Written by: Israfel
It never starts out like you plan it. When you consciously wish the Goblin King to take your sibling away because they have annoyed you incessantly or they are insulting and hitting you, he never takes them away. Ah, no, that is not his way. Instead he waits for you to not really mean it, and then spirits your sibling away so that you may go through his strenuous tortures to search for them. So far there has been only one documented success in the art of solving the Labyrinth, by a teenage girl named Sarah Williams. However, there have been many failures in the process of this.
I'm sure you are wondering now why I am writing this, and what it has to do with the topic of this document. You could skip past these few paragraphs and go straight on to the story if you wish, it doesn't really matter either way if you read them or not.
Of course, since I had three reports due for school this same week (two of which were speeches, which the teachers made me do on purpose since they know I hate getting up in front of people) and I am a major procrastinator, it should be obvious that I just started them now. And guess what? The internet wasn't working, so here I was with precisely two projects due the next day and no material on hand.
In order to calm my already wrecked nerves I decide to plop down in front of the TV and watch some anime. After an hour of Gundam Wing and about five minutes of DBZ, my brother comes in to the room. Now for those who don't know my brother the description of him is evil. Pure evil. Satan's spawn, although that would be make me Satan's spawn also since we share the same blood...hmm, scratch that. Anyway, he insulted the show and myself, so after ten minutes of verbal fighting I went to my room to write a story while calling out for the Goblin King to take my blasted brother far away. No such luck. And with my luck continuing as such, of course I couldn't think of any good ideas for fanfiction.
I growled at my computer. Unlike those lucky bastards I read about all the time, I unfortunately don't have the internet in my room so I couldn't even check to see if it was still working and/or read some stories at fanfiction.net. So imagine my surprise when I start spinning around in my chair and see a flash of blonde hair in the mirror behind me. I stop and go up to the reflective surface, look cautiously into it, and see...my own face. Just as I start to feel some relief come to me, our resident Goblin King's face pops up in my mirror.
I bravely stood my ground and...ah, who am I kidding? I gaped at him and let out the occasional choked off noise as I stared at this fictional character who i thought did not exist. Closing my eyes tightly, I trembled while telling myself it was only my overactive imagination making this image appear. Only my overactive imagination. I was plenty scared by then, even though I have had some previous experience with astral projections or ghosts or whatever they were that I had encountered in the hours between my bedtime and dawn. After I had gathered up enough courage I finally opened my eyes, seeing nothing but my own reflection in front of me. Not content with with the image of him gone, for I could still feel the presence of someone in this room besides me, I bolted out of there to watch The Simpsons in the safety of the family room.
After several hours in the safety of the family room, where anyone could enter, I decided to finally contemplate what had happened in my room. I wasn't afraid, mind you, I was just being cautious. Obviously what I had seen wasn't Jareth; I was far too cynical to believe in that. So my mind went to the other possibilities that my brain would allow. It could be that I was suffering the postponed effects of stress from the end-of-year heap of work they pile on students to see how long it takes before they crack under the pressure. Another choice I could say was my current fixation on Labyrinth was so unhealthy that I was starting to visual Jareth in my room. Or it could have possibly been my subconscious saying that I had a thing for David Bowie, and while I do think he can be a hottie half the time, he's not my type, so that was out of the equation.
I got up off the carpet, deciding to stop playing the coward and just go back in there if I wasn't afraid. Besides, it was only my overactive mind playing tricks on me. Nonetheless, once I opened and closed the door to my room I took two broad steps and yanked the chain to the fan. Darkness was banished to the corners as light flooded all over. I took the opportunity of the small amount of peace to sit on the cushioned chair at my computer and play idly with pictures by opening and closing them as fast as I could until Star Trek would start.
I tossed a look over to my bed, mainly the stuffed animals on it. My rag doll, my bunny rabbit, my gorilla, my owl...wait a minute. Back up there. Owl? I had no owl as a stuffed animal. The longer I stared at it, the more real it seemed. Glancing at the door, I considered asking my mother if she had bought it for me, but decided against it. However, when I looked back at my bed, the stuffed animal was no longer there. Standing in front of my bed was a tall man with an 80's rock star light blonde hair, mismatched eyes, black armor, and leggings. His arms were crossed in an arrogant manner, and an evil looking smirk on his face.
Jareth.
The Goblin King.
Whatever name you call him by, he was in my house. I didn't even believe in him, and he was in my house. I closed my eyes, trying the trick from earlier to make him disappear, but when I opened my eyes he was still there. I took a sharp breath in, and stood my ground.
Strangely enough, my first thought was Why is David Bowie in my house? Then the panic set in. "Oh God, oh God, oh God..." I muttered.
After looking me over in that way of his, that 'is she worthy' way, he finally addressed me. "I'm glad you think of me so highly, but we both know I'm not God." Oh, how cruel he was! He couldn't have known of my lack of faith in any particular deity, but he had unconsciously managed to strike a hidden blow against me.
"Who...what do you want? Don't kill me, I don't want to die!" I know it was pathetic, but it was all I could think of to say at the moment. A strange man was in my house, standing in the middle of my room in LEGGINGS for crying out loud, and I was supposed to act calm?!
"I believe," he drawled lazily, moving across the room to stand near me, "that you know who I am, dear girl." He moved with a type of feline grace, with his very presence being the opposite of my little world. Especially in my bedroom he cut an impressive figure, contrasting greatly to the mess on the desks and dressers. When I didn't answer him, a frown grew on his face. "I am the Goblin King."
I raised my eyebrows skeptically, the most impertinent gesture I could manage at the time. If I had been able to, I would have only raised a single eyebrow to make the effect seem much more dramatic. Unfortunately my muscles don't work that way, so I was stuck with the double eyebrow raise. "The Goblin King? I've...heard of you."
He knew I didn't believe him, but that didn't matter. I was afraid, so he had some power over me. With a flick of his wrist, a crystal ball appeared on the tips of his fingers. "I've brought you a gift," he said in a half teasing tone, getting up from his-no, my- chair and standing next to me.
"Wh-What is it?" I replied, repeating the fateful words of Sarah so many years ago.
"A crystal." He rolled is from the face to the palm of his hand with the mere wave of his hand while he spoke to me, his eyes never leaving mine. "Nothing more. But if you turn it this way, it will show you your dreams."
Oh, dirty pool! By now I was starting to believe that this man was the Goblin King, that he could really offer me the dreams that I seeked at every turn. It wasn't fair! "You want something," I stated warily, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"You are to write my life story. I am offering you your dreams for this request from the King of the Goblins, I am being very generous on my part."
"And if I refuse?" I was a cheeky little bugger for a scared girl...
"It is quite possible that I will kill you."
"Ah. Well, when you put it that way, why the hell not? An audience with the Goblin King is a rare experience, eh heh... Please, your majesty, any time you are ready."
I had never been so scared in my life. But before we continue on, dear reader, I must warn you that this is not some fanfic that I have made up. No, this is the truth. It is history. If you cannot handle the truth, then please quit reading this.
My hands hovered above the keyboard, and typed to the rhythm of his
words. This was the most important thing I had ever done...my interview
with the Goblin King...