark and washed-out now in the absence of shadows. It was a long way down. Sunlight glared in her eyes, and she felt a really bad headache coming on.
"Rotten worm," Sarah growled as she crawled. "Rotten, horrible worm. It's just not fair."
Meanwhile, in a nearby tower, Jareth raised his eyes to the bridge and grinned. At his feet, Toby gurgled happily.
Disclaimerage: Labyrinth blah Henson blah not mine blah. No profound mysteries of life in this little romp; just the idle fulfillment of an omission that has always irked me.