King of Dreams, Owner of None
by Bunniko
AN: I'm back! Well, not back in the States lol. But back for another chapter with oblique references to me and my friends. So again, there's some stuff I own. I own: Trixie/Jeannie, Melinda, Deborah, and other things as they appear. I do not own: Texas (bummer), England (yay!), the Labyrinth (sniffle), Jareth, Sarah, etc. To my real life friends: See if you can find yourself. Did I write you in? lol
Please Note: This chapter is set around the movie, where as the last was set 5 years in the future, then 5 years in the past! Confusing? Ganbare! (English: Try Hard/ Good Luck!)
Note 2: Updated, corrected, slightly edited 8-12-02
YOI, STAATO! (Or in English, 'Good, Start!')
Chapter Two -- New Lives, New Dreams?
Jareth thought the days of play-acting in the park were over. He refrained from returning to the park the next day, instead tormenting his goblins with his bad attitude. Unfortunately, to his way of thinking, every two minutes or so, they suddenly re-discovered their king's displeasure and set about concocting plans to cheer him up. Those plans usually were forgotten with in a minute, as they were not interesting enough to the short- attention span goblins or when a disagreement broke out, leaving a horde of yelling, cheering, mess-making goblins either watching the fight or joining in.
Jareth watched it all with bored, jaded eyes. When would something new happen? He was fatigued with this life. The boring, mind-numbing, soul- stealing sameness was as torturous to him as the oubliette to his challengers. In fact, Jareth sometimes fancied that the above ground had conspired to make his realm an oubliette. Alone, forgotten, surrounded by jackanapes and filth. Why, even his servants had left when Jareth had fallen so deep into this mire of depression, self-pity and disillusionment. How desperate he was for change, for a fresh breath of air. He could only hope that one of the girls would pick up his gift. At least that would invigorate him.
He managed a wan smile when he thought of the books. They would bring about the revelation of him to those two girls. But then a frown crossed his lips. But only if they read it! He plucked up a crystal to check on the two girls, even though it had only been a day. Trix slept on the plane, rather uncomfortably, and quite tear-stained. Sarah, too, was asleep, her face tear-stained as well, but curled comfortably on her bed. Annoyed, he tossed the crystal into the midst of the goblins, not bothering to watch as it transformed into a snake and sent several of the goblins shrieking about in both real and pretended fear.
Still, he waited for the thrum of magic in his veins that would tell him his book had been opened. The books were enchanted, of course. Only to his intended recipients would the book show words. If Sarah's father, for example, picked up the book, it would depict interestingly meaningless pictures that would inspire the viewer to put the book down and forget about it. But if Sarah or Trixie opened the book, then the world of the Labyrinth would be revealed. If the reader had no need that the Labyrinth could fulfill, then the book would be full of its history, information and stories that would set the girls to dreaming about it. Jareth had to admit it set him forth in quite a favorable light. But, if the girls had a need the Labyrinth could fulfill, it would show them what their dreams wished to see.
Jareth was wrong about the end of the play-acting. The park was still Sarah's spot. Though for a good while she sat and moped by the small pond, she was only a child. With a child's elastic nature and the encouragement of her mother, she got involved in the drama club at her school. As she and Trix exchanged a constant stream of letters, she became lost even more in her dream world. Many nights, she returned late after dinner, having spent many blissful hours in the park, playing new parts, speaking to Merlin, and writing heartfelt letters to Trixie that she would post on her way home so that no one might snoop in her private communications. Her parents even learned to leave the mail in the box, so that no one might touch her private letters. They viewed it as a charming quirk. And they had more serious matters on their hands than their daughter's quirky habits about her mail or the fact that she always returned home at 7 or 8 pm.
Sarah's refuge also concealed many things from her. Her parents, in actuality, were grateful for their daughter's solitary ways. Their fights would have been impossible to hide from her if she always came home right after school. Dinnertime was the worst. After dinner, Sarah's father always went into his den and worked on whatever he had brought home from the office. Her mother would get on the phone to her agent, her fellow actors, or someone she felt `understood.` Sarah would wander in, be welcomed home with love and affection by competing parents, make herself a sandwich and then wander upstairs.
Sarah and Trixie both grew up, moving through an education system that was dull and dreary, making new friends, experiencing new feelings and a sudden nervous, fluttery feeling with the approach of the dreaded high school. As they turned 13, both of them suddenly underwent the same incisive, security- shattering tragedy. Both families broke apart. Sarah's mother left for her career and the smile of her latest co-star. Trix's father left for another country and another woman. The mutual pain and shock bonded the girls tighter as they began to baby-sit frantically to earn money for long- distance calls during which they would weep, wail and complain on each other's distant shoulder.
Not long after, a stepmother entered each girl's life. But for Trixie, she was just a name in another country. For Sarah, she was a real, live, daily pain in her neck. The woman would not stay out of Sarah's life! She vented to Trixie in her long letters and stolen phone calls when 'that woman' was not in the house. Even more horrible, her evil stepmother became pregnant. Sarah was repulsed and grew even more distant from her family. She lived for her solitude and her dreams and the only person she thought understood her. The worst outrage, the ultimate cause of Sarah's disdain for her father's wife, came when the woman was about 6 months pregnant.
by Bunniko
AN: I'm back! Well, not back in the States lol. But back for another chapter with oblique references to me and my friends. So again, there's some stuff I own. I own: Trixie/Jeannie, Melinda, Deborah, and other things as they appear. I do not own: Texas (bummer), England (yay!), the Labyrinth (sniffle), Jareth, Sarah, etc. To my real life friends: See if you can find yourself. Did I write you in? lol
Please Note: This chapter is set around the movie, where as the last was set 5 years in the future, then 5 years in the past! Confusing? Ganbare! (English: Try Hard/ Good Luck!)
Note 2: Updated, corrected, slightly edited 8-12-02
YOI, STAATO! (Or in English, 'Good, Start!')
Chapter Two -- New Lives, New Dreams?
Jareth thought the days of play-acting in the park were over. He refrained from returning to the park the next day, instead tormenting his goblins with his bad attitude. Unfortunately, to his way of thinking, every two minutes or so, they suddenly re-discovered their king's displeasure and set about concocting plans to cheer him up. Those plans usually were forgotten with in a minute, as they were not interesting enough to the short- attention span goblins or when a disagreement broke out, leaving a horde of yelling, cheering, mess-making goblins either watching the fight or joining in.
Jareth watched it all with bored, jaded eyes. When would something new happen? He was fatigued with this life. The boring, mind-numbing, soul- stealing sameness was as torturous to him as the oubliette to his challengers. In fact, Jareth sometimes fancied that the above ground had conspired to make his realm an oubliette. Alone, forgotten, surrounded by jackanapes and filth. Why, even his servants had left when Jareth had fallen so deep into this mire of depression, self-pity and disillusionment. How desperate he was for change, for a fresh breath of air. He could only hope that one of the girls would pick up his gift. At least that would invigorate him.
He managed a wan smile when he thought of the books. They would bring about the revelation of him to those two girls. But then a frown crossed his lips. But only if they read it! He plucked up a crystal to check on the two girls, even though it had only been a day. Trix slept on the plane, rather uncomfortably, and quite tear-stained. Sarah, too, was asleep, her face tear-stained as well, but curled comfortably on her bed. Annoyed, he tossed the crystal into the midst of the goblins, not bothering to watch as it transformed into a snake and sent several of the goblins shrieking about in both real and pretended fear.
Still, he waited for the thrum of magic in his veins that would tell him his book had been opened. The books were enchanted, of course. Only to his intended recipients would the book show words. If Sarah's father, for example, picked up the book, it would depict interestingly meaningless pictures that would inspire the viewer to put the book down and forget about it. But if Sarah or Trixie opened the book, then the world of the Labyrinth would be revealed. If the reader had no need that the Labyrinth could fulfill, then the book would be full of its history, information and stories that would set the girls to dreaming about it. Jareth had to admit it set him forth in quite a favorable light. But, if the girls had a need the Labyrinth could fulfill, it would show them what their dreams wished to see.
Jareth was wrong about the end of the play-acting. The park was still Sarah's spot. Though for a good while she sat and moped by the small pond, she was only a child. With a child's elastic nature and the encouragement of her mother, she got involved in the drama club at her school. As she and Trix exchanged a constant stream of letters, she became lost even more in her dream world. Many nights, she returned late after dinner, having spent many blissful hours in the park, playing new parts, speaking to Merlin, and writing heartfelt letters to Trixie that she would post on her way home so that no one might snoop in her private communications. Her parents even learned to leave the mail in the box, so that no one might touch her private letters. They viewed it as a charming quirk. And they had more serious matters on their hands than their daughter's quirky habits about her mail or the fact that she always returned home at 7 or 8 pm.
Sarah's refuge also concealed many things from her. Her parents, in actuality, were grateful for their daughter's solitary ways. Their fights would have been impossible to hide from her if she always came home right after school. Dinnertime was the worst. After dinner, Sarah's father always went into his den and worked on whatever he had brought home from the office. Her mother would get on the phone to her agent, her fellow actors, or someone she felt `understood.` Sarah would wander in, be welcomed home with love and affection by competing parents, make herself a sandwich and then wander upstairs.
Sarah and Trixie both grew up, moving through an education system that was dull and dreary, making new friends, experiencing new feelings and a sudden nervous, fluttery feeling with the approach of the dreaded high school. As they turned 13, both of them suddenly underwent the same incisive, security- shattering tragedy. Both families broke apart. Sarah's mother left for her career and the smile of her latest co-star. Trix's father left for another country and another woman. The mutual pain and shock bonded the girls tighter as they began to baby-sit frantically to earn money for long- distance calls during which they would weep, wail and complain on each other's distant shoulder.
Not long after, a stepmother entered each girl's life. But for Trixie, she was just a name in another country. For Sarah, she was a real, live, daily pain in her neck. The woman would not stay out of Sarah's life! She vented to Trixie in her long letters and stolen phone calls when 'that woman' was not in the house. Even more horrible, her evil stepmother became pregnant. Sarah was repulsed and grew even more distant from her family. She lived for her solitude and her dreams and the only person she thought understood her. The worst outrage, the ultimate cause of Sarah's disdain for her father's wife, came when the woman was about 6 months pregnant.