Chapter 2

"Izzy! Come help me cook dinner please!" Her mother yelled from the kitchen. Izzy grudgingly got up from her seat on the overstuffed couch in the den where she had been watching her favorite movie, Labyrinth. "Coming, mom!" She replied loud enough for her mother to hear, before mumbling under her breath. "You never let me finish anything. Always want me to do chores and clean and cook. Never let me go to parties like other girls…blah blah blah.." She quickly kept quiet to keep her mother from over hearing her tirade as she shuffled into the kitchen.

A pot of water filled with peeled potatoes simmered on the stove. Another pot bubbled with the rich, exotic smell of curry. Izzy immediately began peeling onions to sauté in a frying pan, while her frazzled mother attempted to feed the baby. The baby was turning his head every which way, spitting out the baby food his mother was trying her best to feed him. His hair was matted with mashed peas. Mother sighed in exasperation, finally giving up, as Izzy added the sautéed onions along with cauliflower to the curry broth.

"Isabella, why must you always day dream?" Her mother's inquiry came as a shock to Izzy. "Look at you! You're cooking dinner in a medieval gown!" When Izzy wheeled around to face her mother she saw an expression that said mother was only half chiding her. It was true that Izzy's choice of clothing for the day was strange. She was wearing a medieval, satin, costume gown that she had worn for her 9th grade school play of Macbeth the previous year.

But in all fairness, Izzy thought, I was rehearsing lines all afternoon in preparation for trying out for this year's production of 'The Merry Wives of Windsor.' At least she'd been rehearsing before she got side tracked watching her favorite movie. She couldn't help it if David Bowie's seductive smile and skin tight pants drew her to the television like a moth to a flame, she reasoned to herself. And besides, there was something oddly familiar about the character of the Goblin King in the film, though she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Izzy smiled sheepishly at her mother and finished making supper. She felt bad that she didn't help out around the house as much as she should lately. She knew mother was tired and stressed from dealing with the baby. And at 16, Izzy was perfectly capable of having dinner on the table when father got home from work.

Though at frequent intervals she felt she could relate to Sarah's feeling like a slave in the movie. Like Sarah, Izzy had been an only child until a year and a half ago, when her mother got pregnant again. The pregnancy was a surprise to everyone, but still the family was happy. Since then Izzy had had to do extra chores around the house to help out. Her baby brother, Samuel, or Sammy as everyone called him, was becoming more and more of a handful the closer he got to his 2nd birthday. She supposed they didn't call it "The Terrible Two's" for nothing.

But unlike Sarah, Izzy did not resent her baby brother. Nor were her parents divorced. She was grateful that she didn't have a step mother that resented her, like Sarah did. She knew her mother loved her as no other could, even if she did harp on Izzy occasionally.

Izzy continued to compare and contrast herself and Sarah as she spooned the finished curry stew onto heaping plates of rice and set the dining room table, while her mother cleaned up Samuel's mess of mashed peas. "I'm going to change my clothes so I look presentable when your father gets home," mother announced. "Please keep an eye on Sammy for me." Mother left the room before Izzy could reply. The table was set and the kitchen was cleaned of its food mess. There was nothing left to do but wait. Izzy removed the now clean high chair tray and scooped up the squirming toddler in her arms.

"Let's go play outside for a while, Sammy." Izzy cooed to the boy. Her brother responded enthusiastically with contented baby gurgles. She slid open the shining glass door to the back porch and strapped her brother into the infant swing on the backyard swing-set. She swung the baby high in the air, pushing the swing gently as it swung back to its start. Sammy squealed excitedly. Izzy cooed to her brother to keep him entertained but once again found herself dwelling on the Labyrinth film. She began to tell the story to her brother as he swung back and forth.

True, the movie was beyond her time, having been released in 1986, the very year that Izzy had been born. Izzy loved the movie nonetheless from the first time she saw it. She was 9. She had been invited to her first slumber party at a friend's house. She remembered sitting spellbound as she watched the film along with the 7 other girls at the party as they lounged on sleeping bags and pillows on the living room floor. It seemed so long ago to Izzy's mind. And yet it didn't.

What must it be like to have to find one's way through the Labyrinth, she thought? Better still, what must it be like for someone like King Jareth to love me? She pondered silently.

"Izzy!" Mother called from inside the house. Izzy answered immediately as she stopped the swing and pulled Sammy out of the seat. She hastened inside and slid the sliding door shut behind her. As she did so she noticed a common, tawny, barn owl perched on top of the wooden swing set.

How long had it been there? It's strange that the animal should show no instinctual fear of humans to have landed so near to where Izzy and her brother had been a few moments before. A magnificent creature he was though. Izzy admired him through the glass. She had always been fascinated by birds of prey for as long as she could remember, especially owls. A strange feeling of familiarity came over Izzy. Was it her imagination, or did the owl seem to be studying her too?

"Izzy?" Mother called her name serenely. Izzy turned to see her mother walking into the kitchen. "Izzy, father just called from work. He has another late night meeting at the office this evening and can't get out of it, so he won't be home in time for dinner. He says he'll be home late tonight. So what do you say we go ahead and eat dinner together, huh?"

Izzy simply nodded in reply and shifted Sammy onto her other hip. Her mother's voice had been cheerful enough, but Izzy knew her mother well enough to know it was a front. She could see rims of red around the older woman's eyes, despite the makeup that had been applied to cover them. Mother had been crying. The woman took the baby from Izzy and headed into the dining room. Izzy chanced a glance at the swing-set. The owl was gone.

Later, that evening after the supper dishes had been cleared away Izzy lay on her bed thinking of the owl. Had it only been her imagination that he was studying her? Perhaps the bird hadn't really been there at all. Perhaps Izzy had been day dreaming again, wishing the owl from Labyrinth would be there. Oh well, no matter. She had other things to worry about.

Her mind drifted to her poor mother. Father was still not home, though it was well after 10 o'clock. His claim of having a late meeting was the 3rd one this week. Mother was upset and fretful all evening. Suddenly the front door slammed. Izzy jumped in fright. She heard heavy footsteps on the staircase. Father had finally come home. The bedroom door down the hall from Izzy's room opened and slammed the next instant.

"Where have you been? What took you so long?" Further still down the hall Sammy began to cry in protest. "Oh great! The baby's awake!" Mother yelled at her husband. Her father yelled in reply and the inevitable argument ensued. Izzy rolled over, covering her head with a pillow in attempt to block out the noise.

"I wish I could just tune them out..I wish, I wish.." Izzy muttered to herself on the verge of tears. She hated when her parents argued. She closed her eyes and willed herself to keep from crying. She silently cursed her overly sensitive nature. It was then that she realized she heard only silence. Then she thought she heard a voice in her mind say, "What's said is said. Be careful what you wish for."

Izzy sprang upright in bed thinking something terrible had happened to her family. In her panic she longed to hear her parents' voices again. She longed to hear Sammy and know he was alright. Immediately she heard her parents yelling, and Sammy crying as they had been before, but oddly her father was in mid sentence. It was as if someone had muted them, as one would mute the TV, then turned up the volume again, catching only half the conversation. How strange.

Sammy cried harder. He was on the verge of hysteria by this point. Immediately Izzy got up and went to him. She picked him up from his crib and cradled him gently, rocking him, humming softly until he quieted. Her parents' argument was coming to its end, but she could still hear snippets of the conversation. Her father had been working overtime all week in attempt to stay in good graces with the finance company he worked for. Tonight he had been let go. The company was collapsing and could no longer afford to keep so many employees.

So THAT was what the argument was about. Izzy had known it would be about finances or money. Her parents' arguments almost always were. She gazed down at Sammy's now sleeping face. His little fists were clenched, one of them in his mouth. The toddler looked so peaceful when he slept. Izzy laid him gently back in his crib. She watched her sleeping brother for a moment, then feeling the chill of the night air on her neck she moved to close the open window and draw the shade down. She left the room without a second glance not noticing the owl, once again perched on top of the wooden swing set.


Izzy slept fitfully that night. She tossed and turned, feeling as though she were falling down an endless dark hole. She hit the bottom suddenly, but landed unexpectedly on her feet. There was only solid rock behind her, but in front of her was a widening tunnel. A stream of golden light beckoned at the other end. Izzy walked toward the end of the tunnel and found herself in a marble hallway.

The hall seemed to glitter as she curiously made her way to whatever lie in wait on the other end. Feeling much like Alice in Wonderland she muttered, "Curiouser and curiouser," in an attempt to humor herself, Something small and round was floating down the tunnel toward her. Was it some kind of bubble? No, it was a floating crystal ball, the size of a tennis ball. Unsure of what to do, and having no place to run from it Izzy merely watched fascinated, as the ball seemed to grow larger and envelope her entirely.

Suddenly Izzy found herself standing in an immaculate white marble ballroom. The room was filled with people in various masques, as if at a masquerade. She looked down to see her pink floral pajamas melt away to an elaborate, floor length, ball gown of white, eyelet lace. Her ash blonde hair was piled high on her head and bejeweled with lace appliqués. Crystal droplets hung from her ears. She looked and felt like Cinderella.

All eyes were on her in envy and admiration. She looked truly lovely. The crowd silently parted before her. Izzy was suddenly face to face with the most handsome man she had ever seen, and she had seen her fair share of attractive guys. At school any number of boys stumbled over themselves in effort to get her attention, but she was never interested. This man was different.

He held out his open palm for her hand. She gave her hand obligingly and he gently kissed it. "Welcome, my love. I've waited a very long time for this moment," he spoke softly. Izzy's thoughts seemed to stop altogether. She could not think, nor did she want to. All she wanted was to be here, in this mysterious hall with this man who seemed to love her.

The man's narrow, brown eyes sparkled. Faint smile lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes, enhancing his high, rounded cheekbones in his finely carved face. He pulled her close to himself and stared down into her eyes. Izzy felt herself melting at his gaze. Somehow she knew he truly did love her. But she could only stare in wonder at him. Was it possible for her to love him in return?

The two began to waltz around the ballroom as the crowd parted further still to make way for the dancing couple. Time seemed to fade away as they danced. Izzy realized she had never even asked the man his name, but the name was in her mind before she could ask the question. Jareth. That was his name. Jareth, High King of the Goblin Realm. But the people in the elegant hall weren't goblins, were they?

Izzy glanced around and began to see masques falling away from the faces of the wearers. Hideously twisted goblin faces of various shapes and sizes gaped back at her. Izzy screamed and pushed away from this King of Goblins. She turned in circles, frantically looking for a way to escape and seeing none. She screamed all the higher. "I wish there was a way out of here!"

All at once she was falling, falling endlessly down another dark tunnel and into… Into her own bed? Izzy started awake for a moment. She sat up trying to remember where she was. Seeing the dark shadows of her own familiar bedroom drowsiness overcame her.

She felt herself drift back into blissful sleep. Gentle kisses covered her face and neck. Such sweet, soft sensations they were. A tender, warmth spread over Izzy in her sleepy haze. She pulled her eiderdown comforter over herself, feeling as if she were truly covered in its soft feathers. Somewhere in the distance, she heard the soft hooting of a barn owl.