Sarah peered above her through the forest canopy as she walked beneath its
towering trees. Her mind was wheeling, her thoughts consumed by something
she could not envision, something to which she had not the will to resist.
She stumbled forward, until she could go no further, and came to rest at a
moss covered fallen log. She lay down, her arms outstretched, her hair
flowing about her face, like a pale spring rose engulfed in a sea of
entwining vines of dark auburn. Her breast began to rise and fall with the
steady slowing of her breath, as though there were some outside force
controlling her, willing her to take in air slowly, and then let it pass
her lips like a sigh on the wind. She closed her eyes, and fell into
darkness. Everything was dancing; she was spiraling down into a deep
encompassing sleep.
Images flashed before her eyes of people from her past, but one came brighter, and yet, somehow darker, than the others. A man, dressed all in gray, with tight revealing clothing. She could see him now, here, a leg swinging to and fro, there, the other one, sitting dangerously, a hand gently laid upon its surface. The man stared into her eyes with a kind of intensity she could only begin to understand. Sarah could feel her heartbeat quicken as this man from her past looked deep into her eyes, staring straight into her soul. He stood up, spraying the light coming from inside the house into various rays, which reflected on the dawning dew resting peacefully on each pedal of grass. His shadow seemed to stretch all the way out to Sarah's resting body, as he whispered her name...
"Sarah..."
The sound came to her faint at first, but then swelling with sound as it came closer, and closer. She opened her eyes, lifting her head from the ground, and realizing she was no longer beneath the great canopy of trees under which she last remembered herself being. She could hear a thin trickle of water nearby, a faint buzzing sound came to her ears, and she could hear the flutter of a bird, stirring with the morning light. She pushed herself onto her unsteady feet. She knew this place; she had been there before. This place, this labyrinth, a shadow of her past, come back to visit her present.
"So it was him" She thought, "I thought I would never see this place again..."
She walked up a stream she had heard trickling in the distance, remembering that fateful day she had met her dear old friend. A tear came to her eye as she reached the great doors leading into the maze. Once large and imposing, they now were broken and overgrown.
"What has happened to this place?" she wondered, stepping over the sad remnants of the gates. She turned to her right, remembering vividly the long hard trip she had taken between these walls all those years ago, but why, why was she here again?
"I brought you here Sarah."
A deep, entrancing voice filled the air around her.
"You know why you are here, I gave you a choice all those long years ago Sarah, a choice to rule with me..."
"I chose to run my own life. I saved my brother Toby, when you would have had him for yourself." Sarah exclaimed, looking of a source of the voice.
"It was never Toby that I wanted Sarah. Look at my kingdom, look at the travesty it has come to be since you left me."
Sarah ducked to avoid an overhanging vine, long since deprived of the life that once flowed through its roots.
"Where is everyone?" She asked.
"This place can only exist as long as those that dwell within its walls have faith in the land they come from. When you left, everyone left with you, dwelling forever in your heart, they could no longer hold onto this world anymore." The voice paused, "long have I desired to look upon your face..."
Suddenly, a shape appeared, shrouded in a mist of glittering fog. An orb floated into view, hovering in the air before Sarah's face, an image twirling within it. Sarah stared at it, mesmerized, but broke her gaze when she felt the ground beneath her begin to dissipate, replaced by the hard wood floor of a ballroom.
"No!" She yelled out, "I told you, you have no power over me! You have no power over me!" She screamed, her throat becoming hoarse. She pushed her way through a throng of people, trying to escape the dim space. "You are not going to win Jareth." She pushed past a man wearing a dark grey cloak, framed with black feathers. He had a elongated beak-like mask, the handle being a long thin claw. "If the goblins chose to leave your kingdom after I left, it is only because you are such a retched man"
Suddenly, an arm shot out of the crowd, grasping Sarah at the hip, and pulling her toward the source of the limb. The masked man took Sarah by the hand, and began to move her around the dance floor. A low, haunting song flowed gently from every corner of the room, entrancing Sarah as her body matched the movements of the mans hips. Slowly she began to relax, letting the beat of the music to guide her across the floor, quashing the little voice in her head that screamed at her not to trust him. She moved delicately as a ballet dancer, swaying back and forth to the rhythem of the music. The man took her hand and spun her around and around, in a dizzying turrent of movement, making her delirious with the succulent scent of his breath as his mouth brushed against her cheek, placing a single kiss upon the soft surface.
Images flashed before her eyes of people from her past, but one came brighter, and yet, somehow darker, than the others. A man, dressed all in gray, with tight revealing clothing. She could see him now, here, a leg swinging to and fro, there, the other one, sitting dangerously, a hand gently laid upon its surface. The man stared into her eyes with a kind of intensity she could only begin to understand. Sarah could feel her heartbeat quicken as this man from her past looked deep into her eyes, staring straight into her soul. He stood up, spraying the light coming from inside the house into various rays, which reflected on the dawning dew resting peacefully on each pedal of grass. His shadow seemed to stretch all the way out to Sarah's resting body, as he whispered her name...
"Sarah..."
The sound came to her faint at first, but then swelling with sound as it came closer, and closer. She opened her eyes, lifting her head from the ground, and realizing she was no longer beneath the great canopy of trees under which she last remembered herself being. She could hear a thin trickle of water nearby, a faint buzzing sound came to her ears, and she could hear the flutter of a bird, stirring with the morning light. She pushed herself onto her unsteady feet. She knew this place; she had been there before. This place, this labyrinth, a shadow of her past, come back to visit her present.
"So it was him" She thought, "I thought I would never see this place again..."
She walked up a stream she had heard trickling in the distance, remembering that fateful day she had met her dear old friend. A tear came to her eye as she reached the great doors leading into the maze. Once large and imposing, they now were broken and overgrown.
"What has happened to this place?" she wondered, stepping over the sad remnants of the gates. She turned to her right, remembering vividly the long hard trip she had taken between these walls all those years ago, but why, why was she here again?
"I brought you here Sarah."
A deep, entrancing voice filled the air around her.
"You know why you are here, I gave you a choice all those long years ago Sarah, a choice to rule with me..."
"I chose to run my own life. I saved my brother Toby, when you would have had him for yourself." Sarah exclaimed, looking of a source of the voice.
"It was never Toby that I wanted Sarah. Look at my kingdom, look at the travesty it has come to be since you left me."
Sarah ducked to avoid an overhanging vine, long since deprived of the life that once flowed through its roots.
"Where is everyone?" She asked.
"This place can only exist as long as those that dwell within its walls have faith in the land they come from. When you left, everyone left with you, dwelling forever in your heart, they could no longer hold onto this world anymore." The voice paused, "long have I desired to look upon your face..."
Suddenly, a shape appeared, shrouded in a mist of glittering fog. An orb floated into view, hovering in the air before Sarah's face, an image twirling within it. Sarah stared at it, mesmerized, but broke her gaze when she felt the ground beneath her begin to dissipate, replaced by the hard wood floor of a ballroom.
"No!" She yelled out, "I told you, you have no power over me! You have no power over me!" She screamed, her throat becoming hoarse. She pushed her way through a throng of people, trying to escape the dim space. "You are not going to win Jareth." She pushed past a man wearing a dark grey cloak, framed with black feathers. He had a elongated beak-like mask, the handle being a long thin claw. "If the goblins chose to leave your kingdom after I left, it is only because you are such a retched man"
Suddenly, an arm shot out of the crowd, grasping Sarah at the hip, and pulling her toward the source of the limb. The masked man took Sarah by the hand, and began to move her around the dance floor. A low, haunting song flowed gently from every corner of the room, entrancing Sarah as her body matched the movements of the mans hips. Slowly she began to relax, letting the beat of the music to guide her across the floor, quashing the little voice in her head that screamed at her not to trust him. She moved delicately as a ballet dancer, swaying back and forth to the rhythem of the music. The man took her hand and spun her around and around, in a dizzying turrent of movement, making her delirious with the succulent scent of his breath as his mouth brushed against her cheek, placing a single kiss upon the soft surface.