Hey- I'm back! Exams are over and summer is finally here. I'm so ready for it, everyone. Anyway, here's the last chapter… and I am doing a sequel as I will explain in more detail at the end.
Special thanks to PrettyLittleOwl and Nubian Queen for reviewing! I appreciate your comments- and as you requested, there will be a sequel! ^_^
Thank you to all who have reviewed or even just read… you all touch my heart with your comments and I am pleased if anything in my story touches one of your hearts in return. Good luck to everyone and have a wonderful summer!
Part 6: The Future to Come
"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." - Paul Boese
Mikal's words worked almost like a spell in that Linda discovered much more about herself after she returned home protectively clutching Sarah in her arms. Linda may have known nothing of magical powers but that was not to say that they knew not of her. She would never have dreamed that she had powers of any kind.
Were the powers only real in her imagination? Did she look for the magic too hard and so therefore see something that was not there? Who is to say what is real and not… but Linda felt in her heart that what she was experiencing was very real. It was hard to be as logical as the world would demand when she wore an interesting pendant around her neck and underneath her clothing whenever she could. After all, in the world of the sensible people, that necklace simply could not exist. So maybe the sensible people were wrong and did not know it. Linda only believed what she had seen and felt.
Linda had never known that she was born with special powers beyond those of her extraordinary acting abilities. As time went on, she realized that she was a little psychic. But as time passed, her new powers focused and grew in intensity. Linda liked to believe that Mikal was trying her help her out through the gift of his pendant, no matter if that was true or not.
Of course, her newfound powers had their good and bad effects, just as she had heard from Mikal. A world that she had never conceived revealed itself to her before her eyes- and that is a beautiful gift. Linda began to have more and more pictures in her head- strange pictures of another world- the world of the fae and the Labyrinth. Her strange visions were not limited to that world; she learned some truths about her own. One day, as she stared into her daughter's eyes, Linda knew in that moment that her life would be very short, although she did not know that she had breast cancer until a month before her death. Sadly, Linda had to accept the fact that she would not be there for her daughter when Sarah would need her the most. Thankfully, with the bad news came the shining rays of hope. Linda did know deep in her deepest heart of hearts that Sarah would be able to finish her work.
Linda decided to leave her knowledge-of her visions, of her interpretations and of the prophecy itself- behind in a book. She had it bound in red leather and titled the Labyrinth. In the book, one hidden flap was created to her specifications for the necklace and a note to her daughter… but with luck Sarah would not find either until after her journey and triumph. Until the day she died, she kept her word and told the story to Sarah in order to prepare her.
The night before Linda's death:
Linda tucks six year old Sarah in to bed at a slightly later hour than usual. She and Tom had allowed the young girl to stay up and finish watching a movie. Still, the hour is late and Sarah can barely keep her eyes open as she places her head on the pillow. Smiling in a motherly way, Linda kneels beside her child's bed and kisses her rosy cheek.
"Goodnight, my sweet Sarah. Sleep well." Linda notices that the girl is already mostly asleep. Then, she knows in her heart that she will never speak to her daughter again. So, Linda reiterates a couple of important things in hopes that Sarah will remember.
"Sarah, you cannot understand what I am talking about, just I pray that you will remember. You have quite a journey ahead of you and I cannot be there with you as I have been before. Remember the book- the Labyrinth? It's important, so please don't forget that. Study it and it will help you as I wish I could. I tried to think of a better way to equip you, because I know that you will face the danger- it is written in your subconscious. I hope that you, my Sarah, will win; you have a greater chance the more you know. This will sound out of place to you, but I hope that you will forgive me, my daughter for my weakness in allowing you to be taken from me. I gave in and I someday I will send you off against an amazing foe- a fae who even now begins to fall in love with you, although you will not remember his face or his voice. At that time, please have confidence in yourself and when you win, please finish my duties and add your story to the one written in the book and have it published, so that the legend may go on. You have your own power- no one can control you or have power over you as long as you know that. You are the babe with the power of voodoo, although in my opinion it looks as if you had the power of love and stubbornness. Only time, that which is running out for me, will tell, but I will still be there by your side to protect you in whatever form I can take. Remember this: I love you with all my heart, so much more than you'll ever know. I pray that your love for me will allow you to forgive me for what I have done. I have hope because of the nature of love itself. After all, love can be the most powerful magic of all. I wish you my love to sustain you and my love to get you through and finally love to fulfill all your dreams… Goodbye, dear one… never forget and never stop loving, hoping and dreaming."
Linda smiles sadly and runs her fingers through her daughter's thick, long hair. Going to the drawer in Sarah's dresser, Linda pulls out the red book and fondles it. After placing it on the counter, she unhooks the pendant from the cord around her neck and places it in its rightful place with the note she wrote when she knew that she would not live a long life- a note of explanation and apology to her beloved daughter. After all, when Sarah got back from the Labyrinth, she would want some answers, even the pathetic ones that Linda could offer. Still, only time would tell what love would do in the hearts of Sarah, the babe with the power of voodoo, and Jareth, the Goblin King.
The End
That's it, everyone- sorry this last chapter wasn't too long, but since I'm going to wrap up things even further in the sequel, I thought I could get away with it. So, as I just said, I did decide to write a sequel to this- an interpretation of what would happen after Labyrinth considering what happened in this story. Sadly, I don't have a name to give you for it, but please be on the lookout and/or tell me and I'll e-mail you when I start getting it up, k? Thanks again everyone and please review or e-mail or whatever!