Chapter - 6
Jareth watched his prisoner with curiosity as she gingerly prodded her food. He
couldn't work her out. She hadn't batted an eyelid at his attempts to scare and impress
her and did not seem at all distressed with her current situation. Was she planning
something was she really that chilled out. What also bothered him was that she talked
to him as if he was an old friend. He wasn't sure if he liked this or not as it had never
happened to him before, not even within his own family. He later decided that it
wasn't a bad thing just unusual.
"What is this anyway?" asked Hilarity pointing a skeletal finger at her meat.
"Er...that's roast beef." he replied.
"It's nice. We don't get much meat on our planet. All the animals are either hopelessly
small and fiddly or so full of Vitamin D that your hair falls out. Then, you've got the
imported stuff but it has to be pumped full of chemicals to survive the space travel so
it doesn't taste very nice."
"What's it like where you come from?"
"It's very purple....." Hilarity began "The water is infested with a pigmented bacteria.
It's mostly harmless but once you heat it to seventy degrees it becomes a powerful
hallucinogenic drug. The water's very pretty at night because it glows, you should see
the storms we get, they're amazing. The rest of it is mostly forest with the odd
mountain range and lots of small cities here and there."
"Sounds wonderful. No wonder you're not impressed with this place."
"I am impressed with it, the Labyrinth's a great achievement." she smiled "However, I
keep getting the impression that you're a very paranoid person who has trouble
opening up to people."
"You got all that from a maze!"
"Well it is a bit of an obvious metaphor for your personality. Has anyone ever solved
it?"
"One girl did a few years ago."
"And you're in love with her."
"How did you know that?" Jareth was too shocked to stop himself from saying this.
No one knew. Not even him.
"You've been on your own for too long and you have started to associated the
Labyrinth with yourself. Therefore when this girl figured it out it led you to believe
that she had figured you out when no one else could. Get my drift?"
"No, not really."
"Jareth, you think you are the Labyrinth when you're not. You may have also latched
on to this girl because you feel trapped in your surroundings and you confused her
attempt at solving the Labyrinth as an attempt to save you."
"I'm confused now. You're saying that I'm trapped by something which is actually
myself."
"Yes that's exactly right." Hilarity was shouting now and it was scaring her. She had
never raised her voice in her life. But then again she had never led a counselling
session with a Goblin King either.
"So, what do you suggest I do then?" said Jareth, almost challenging her, almost
pleading with her.
"Do whatever you want. Not my decision. Stay, move out of this place, get a job, get a
girlfriend. Just make yourself happy." There was an unhappy silence. The Goblins
were straining to listen from behind the door. They had never heard anyone speak to
their master like that before. Not even Sarah. Hilarity sighed. "What's this girl's name
then?"
"Sarah."
"Did you feel happy when she was here?"
"Yes."
Hilarity smiled, she really wanted to help. She hadn't planed her long speech but felt
that she had dropped him in at the deep end. "If you decide to do something, I'll be
more than happy to give you a hand."
Jareth watched his prisoner with curiosity as she gingerly prodded her food. He
couldn't work her out. She hadn't batted an eyelid at his attempts to scare and impress
her and did not seem at all distressed with her current situation. Was she planning
something was she really that chilled out. What also bothered him was that she talked
to him as if he was an old friend. He wasn't sure if he liked this or not as it had never
happened to him before, not even within his own family. He later decided that it
wasn't a bad thing just unusual.
"What is this anyway?" asked Hilarity pointing a skeletal finger at her meat.
"Er...that's roast beef." he replied.
"It's nice. We don't get much meat on our planet. All the animals are either hopelessly
small and fiddly or so full of Vitamin D that your hair falls out. Then, you've got the
imported stuff but it has to be pumped full of chemicals to survive the space travel so
it doesn't taste very nice."
"What's it like where you come from?"
"It's very purple....." Hilarity began "The water is infested with a pigmented bacteria.
It's mostly harmless but once you heat it to seventy degrees it becomes a powerful
hallucinogenic drug. The water's very pretty at night because it glows, you should see
the storms we get, they're amazing. The rest of it is mostly forest with the odd
mountain range and lots of small cities here and there."
"Sounds wonderful. No wonder you're not impressed with this place."
"I am impressed with it, the Labyrinth's a great achievement." she smiled "However, I
keep getting the impression that you're a very paranoid person who has trouble
opening up to people."
"You got all that from a maze!"
"Well it is a bit of an obvious metaphor for your personality. Has anyone ever solved
it?"
"One girl did a few years ago."
"And you're in love with her."
"How did you know that?" Jareth was too shocked to stop himself from saying this.
No one knew. Not even him.
"You've been on your own for too long and you have started to associated the
Labyrinth with yourself. Therefore when this girl figured it out it led you to believe
that she had figured you out when no one else could. Get my drift?"
"No, not really."
"Jareth, you think you are the Labyrinth when you're not. You may have also latched
on to this girl because you feel trapped in your surroundings and you confused her
attempt at solving the Labyrinth as an attempt to save you."
"I'm confused now. You're saying that I'm trapped by something which is actually
myself."
"Yes that's exactly right." Hilarity was shouting now and it was scaring her. She had
never raised her voice in her life. But then again she had never led a counselling
session with a Goblin King either.
"So, what do you suggest I do then?" said Jareth, almost challenging her, almost
pleading with her.
"Do whatever you want. Not my decision. Stay, move out of this place, get a job, get a
girlfriend. Just make yourself happy." There was an unhappy silence. The Goblins
were straining to listen from behind the door. They had never heard anyone speak to
their master like that before. Not even Sarah. Hilarity sighed. "What's this girl's name
then?"
"Sarah."
"Did you feel happy when she was here?"
"Yes."
Hilarity smiled, she really wanted to help. She hadn't planed her long speech but felt
that she had dropped him in at the deep end. "If you decide to do something, I'll be
more than happy to give you a hand."