Disclaimer: Labyrinth does not belong to me, it belongs to Jim Henson and
all those official-type people. I make no profit off of this writing. The story itself is mine.
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Sometimes, just the thought of a choice can make you squirm. Chocolate or
vanilla? Now or later? Work or play? I'd always lived in a vapid universe of
the fluffy bunny category. I saw things going wrong, I saw huge monumental
events, but none of it affected me, I was in a pool of serene, ignorant
bliss.
That has all changed now. Funny how a person can mature from a frolicking
child to an adult who has just had a choice. A true choice, of great
consequence, that must be made quickly.
As I look deep within the cool orb that sits in my hand, I wonder how this
choice has been pushed upon me. Did fate decide it was time I looked past
the haze? Is there an end to everything just when it become most precious?
Just as my oblivious nature is needed to hide me from everything, I had to
open the book. I had to read the words. Even with a child's incomprehension,
a child's innocent belief, I had read the words.
I destroyed my innocence at that moment. I was swirled away by the winds of
time, the winds of realms I thought to be limited to my imagination. And
now.... the being who I thought lived only in black marks on a page, in the
forever of my mind, stands before me. His eyes are on me, burning away at
me. Every instant I feel the heat of them, I age a little more, and cower a
little more in understanding of what lays ahead of me. Fight through terror,
the unknown..... or give in. Give in to my dreams. With my dreams, I will
stay forever as I was, forever young and free.
I know the terror will bring me to a point where I will be an alien. The
unknown matures a person, especially when the unknown stems from what is
generally referred to by adults as the impossible. Something our world has
no room for in a mature adult. I will be alone.
My dreams. To show me my dreams. To let me live my dreams. Even now I feel
the pull of the crystal. I glance into the mismatched eyes of the tall man,
his wild blond hair framing a commanding face. A face that whispers to me to
look deep within the glinting sphere. I do, and see swirling mists of color,
waiting to open before me, to reveal a valley rich with beauty and like
something none has seen. An unknown I do not fear, for I have had glimpses
each time I close my eyes of the realms of everywhere that are locked within
me.
Should I? Giving in, swept away in dreams.... a golden gift. Or to fight,
and face the price I must pay for an error.
I look up at him again. I have chosen. Fear has chosen. Temptation. They
lead me, and the child that is slowly melting away is begging, bring me
back, remember what is within you.... Fairy tales I read so long ago fill my
mind. The handsome princes and knights, swans, princesses, trolls,
unicorns... Moderns myths overshadow them. Magick, love, friendship,
adventure, beauty, peace, strength. Everything and more within my heart
within the crystal. The chance to be free of everything this reality seeks
to use to condemn me to a life of believing myself insane or isolating me,
perhaps just ripping this hope from me and making me live a cold existence
of Truth.
The choice was made when I first made up stories under the stars, years ago.
"My dreams...." my voice is barely above a whisper. As the words fall from
my lips, I feel the stress of the past few days slipping away. My eyes reach
within the crystal, grasping to hold onto anything within, to pull me in,
eager to absorb anything and everything.
They flicker one last time to the Goblin King. "Farewell," his strong voice
tells me, "And love the gift you have been given." With a genuine smile that
conveys emotions no words could describe, laced with yearning and pity, he
vanishes.
And my world dissolves, until I am surrounded in the mists within the
crystal. Slowly they part, and with a gasp of joy I head towards the world
unfolding before me. My mind once more ponders over my choice. What if I had
gone the other way? What have I done? The possibilities overwhelm me, and
just as I begin to panic, the soothing child that I find myself transforming
back into comforts my fears. 'Stop thinking so. Look at all this!'
With a laugh, I run ahead into my future, to explore my dreams.