Sarah sighed as she bent and tried to unlock her apartment door without spilling either of the bags of groceries she held in both arms. Giving the key a quick jerk that spilled nearly a third the groceries out of the bag in her right hand, she pushed open the door with a frustrated huff and dropped the bags with a heavy thump on her small kitchen table. Rubbing her temples to try to prevent the headache she had felt trying to form all day, she glared at the offending groceries that now littered the doorway and hall in front of her apartment.

Why did I ever look forward to living alone when I was younger? Back then I didn't even have to go grocery shopping unless I went with Karen. I couldn't even imagine what a hassle it is to cart groceries from the car, up three flights of stairs, and unlock my door without dropping anything.

Stooping to collect the scattered groceries, Sarah thought about all that had changed over the years. Toby was now eight, her relationship with Karen was better even though their relationship was still rather chilly and tense, she had graduated college with a degree in theater and was now living on her own and supporting herself with the money she made from working in one of the local theatres. Although she wasn't famous like her mother, she liked to think she had a loyal following in some of the locals. The theater might be small but she liked the people she worked with and she was able to live her dream. That was better then most people.

Really the only thing missing in her life was a significant other and even that wasn't a completely lost hope. It's not like she didn't go out on dates or that she never met anyone who interested her. It was just that after the first date it became apparent that the interest didn't go beyond friendship. There was never anything wrong with the guys, there just wasn't a spark for her.

Thinking of guys made her think of her lousy day. First the leading man who played opposite her in their next play had fallen sick and they were having to scramble to replace him. After auditioning several terrible hopefuls who thought that overacting would get them the part, she left the theater to find she had a flat tire.

After screaming under her breathe and kicking the flat tire, she had to call one of the male theater members over to help her change the tire and had to listen to him going on and on about how great he is and how he should replace the sick male lead and then he even had the nerve to ask her out when she obviously wasn't interested and of course even if she was, it wasn't appropriate to ask her out when he was trying out for the lead role and she would have a hand in deciding who would get the part. The whole reason he probably asked her out was because he thought it would help him get the part if he was seeing the lead actress.

That wasn't even the end of her bad day. Then she came home to discover she had nothing to fix for dinner so a trip to the store was required if she was going to eat anything tonight. While in the store she had a display of caned peaches fall on her, her foot run over by a soccer mom's cart, and she slipped on the wet floor someone had just mopped. Red with embarrassment, she got up to discover her pants now had a noticeable wet spot on the seat of them. Ready to cry in frustration, Sarah tied her jacket around her waist to hide the spot as best she could and quickly got enough groceries to last for a few days.

But it didn't end there. On the way home she got a ticket for an expired license plate sticker. She didn't think it expired for another month. At her apartment complex, the only parking spot available was the one farthest from the door.

Really, is anything going to go my way today? she thought. After dropping her groceries, she knew the answer. Today has to be the worst day of my life. Even worse than when Toby was stolen by the….

Her eyes narrowed and her mouth tightened into a frown as a suspicious thought crept into her mind at the memory. The only day that even came close to today was on the day she met the Goblin King. Peaches, getting run over by metal vehicles, falling. What were the odds that it was just a coincidence? She wondered what the Goblin King had been up to since she defeated him. Was he causing these problems? She hadn't talked to her friends in a while. Perhaps it was time to call them again and have a chat.

Quickly gathering the rest of the fallen groceries, she shoved them all onto the table and slammed the apartment door shut. Striding to her room, she walked over to the antique full length mirror she had bought when she moved out of the house. It didn't have any fancy designs on it or anything. It just had a plain mahogany frame but its size made it easier for Ludo to squeeze in and out of it then her old vanity mirror.

Looking into the mirror she called to her friends. "Ludo. Sir Didymus. Hoggle" she called and waited. And waited. And waited but none of them appeared in her mirror as they normally would when she called.

Where are they? They always come when I call. Jareth wouldn't do anything to them, would he? What am I thinking, of course he would! He'd throw them in the oubliette just to keep them from helping me. This just proves that he's behind my bad day! she thought furiously even as a small voice in her mind asked why he would do something to them now when he hadn't even punished them for helping her.

Spinning on her heel, she was just about to go back into her kitchen and think of a way she could help them and get Jareth to stop messing with her when from behind her she heard a voice call her name hesitantly.

"Sarah."

Whirling around she saw Hoggle in her mirror looking at her uncertainly. He seemed to be trying to smile at her but finding it hard to make the right face.

"Hello Sarah" he said when she just stood there looking at him dumbfounded. Glancing nervously behind him he asked "You called?"

Shaking off her stupor, she walked back to the mirror and looked over her friend for some sign that something wasn't right. She didn't see anything wrong with him but she knew that something wasn't right. Hoggle wasn't acting his usual self.

"How have you been, Hoggle?" she asked.

"Oh good, good. Everything's good" was the quick reply.

Narrowing her eyes at him, she said "I know you're lying. You haven't improved since the last time I was in the labyrinth. You couldn't lie then and you can't lie now. Now spill it. What's wrong?"

"Nothing" he said in an obviously fake happy voice. "Why would anything be wrong?"

"Maybe because you're ruled by a spoiled tyrant who's set on ruining my life and since my friends are a large part of my life, that means ruining their lives as well. What's Jareth done now? Where's Ludo and Sir Didymus? Why's that bastard trying to ruin my life?" she demanded.

Hoggle sighed as he glanced down. "Shoulda know it weren't no use lying to you. Sir Didymus is at the Bog as usual and I don' know where Ludo is. Haven't seen him for a while."

"Aha!" she yelled. "That proves that Jareth's behind this"

"Behind what?" he asked in confusion.

"Behind the horrible day I've had. I've had peaches fall on me, I was nearly run over, and I fell. Sounds like another day I remember."

Giving a tired sigh, Hoggle said "Sarah, as much as it seems to point to Jareth, I seriously doubt he had anything to do with it."

"Why couldn't he have anything to do with it? Wouldn't that be exactly his style? Wait until I'm not expecting it and then strike!" she demanded.

"No, not really. Jareth isn't one for not revealing himself when he does something. He likes dramatics. Besides…" he trailed off.

"Besides what?"

Looking at his feet and shuffling them nervously, all he said was "Nothin."

"It's not nothing. You seem pretty sure it's not Jareth and you're acting awfully suspicious. There's obviously something you don't want to tell me."

"Just let it go, Sarah. Please?" he asked.

"No! Tell me right now! What's going on?" she demanded. "Why can't it be Jareth and what has you so nervous? Tell me, Hoggle!"

Feeling cornered he burst out, "Because no one's seen Jareth for a while!"

"No one….But he's the king. How can no one see him?"

"He went to his room one night and no one's seen him since" he said shrugging.

"So what's happening to the Labyrinth with him gone?"

"Eh…the Labyrinth. Well…." he stalled.

"Hoggle…" she said warningly.

"The Labyrinth…changed" he said searching for the right words.

"So? It was always changing."

"Not changing like this. You know how it used to move?" he asked.

"I remember" she said darkly.

"Well it don't no more. In fact, nothing in the Labyrinth really moves anymore."

"What do you mean nothing moves? How can nothing move? The Labyrinth is full of creatures. It's pretty much alive itself. "

"They still move…some. They still breathe and turn over from time to time."

"Hold on, hold on. You're not making any sense, Hoggle. Explain" said a confused Sarah.

"After Jareth disappeared everything was fine for a while. Oh the goblins were running amuck in the real world a bit more but other than that nothing changed. The goblins aren't very smart so they pretty much follow the same routine each day here in the Labyrinth. Then one day the Labyrinth stopped moving. That terrified the goblins. The Labyrinth always moved. After that, a strange fog appeared in the Labyrinth. It seemed to move about with a mind of it's own. Everything it touched just…stopped. They just went to sleep. No one could wake them up no matter what they did. They tried banging pots, throwing water on them, even dropping some in the Bog but even that didn't wake them up. The fog never grew any bigger but it didn't need to. It never went away either. It just moved from place to place. No one could stop it. Nearly the whole Labyrinth's asleep. I haven't seen Ludo but I'd say he's asleep somewhere like Didymus is at the Bog. That's why it took a while for me to come when you called. I had to find a way around that blasted fog" he finished, glancing up to see how Sarah was taking it.

By the time he was finished, Sarah was speechless. She'd known something was up, she just hadn't guessed what or that it involved the whole Labyrinth. With that explanation it did seem that Jareth wasn't behind her bad day.

"Could Jareth stop it if he was there?" she asked.

Hoggle considered the question. "Maybe. Probably. You have to understand, Sarah, nothing like this has ever happened in the Labyrinth. No one's ever really seen the extent of Jareth's powers. He could probably move the whole Labyrinth if he wanted."

"Then I guess there's only one choice"

"There is" Hoggle worriedly asked.

"Yes, there is" she said firmly. "We have to find Jareth and make him fix the Labyrinth."

"I was afraid you were going to say that. We don't even know where to begin looking for him."

"There has to be someone, somewhere in the Labyrinth who knows or has an idea of where he might be."

"But Sarah, everyone in the Labyrinth's asleep."

"You're not" she pointed out. "That means there's a good chance that there are other people there who haven't fallen asleep yet."

"You're forgetting something else too."

"Oh really? What?" she asked with a puzzled tilt of her head.

"Me! I'm a coward and what's going on in the Labyrinth scares me!"

"You wouldn't leave me to find my own way through the Labyrinth with that fog around, all by myself, would you, Hoggle?" she asked making a sad face at him.

"Oooh!" he groaned throwing his arms up in defeat. "Not the face! Alright, fine! I'll help you."

"Thanks, Hoggle. I knew you wouldn't let me down" Sarah said as she smiled down at him.

"Yeah, yeah. Just hurry and cross through before that fog shows up" he grumpily said as his hand reached out of the mirror towards Sarah.

Taking his hand, Sarah felt the rough leathery feeling of his skin. Looking down where there hands joined, she noticed that he still wore the bracelet she had given him. Smiling at the fond memory, she allowed Hoggle to pull her through the mirror and into a world she thought she would never visit again, especially willingly.