Hello again, my loyal readers! I might be updating a little more often, since I've been let go from my job. (sniff) Don't mourn my loss, my dears! I hated that job anyway; I'll find something better! In the meantime, allow me to babble about my story for a minute…
I had the toughest time deciding the ages of our beloved Williams siblings. I wanted Toby to be 8, but I also wanted Sarah to be a high school senior, and that was a chronologic conflict and Sarah being a high school senior won. Therefore, Toby is actually 5 in this story, but he has the smart mentality of an eight-year-old, if you can imagine that…which I'm sure you can! The tone of the first chapter will be a departure from the dramatic prologue, but most of them are, so it's okay! I hope you'll at least enjoy it on a bathroom-reading level (whatever that is). And I'm doing a new style, since reading the Twilight books; I'm having a chapter prologue speech from each of the characters, or something like that. I think you'll like it. Here it is!
"But I tell you once and once again, Macavity's not there!" – Demeter, CATS the Musical
Chapter One: Webber Vs. Shakespeare
I thought I was free of the Goblin King forever; but lately I've been thinking so much about him that I wonder if I really want to be free of him after all. What would happen if I saw him again? Will I ever find out?
Sarah rushed as fast as she could to the principal's office at Toby's school; she found him sitting mutinously on the leather sofa with Principal Mando standing over him with her arms crossed.
"I came as soon as I could," Sarah panted, "Thank you for calling me, Mrs. Mando."
"Thank you for coming, Ms. Williams," she nodded curtly, "Won't you please sit down?" Sarah sat down next to Toby, who nervously cast her a sideways glance from behind his curtain of sandy hair while twiddling his thumbs. She caught his eye and tried to mentally reassure him.
"Is something wrong, Mrs. Mando?" she asked.
"To tell the truth, not much," said the principal, "Nothing I don't remember his sister doing at his age."
"Ma'am?" she asked, confused.
"Why don't you tell your sister what happened, Mr. Williams?" she prompted. Toby heaved a big sigh.
"I yelled at Molly Stevens and she started crying," he said dully.
"What did you say to her?" Sarah asked.
"It doesn't matter what he said," the principal cut in, "It's how he said it; I could hear him from the Teacher's Lounge, for Pete's sake! He was practically screaming at her!"
Toby slouched lower; Sarah touched his hand comfortingly.
"Ms. Williams," said Mrs. Mando, "when are your parents coming home?"
"In about an hour," the girl answered. Their parents were in New York City on a business trip of her dad's, lawyer stuff, so Sarah was once again entrusted with her brother's safety. This time, however, she didn't mind so much.
Principal Mando sat behind her desk with a sigh, removed her glasses, and rubbed her head.
"I suppose when a child's parents are far away, this kind of behavior is expected," she said, "I'd like you to take your brother home, Ms. Williams."
"Home?" Toby jumped up, "I can't go now! I'm the director!"
"Well obviously, you're under a lot of pressure and need a break," said the lady, "Go home and get some rest. You'll be glad of it later."
"But"—
"Thank you, Mrs. Mando," Sarah smiled politely with her hands on his shoulders, "Come on, Toby."
"But, Sarah…!" he whined as she herded him out.
"Come on," she beamed, "You'll get to see me audition for my play!" Toby brightened up at that.
"So what exactly did happen in rehearsal today?" she asked later as they walked toward the high school.
"Well, we're doing the songs from Cats the Musical," he said, "And Molly got the part of Grizzabella…"
(Flashback!)
"No, no, no!" Toby threw down his copy of the script. "Molly!" The pretty blonde girl stopped, startled as Toby marched up to her.
"You're holding back, Molly!" he shouted, "You are Grizzabella, the Glamour Cat! You're old and worn like a rag doll kicked around the street! Your overzealous nature of living for the moment is what turned you into an old has-been! You used to be young, beautiful, and full of life, but now your days of glory are over and you'll never relive them! You abandoned your clan to grab life by the scruff, and now it's come back to bite you on the tail! No cat respects you anymore, and every cat shuns you and denies you, but you continue to live. Your angst and your strength are your song, but where's your angst, Molly? Where's your strength? Where's your courage to stand in the presence of the cats who shun you and give voice to the pain in your soul?"
Halfway through his rant, tears started cascading down the girl's cheeks. By the time Toby realized what he'd done, the teacher was dragging him to the principal's office.
(End of flashback)
"Holy crap, Toby!" Sarah exclaimed, "You said all that to her?" Toby nodded guiltily.
"Toby, Molly's only 6 years old," she explained, "She's not old enough to get really deep in a character. No one your age does, except you. Just have patience with them."
"You're right," he nodded, "You know…I saw him outside the principal's window."
"Who?" his sister asked, puzzled.
"The Goblin King," he said in a quiet voice, "He was watching the rehearsal and followed me to the principal's office. He flew off after we left."
"Really…" Sarah wasn't sure why she felt a stirring in the pit of her stomach, or why the mention of the Goblin King touched a secret corner of her heart. The flutter of emotion could be felt in her veins, literally!
Casually, she looked up and around for any sign of his presence—the flash of a white feather, a screech or a hoot—anything that would let her know he was still watching her.
"Where is he now?" she asked before she could stop herself. Toby held her hand as they crossed the street to the high school (it's after school hours, by the way).
"I don't know," he said, "but I think he'll watch your audition. I told him about it last night and he seemed interested."
'Great,' Sarah though as they walked into the auditorium, 'The Drama Club's not enough, now the Goblin King!' She just knew she was going to mess up, but the auditorium had no windows and Jareth was gone…wasn't he?
"Next up," said one of the Drama Club officers, "Ms. Sarah Williams, auditioning for the part of Helena."
Toby sat still in one of the front rows, where he was greeted by some of the Drama students in a friendly manner.
"How 'bout it, scout?" said a boy, calling him by his nickname, "You think she'll get it?" Toby looked at him, his baby blues sparkling with wisdom beyond his years.
"My sister solved the Labyrinth of the Goblin King to save me," he said in a hushed voice full of awe, "She can do anything." He turned his attention to his sister, his role model, as she took the stage; the student was mystified, like everyone was when speaking to Sarah's baby stepbrother.
Sarah was wearing her green elf-like dress with flowers done up in her hair, her head high with confidence.
"For my audition," she said clearly, "I'll be reciting Helena's first soliloquy from Act I."
"You may start when ready," one of the students nodded. Everyone there had heard of Sarah Williams' uncanny ability to understand, inside and out, any character in any play. She was a genuinely masterful actress, just as her mother had been; no one, least of all Toby, wanted to miss this.
The young thespian took a big breath with her eyes closed, then lifted them with a sparkling light that revealed the longing love of Helena for Bertram (I only read as far as the first act, so don't flame me for being ignorant…or I'll cry.).
"O, were that all!" she started, "I think not on my father;
"And these great tears grace his remembrance more
than those I shed for him. What was he like?
I have forgot him; my imagination
carries no favor in it but Bertram's."
She bowed her head and held her hands to her heart.
"I am undone." She lifted her head. "There is no living—none!—if Bertram be away. It were all one…
"That I should love a bright particular star,
and think to wed it, he is so above me:
In his bright radiance and collateral light
must I be comforted, not in his sphere."
As she continued the soliloquy, she realized why she picked this one and who it reminded her of.
"The ambition in my love thus plagues itself:
The hind that would be mated by the lion
must die for love. 'Twas pretty, though a plague,
to see him every hour; to sit and draw
his arched brows, his hawking eye, his curls,
in our heart's table—heart to capable
of every line and trick of his sweet favor…"
Her lip trembled at the next line and a tear carried the weight in her voice down her smooth cheek.
"But now he's gone," she said slowly, "and my idolatrous fancy must sanctify his relics."
Her hand crept up to her face to stop itself from trembling; he had been her enemy, and yet the thought of him being gone made her want to crumple into a heap.
Then she remembered where she was and what she was doing; the students and teacher in charge of auditions were staring at her. So was Toby.
"Sarah, that was…" said the teacher, "…incomparable! But…it's Bertram."
"I'm sorry?" Sarah blinked in confusion.
"The line is, 'if Bertram be away,'" she explained patiently, "And if I'm not mistaken, I believe you said Ja—"
"Yay, Sarah!" Toby jumped up and shouted, clapping his hands and cutting off the teacher, "That was great! Wasn't she great?" The students he was sitting with laughed lightly at his precocious charm and agreed with him.
"Yes, that was good," said one of the girls, "Thank you, Sarah. The results will be up next week."
Still confused and flushed, Sarah nodded and left the stage to try and control herself. What was wrong with her?
"Sarah!" Toby snuck backstage and held onto her, "Sarah, are you okay?"
"Oh, Toby!" she cried as she fell to her knees and hugged him around the neck, "I'm sorry you have to see me like this!"
"I don't mind, Sarah," he replied as he hugged back, "It just means you need me, and I like that."
Sarah smiled through her tears as his shaggy hair brushed her face. When she calmed down, she took her dress off from over her clothes and they walked home hand-in-hand.
"Toby," she asked in a faraway voice as she looked forward, "what did I say in my audition?"
"Oh," he said as he kicked a small rock, "You, uh…said Jareth…instead of Bertram."
Sarah stopped dead in her tracks while Toby walked up the porch steps and turned to look at her.
"I…what?" she asked, completely lost and confused. Hadn't she heard herself say Bertram?
"You said there is no living if Jareth be away," Toby answered, skipping down the steps, "I guess you just confused 'em. I wonder if he heard you?"
As if in answer, a flutter of wings was heard, startling the two.
"I guess he did," said Toby, smiling. "He must be embarrassed about it!"
"How do you know that was him?" she asked irritably as she marched into the house in a huff. Toby trotted after her into the kitchen.
"Because it was!" he insisted as he hopped to the bar counter, "He comes to see me every night and tells me stories and we talk. I know him when I hear him."
Sarah stared at her brother; could it be true?
"He comes to see you?" she repeated. Toby poured himself some milk.
"Yeah," he answered uncomfortably, "Sarah…Do you miss the Goblin King?"
She stopped with her back to him; she'd been asking herself that for days.
"I don't really know, Toby," she answered and leaned against the fridge, "I mean, he kidnapped you…which was my fault…he put me through heck to get you back. He was my enemy, but…"
'Whenever he appeared,' her mind finished for her, 'I watched his eyes. They were cold and cruel when he looked at anyone else. But when he looked at me…' She swallowed and pinched her eyes shut. '…They told me the truth every time. He couldn't hide his feelings because they always escaped through his eyes.'
She remembered the dramatic difference in his voice between threatening Hoggle with the Bog of Eternal Stench and asking her how she was enjoying the Labyrinth. It was just like his eyes—they changed as much as his voice did.
She smiled and sat down across from Toby with her face in one hand.
"You know something?" she said, "I think I do miss him." He nodded understandingly and drank his milk.
"I thought so," he said as he wiped off his milk moustache, "That's why I interrupted the teacher when she almost said his name. You always jump when you hear somebody say any J-name, so I didn't want you to be embarrassed about…him."
"Thanks, Toby." She ruffled his hair. "I do love you, you know." Toby giggled and put his hand over her wrist.
"I love you to, sis," he chimed. The front door then opened and their father's voice greeted them.
"Sarah! Toby! We're home!"
"Papa!" Toby shouted excitedly, "Mama!"
Author's Review:
Two days passed between the actual chapter and this review; sorry, folks.
Anyway as I've said, I haven't read very far in that Shakespeare play (All's Well That Ends Well) so I'm not sure I've used that little speech in the right context, but whatever. It's fan fiction, so I guess not everything has to make sense, right? ;)
I hope you enjoyed it, at least a little; this probably isn't the most exciting fic I've ever written (it'll get better in about two chapters) but I hope you'll like it anyway. (Note the confidence!)
See y'all next time! Please review nicely!