Disclaimer:
Standard disclaimers apply.
The Labyrinth is the property of Jim Henson and its scriptwriters, including but not limited to Dennis Lee, Terry Jones, Elaine May, and A.H.C. Smith. Characters and concept are used without permission and not for product.
Chapter 4—
She awoke with her hands lightly touching her lips. She smiled and contemplated lying back down and going back to sleep. The dream was so beautiful she had almost been overwhelmed, but waking up to her chilly bedroom with the wooden floors and white walls made her realize how boring reality was. She huffed before taking a shower and putting on a slim red sweater and tan khakis. She brushed her hair and let it fall loosely down her back.
When she got into her work, Verna seemed extremely anxious. She was pacing and kept looking over at Sarah. Sarah ignored her strange tactics and called the executive at the ad agency, who spelled something wrong on the new advertisement. The magazine that said Romeo and Juliet seemed to glare up at her, and her hands became almost clammy when she wanted to swipe it away. She looked up to see a man with slacks and a white collared shirt, the first button undone. In his arm he carried a black suit-jacket and his loafers were tan. His jet-black hair was messy and his dark eyes weary as he stepped in. He looked in his mid-30's and he watched Sarah with an unmoving interest. She wasn't fazed.
"Hello, how can I help you?" She asked politely.
"Would Verna Mead be here?" He asked in a confident voice.
"Take a seat and I'll send her out, what's your name?"
"Frank Freemont." He said, and turned to sit. This made Sarah watch him with more curiosity, but decided it wasn't her business. She called to Verna's office and before she could even hang up, Verna was in the small lobby.
"Hello, Frank. Please come in." She said, flashing a brilliant smile. "Sarah, you can go home…I'll be closing early today." Sarah shrugged before turning off the Mac in front of her and collecting her belongings. As they left the room, she could feel the man's gaze on her in an almost uncomfortable manner. She put the close sign up and left. She was left with her whole afternoon, what would she do?
She saw a small diner and it reminded her of one she had been to while traveling to California with her mother. She ordered a cup of coffee and a meal of eggs and bacon. While eating she read the magazine in front of her, and her eye kept being dragged to the Romeo and Juliet auditions advertisement. She sighed. Maybe she should just try it? She knew how excited Toby would be if he heard that. Then she thought of her little brother, how was he doing?
When Toby told his stepmother about his visitor the day before, she only sighed in concern. He was so lonely he made up an imaginary friend. She felt mostly to blame, and even though she tried to make him friends, it never worked. "Okay Toby, that's nice." She had said, giving her husband a look of, uh-oh. Toby left the kitchen and ran outside to play.
Outside the sun barely shone through all the trees. Toby looked up at all the trees and wondered what it would be like to climb the highest branch of that tree. He found the perfect climbing tree and jumped up to the lowest branch. Slowly and carefully climbed up to a dangerous height, and looking down, fear seized him. He became immobile, frantically trying to look for a branch to lower himself down on, but he saw none. He was way too high to jump down, and his heart started racing.
Finally he decided to just sit on the branch and calm down. He looked over and saw a white owl, but didn't think twice about it. His mind was on getting down. "Relax Toby," He said aloud. Soon his parents would wonder where he was.
"What would Captain Tobias do in a situation like this?" The accented voice said. Toby turned and saw sitting on a branch the same man from before.
"How did you get up here?!" Toby asked amazed.
"Almost the same way as you." The man said.
"What's your name?" Toby asked.
"Call me Jareth." The man said, such a dignified tone that Toby was tempted to call him sir.
"Why are you here?" Toby asked. Jareth seemed to consider the question for a moment.
"You're crew is worried, Captain," The man said with a rueful smile. "You better tell them about the storm coming their way so they are prepared."
"What storm?" Toby asked, looking at him like he was crazy. Like magic, Toby looked around and saw that he was no longer on a tree, but a large, tall mast. He looked down to his crew; they were all dirty and wore the stereotypical pirate attire. Toby was wearing a large, red jacket and trousers. "Whoa, where am I?" Toby asked, a tad afraid.
"Captain, is it gonna be safe to head due East?" One of the man stepped forward asking. Toby looked at the man incredulously. "Where am I!?" He yelled. Jareth, who was sitting next to him calmly, looked down at him.
"Why, you're on your ship." He said, as if they had been there forever. The crew, not aware of Jareth's presence, whispered amongst themselves. Had their Captain gone batty?
"You okay, Captain?" A slow voice asked.
"This is impossible. This isn't real. There are no such things as pirates!" And just like that, he was sitting back on the tree. Jareth was shaking his head in disapproval.
"Toby…don't you know. Not believing is the worst ill you can cause magic. I can't force you to believe…" He frowned.
"That was cool…" Toby said, amazed at the events. "It was like a dream, but it was real!"
"Dreams are real." Jareth said firmly.
"You have to be crazy. There is no such thing as magic." The little boy stubbornly said.
"What a gray world you must live in," Jareth said, a knowing smile on his face.
"Will you help me down?" Toby asked, examining Jareth's tight breeches and collared loose ruffled green shirt. Jareth nodded, and a ladder appeared. Toby looked down at in disbelief. "Thanks!" He said happily to the man on the branch, but he was gone. He shrugged and ran home. He remembered the taste of the ocean salt and the wind in his hair. He remembered his loyal crew and the way the ocean was preparing for a storm. I must be crazy, he thought.
Sarah didn't know what had come over her, but here she was in the huge theater. All the seats had red cushions and were folded up. There were 3 balcony and too many rows to count. Impressed by the size of the theater, she slowly walked up to the front row. A table with 4 people sat and many people scattered throughout the seats. Practicing lines. She clutched her audition papers tightly and sat, looking over the small and worn script. The words had all been familiar; she was Juliet only 3 years ago. But that was for high school, this was much more complex. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest and a cold sweat wetted her hands.
A tall, wiry woman went to the theater and introduced herself as the Director of the play. Her red hair was frizzy and in an unkempt bun. She introduced the star of the show, Romeo, who had received many awards for his performances and the woman watched him with such admiration. Mathew Deanly was his name, and he had light brown short hair and blue eyes. He was very handsome and she could feel the hot gazes of women at him. They started calling up names to audition. While women and men came up to perform small bits of the play, parts they chose, Sarah looked through the scene she wanted to do. When they called her name, her blood seemed to freeze. She stood and while walking to the stage she felt a surge of confidence. She could do this.
"What scene will you be performing, Sarah?" The director asked, and she could feel the heavy gaze of the male viewers.
"The scene at Capulet's garden," She answered. Mathew Deanly appeared on stage to be Romeo, and as she gripped her script, she looked up at him. Time seemed to freeze.
"Close your eyes, Sarah." She looked to see where the voice came from, but the stage was empty. It was his voice, the man of her dreams. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, and the image of a garden came to her mind. Bright purple zinnias and yellow daffodils surrounded by red and white roses. All different colors were surrounding her, and the air was sweet. It was so enchanting, she could feel the damp air and hear the crickets chirp. She lightly reached out and touched a flower, so beautiful. When she opened her eyes, everyone was still looking at her, waiting patiently.
"Wilt thou be gone?" She heard her voice say, but was it hers? It was so confident, so sure. Mathew looked at her in disbelief, but she didn't see Mathew, or his watchful glare. She was in the garden, facing the stranger from her dreams. "It is not yet near day," She assured him, "it was the nightingale, and not the lark that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear." She took a breath and watched him in hope. Please don't let me wake up. The man looked at her with an eyebrow raised, and a slight smile. She moved in closer to him, the garden seeming to become more and more beautiful. "Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate-tree, believe me, love, it was the nightingale." Her hand went out to touch his. He moved in close breathing in her scent. She watched his lips.
The only thing the audience saw was a powerful performance, and listened intently as Mathew read his lines. Sarah, though it looked like she was giving him her full attention, was staring deeply into the eyes of the man from her dreams. He just hugged tightly around her body and lifted her chin up to him, all she could smell was leather and feel his cool breath.
"Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops, I must be gone and live, or stay and die." Jareth whispered; a smile on his face. She would throw herself at him, tell him it was not day; she could stay longer.
Suddenly the sound of the Directors voice broke her trance and she saw the man no longer, instead standing quite close to her was Mathew, a lustful glare in his eyes.
"That's our Juliet!" She called, and the whole room clapped. Sarah smiled politely and felt a swell of her heart, but at the same time wanted to go back to that garden. She felt emptiness glaring at the empty stage. Who was this man? She was told she would be called and in a daze left the theater. Did that just happen? How did she see him? The whole situation was so strange she wondered if the whole day had been a dream.
In space, it can't really be called a place because there are no boundaries, time is not measured. One place of this area is called the Labyrinth, made up entirely by Sarah's imagination, yet it was created. It became something real. That's the power of imagination, and Sarah's was the strongest Jareth had ever come across. She had created a world, a real world. There was something else about Sarah that not only enticed and interested Jareth, but also questioned all his theories on mankind. What made her want to destroy her alternate universe and live the dull life of an average human? She had the chance to get anything she ever wanted for the price of losing her family and regular life, living with him among the stars, like Reanard and Silon. That's where Toby came in.
He knew it the second he started watching the way Sarah and Toby played and talked, the reason he and his offers were rejected were because of Toby. Sarah had a strong bond with her little brother, so strong she would give up all her dreams for him. This was unusual for a human, and it made him wonder, would she…no…could she ever change her mind? The truth was, the Labyrinth was a bit of a dull place after she left. Of course, Jareth was a goblin king, and he had a job- taking children from people who wished them away. Normally he would take them in the midst of the night, without a word. It was differernt with Sarah. He fell in love with her the moment he heard her reciting lines, so much so he placed Lancelot in Toby's room so she would get so upset she would wish the boy away. He wanted to get in her mind. He never even suspected the thought that he would become infatuated with the young beauty. He was an immortal king who stole unwanted babies; he couldn't afford to be cavorting with a human.
She was no human. She couldn't have been. How can somebody like her create an entire world with a huge population so vividly that not only do the creatures in the Labyrinth still live today, but Jareth couldn't tear himself away from the land? He had the power to go anywhere, do anything, but he chose to stay in Sarah's world. It taught him more about her interests, beliefs and way of thinking. The truth of the matter was, she was alone. She was so lonely she created this new world for herself, and Jareth, who had no companionship besides the little goblins that weren't exactly the type for conversation, was lonely too. You couldn't tell him that, he would reject the idea with a laugh and wave you away, but it was truth. The man who swore to never have a home created one in the Labyrinth, and it was fit for him and Sarah…of course she didn't know this.
This home, I should call it a castle, is not the one you famously have seen in the middle of the Labyrinth. No…think of that more as Jareth's office, where he goes to do work and fulfils his daily duties, if he has any. No, this castle is one from Sarah's imagination. It is perfect in every way, and it could take days to explain its intricate design and opulent fashion, so I will just say to imagine a castle from every fairytale and add even more to its beauty. Yes, anyone who sees the castle will stand and gape before entering. No other place could even try to match it.
So what was Jareth's plan? Sarah didn't even realize that it was him, the Goblin King, and it was his magic that helped that. Why did he keep visiting her dreams and trying to encourage Toby to get his imagination back? The master plan was in effect, and Jareth just had to be patient. As he draped himself lazily over his throne, he stared impatiently at the grandfather clock in the corner. It was almost night, and that meant he would see Sarah again. He knew sooner or later he would have to break the nights with her off, but he didn't even want to think of that now. He smiled with amusement when he heard Sarah went home to take a nap, she wanted to see him again. Don't worry Sarah, I want to see you just as much as you want to see me, he thought. Then a restrained fear crept into his thoughts. Will you still want me when you realize who I truly am, what I truly do? He sighed and raised his hand to under his chin. In his other gloved hand he dangled his riding crop from the golden crest on top. He imagined that kiss, and though the memory was warm and good, he knew he could never do it again. If he made stupid mistakes like that, she would realize who he actually was. His hand went up involuntarily to the pendent on his chest.
"Whoa, where are we?" Sarah asked, smiling radiantly at their surroundings. Her hair was messily tied back and curly tendrils fell loosely beside her glowing face. She was wearing a white and loose fitting dress, so comfortable she could sleep in it. They were in a huge gazebo. It was dark and breezy outside, and Sarah inhaled as the wind blew her hair from her face. As in all these dreams, she felt wonderful. The gazebo had small lights that brightly lit the space, a beautiful sight.
The stranger came in from behind her and grabbed a lock of her hair. He brought it up to his lips. She turned excitedly to him, and her breath was nearly taken away. He was wearing tight tan breeches and the same black boots with the golden buckles, but this time over his white ruffled shirt was covered by a breath-taking blue tailed-coat that brought out the blue in his eyes.
"A dance?" He petitioned, a half smile on his face. She looked up at him with a sudden anxiety.
"I…I can't dance!" She laughed. Suddenly, as if by magic, a soft song came from the air. It was slow and smooth, and he grabbed her hand and rested his other hand on her side. The heat from his hand almost made her blush. Feverishly she moved her hand to his shoulder, and his mischievous smile widened. It reminded him so much of their first dance, how nervous she was, he almost reminded her but then realized how dumb that would be. Their eyes locked and didn't falter as they swept around the dance floor as smoothly as professionals.
"This is strange…" She said, looking around. She knew she was in the dream and it didn't faze her, but something so familiar about this made her freeze.
"Yes, Sarah, you're dreaming." Jareth said in a bored tone, as if it had already been established.
"This song…" She whispered, and Jareth's heart stopped cold. "Us…dancing…to this song. I wore something different and so did you. There were people…" She bit her lip, irritated she couldn't retrieve the hidden memory. "I've dreamt this before?" She asked in a curious tone.
"Possibly something similar…" Jareth said, an edge to his voice. If she remembered him, the game would be over. He pulled him into her, no matter how foolish; he couldn't let her remember the memory. At least not yet. Her train of thought was lost as his lips closed over hers and heat flooded her body. The warmness of his tongue made her feel weak in his arms, so weak she could have fainted. Without a word, he grabbed her again and they started dancing again. The once starry night was now a colorful and starry sky, an impossible but possible change caused due to the power of her imagination. She created the places and the scenes and Jareth only went along for the ride. He stopped and looked around and smiled. Sarah looked frightened, it was like they were stuck in space, colors misted and dissolved into each other. There was no floor or sky, just an enchanting pallet of colors and stars. She hugged him tightly and warmed against his chest.
"I don't want to wake up…" She whispered, staring into the colorful abyss. Jareth looked down at her, surprised at her words. He wanted her to say them and mean it, just like she did now, but it was so sudden. He expected a while before such progress. However, he knew she was under the influence of enchantment and she wouldn't really want it when she found out she would lose her life.
"You have to wake up sometime, dear." He whispered into her hair.
"Please…just tell me who you are." She asked, nuzzling her face to his chest. He looked down at her and sighed.
"Only if you promise me one thing…"
"Anything…" She said, looking up at him. He froze as her green eyes dug into him. He would do anything for her.
"Stay in the production of Romeo and Juliet… you are meant to be a star." He meant this in more than one way.
"Okay," She agreed, staring up at him adoringly. He would tell her his name and the romantic nights he looked forward to would be over. He reached down and gave her one last kiss, a deep one, so deep she almost lost footing. Her arms went up and around his neck and she joined in the kiss, it became the kind of kiss that led to other things. He realized this right away and as he tried to pull away she only clung to him tightly, desperately not wanting the kiss to end. She finally moved her head back to stare with lust into his eyes, but kept her hands behind his neck. His arms had hooked around her back so there was no space between the bodies. She gradually slowed down her breathing and looked back down to his lips. She wanted to begin the kiss again, but he couldn't let her. He pulled away.
"Think of the Labyrinth." He said quietly into her lips.
