I thought I'd put another rather short story up here. Also, I have finally managed to publish one of my books with all thanks to createspace and Ichobana Rose! Yay! It's for sale on and is called "Little Haven of Dreams" for those of you who are interested. Thanks!
I stand in a tower looking out at world that is a great deal different from how it used to be. All of my little goblins are happy, happier than they have ever been in their lives. They don't chase after chickens and cats in the alleyways now, but plant beautiful flowers and tend to crops and gardens. They are productive, seeing to it that insects stay away from their flowering roofs and their beautiful homes. My people themselves wear clothes that are very becoming on them, clean trousers, colorful hats, soft skirts, and every one of them wears a smile.
The land too has changed. Meadows are in full bloom, attracting butterflies and fairies and calling to the other creatures of my Underground to come and play. Mountains, gray and their peaks covered with snow, rise up, towering over my castle, looming in the distance and catching every beam of the sun. The sun has shown itself again, whereas, in times past, it hid behind the fog drifting up from the Bog of Eternal Stench. As for the Bog itself…it no longer exists. In its place is an ocean, filled to the brim with fish for my people and creatures that have never before been seen here.
Joy, prosperity, and peace are the three coinciding emotions that flow through the landscape and through my palace. Even my castle has changed. It is clean, shiningly so, and is as white and full of light as it can possibly be. Rose vines creep up the trellises and cloisters, revealing deep red and light purple blooms.
Something has certainly changed in the Labyrinth, someone has certainly had a change of heart and of mind, and I know who it is.
Ever since she stepped into my life, nothing has been the same. From the moment she stepped onto the earth of another world, I knew that someone was going to change, and I hadn't expected that the someone would be the King. But as I watched her run my Labyrinth, my impossible obstacle course, my heart began to soften. I felt compassion for the first time in several centuries, and I felt something much deeper flowing through my heartless blood. And when she gave up everything, her dreams, her selfishness, and me for a toddler just barely begun to walk, for the babe that she wished away, I was amazed and I understood that the Goblin King had indeed fallen in love with the girl.
When she left, so did my cruelty. My heart softened, and light again shone in the Labyrinth. Ice melted, and the fear my people had for me melted away along with it. They were no longer just nuisances, goblins to be kicked around and ordered about. No, they were my people and each and every one of them had names that I learned. Everything is as it should be, save for one thing.
There is an emptiness within me that nothing here can fill. I have wondered for the past thirteen years if the girl will ever discover the power I have given her. She has several different gifts, but the one I most desire her to use has not been found yet. I gave her the power to return, hoping desperately that she would come back to me, but she has not yet and perhaps never will. She will never see me as the man she could love, I am certain. In her mind, I am the cruel Goblin King that insulted and mocked her, that pricked and prodded her and played with all of her young emotions. What could she ever see in a repulsive little scab like me?
I can hear the palace doors opening, but I would rather not greet visitors now. The pain is too great today, feeling as though it will break into thousands of pieces within me and cut me from the inside out.
"Your majesty, you have a visitor!" Sir Didymus announces, but I wave gently with my hand, and the little fox scurries away.
It is quiet again in this tower, and I find myself falling into deeper loneliness. How I wish Sarah would return! How I long to see her smile again, and I would even be game for her challenging attitude. But perhaps she would be different now. Maybe I wasn't the only one who changed when she came. What would she be like now? Would she resent me if she returned? Would she see how I'm really only a man and how I love her?
I hear a voice, but surely I must be imagining it, for I've only heard it in my dreams for so long that it can't be real.
"Jareth."
Her voice sounds soft and sweet, and it brushes over me like the gentlest kiss, like a caress that I have never felt. I close my eyes, letting a gentle breeze rustle my golden hair, wishing that the voice had been real, but knowing that it couldn't possibly be. I draw in a deep breath as light fingers, like the wind, brush over the curved tip of my ear and then dance through my hair, playing with it like it was but liquid silk. Something akin to a purr comes from my throat as the imaginary fingertips trickle down my cheek to my chin. And then something physical, something firm, turns my head gently and the most beautiful sensation breezes across my lips, filling me with contentment and hope.
"Goblin King, I have come."
My eyes open and gaze directly into a pair of hazel orbs, sparkling and dancing only for me. I take in the face before me, swallowing back a cry of joy, trying to maintain some amount of dignity.
It is she. Her face is more mature than when last we met, for she too has changed over time. She is fully woman now, with porcelain skin, ruby red lips, and luscious waves of dark hair. Her hand strokes my face again, and I lean into her touch, smiling slightly.
"This must only be a dream, Sarah."
"No it isn't," she chastises gently. "I found my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City, though that wasn't what I was looking for. When I left you the first time, I thought I would be able to forget, that all of this had been a figment of my imagination, but no matter how hard I tried, I could never forget the Labyrinth's king. You were just as alive in my world as I am in yours, because even when I couldn't see you, I carried you with me wherever I went. I love you, Jareth."
"Have you come to stay?" I ask, standing up and smiling as I realize that she is still shorter than I am.
"That depends," she shrugs with a faint smile.
"What does it depend on?"
"If you'll keep me or not."
"If I'll keep you…" I whisper, and then she is in my arms, held tightly against me, her head cradled in my shoulder. "Sarah Williams, the story wasn't a lie. The Goblin King did fall in love with the girl. And he fell even deeper in love with the woman she became. I love you. Will you stay with me and be my queen?"
"There's nowhere else I'd rather be," she smiles into my shirt and looks up into my face again.
I can't resist, and as I kiss her, I smile with the realization that some things are certainly worth waiting for.