Chapter Eleven: I Wish the Goblins Would...

Toby touched the door knob carefully, as if he was frightened about being caught. Actually, he was not attempting anything awful, just going into Sarah's old room. However, it always held a certain strange sense of magic. Perhaps it was all of her magical memorabilia that laid in its distinctive place throughout her room.

He swung the door open and took a deep breath. Not only did her room feel magical, but it smelled that way as well. There was a sweet scent of flowers and a summer day, but Toby could never describe it accurately. He was content with just enjoying her wonderful room and playing with her childhood toys.

Toby shut the door carefully behind himself and then rushed over to her dresser. Her most secret treasures had been hidden in the top drawer. Toby loved the book, especially. He had had his mother read it to him about twenty times. His mother, on the other hand, simply hated the book. She thought it was rubbish, as she so kindly put it. Toby ignored her pathetic complaints and begged her to continue reading.

He pulled the drawer open with a bit too much power. It nearly flew entirely out of the dresser. He jumped away and glanced around the room nervously. It was like a shrine to Sarah. Toby was the only one who dared to enter the room while Sarah was away. If something was broken, he would certainly lose the gracious privilege Sarah had given him. Toby inched back towards the drawer and pushed it in. He let out a long and relieved sigh when he realized that there had been no damage done.

"Don't be a chicken," Toby taunted himself. He smiled and began humming a new song that he had learned in school.

Toby, once again, opened the drawer and peered inside its darkness. A sense of exhilaration coursed through his body when the contents revealed themselves as the light found its way into the darkness of the drawer. He watched with anticipation as the music box came into view, then a photograph and then...then?

"Where's the book?" Toby asked the empty room.

He forgot his caution and pulled the drawer open the rest of the way. Toby pushed his hands in and frantically pulled the music box, pictures and other various items from the drawer. However, there was no book revealed. Toby could feel warm tears grow in his eyes and trickle down his chubby cheeks. He swiped at them carelessly and fell to the ground amidst the rest of Sarah's past.

His lip quivered as his tears started to become a bit heavier. He wasn't going to control them. As a matter of fact, he felt very much like bawling. He wanted his mother to feel sorry for him and give Sarah a call. She had the book memorized and could tell him the story. She would probably do a better job than his mother had.

Toby had just started to vocalize his sadness when something caught his eyes. He immediately turned the tears off as quickly as they had started and wiped the remaining wetness from his cheeks. He had seen something in the mirror, he was sure of it. Toby jumped to his feet and instantly took on the role of a hero.

"Where are you?" Toby called in his lower heroic voice.

Nothing answered. Toby placed his tiny fists on his hips and strutted about the room. He wasn't about to let some criminal take over Sarah's room. Wait, not a criminal, it was the sinister Goblin King. The entire plot unfolded in Toby's wonderful imagination.

The Goblin King had stolen his sister away from him. He would have to get her back. Toby stood before the large mirror and stared into it. Only his reflection could stare back. However, he knew that the evil man was waiting behind some dark corner or some shadow. He was waiting for Toby to say the words. He would have to say them to be brought to the Labyrinth and save his sister. That was what heroes did. As Toby thought more about his role, he decided that he would rather be a noble prince, with a horse!

"I am going to get my sister back!" Toby called, his voice lowering once again.

A cold gust of air blew through the open window. Toby shivered in his small T-shirt and wrapped his arms about himself. There was no reason for it to be cold. After all, it was the middle of May! Toby let out a sigh and then stiffled his imagination in order to close the window.

"Maybe He sent it!" Toby exclaimed as he snapped the window shut. He turned back to face the mirror.

"Through..umm...dangers and..stuff. I come here to get my sister back," Toby wracked his brain to try to remember the lines, but he simply couldn't.

Toby rushed over to Sarah's bed and sat heavily upon it. His game was being ruined without the book. He couldn't read many of the words, but his mom had always been able to help him. Without it, he couldn't even remember his most favorite passage in the entire book. He could feel the tears getting closer.

"Its not fair!" Toby whined.

You say that so often, I wonder what your basis for comparison is? a voice seemed to drift through the room and the cold breeze brushed past him again.

Toby looked over to the window and gasped. It was open. He distinctly remembered closing it a few minutes earlier. He had been cold, so naturally the rational thing to do would be to...

Rational thinking shall not return the Labyrinth to you, Toby. the voice warned.

Toby jumped from the bed and rushed over to the door. He noticed the pile of Sarah's belongings on the ground and twisted his face in despair. He had to pick everything up. He couldn't risk it getting broken. Sarah would hate him. Toby stepped away from the door and hurriedly, but carefully, placed the items back into the drawer.

He could feel something evil in Sarah's room. The magical presence had grown so much stronger, but it no longer delighted him. It simply horrified him. Toby only wanted to run away, but his curious nature would not allow it. He had to find out if the Goblin King had really returned, or if he had imagined it all. Toby closed the drawer and looked into the mirror.

"Is it you?" Toby asked in a shaky, small voice.

There was another gust of wind to answer him. However, riding on the wind there seemed to be a laughter, an evil laughter. It reverberated through the room and hid in the shadows. It seemed to darken in Sarah's room, though it was still very much morning. Toby shuddered. He had to do something.

"Toby? Are you up there?" his mother called from downstairs.

The strange spell was instantly broken. The room lightened once again and the threatening laughter ceased. Toby looked over to the window and realized that it had been shut. It had probably always been shut. Toby had imagined it all.

"Mommy, did you see the book?" Toby called.

His mother opened the door and popped her head in to look at her son. She frowned a little at him. She had never approved of him messing with Sarah's items, but Sarah allowed it. She glanced around to be sure that everything was still in its proper place.

"I haven't seen that old thing, Toby. Come on down for lunch, it's going to get cold," she warned.

Toby nodded and then looked back into the mirror. His mother watched him for another brief moment and then shook her head. There was nothing more she could do, unless she forbade him from entering the room. It was easier to allow him to continue his games and wait for him to outgrow everything. She closed the door and walked back to the kitchen.

Toby made sure that his mother had left and then returned his gaze to the mirror's smooth surface. Toby smiled. He knew exactly what to say to make the Goblin King come out. Perhaps the man wasn't even all that bad. Perhaps, he would be fun to play with. Toby smiled at the prospect.

His stomach growled angrily at him. Toby looked into the mirror one more time. It would still be here after lunch. There was no doubt about that. Toby pulled himself away from the mirror and drudged back to the door. It swung open easily, he had actually thought that it would remain stuck, but that was only his imagination having some fun.

Toby closed the door behind himself. Instantly, the magical feeling was severed, leaving Toby in his horribly normal house in a boring, safe little town. He felt alone and sad. Sarah was his only true friend. Everyone else wanted to play cops and robbers, cowboys and Indians, or super heroes. Toby loved fantasy and so everyone else found him strange. It didn't bother him all that much. After all, he did have Sarah and her wonderful room.

Toby walked into the kitchen and scrunched his tiny nose from the smell of broccoli. His mother simply adored serving the most horrible tasting food. It would have been fine with him, but she forced him to eat it. Toby fell to his chair and gazed at the sandwich and the awful vegetable. Even carrots wouldn't have been so bad.

"Eat up Hon," his mother warned.

Toby pushed the green trash, (he couldn't bring himself to call it food), to the side of his plate. If any of the juice dared to infest his sandwich, he simply would lose his appetite. Toby was lucky that the noxious smell hadn't caused him to lose what little food was still in his stomach from breakfast.

"Toby, you want to go out with your Dad?" his father questioned.

Toby thought about that for a moment and then shook his head. He had a very important appointment with the Goblin King. He couldn't put it off for much longer. His father shrugged and continued with his soup. Toby ate the sandwich, carefully avoiding the crust. Every child knew that the crust would make hair grow on your chest. The thought of that only sickened Toby more. He couldn't imagine being that hairy. He would look like..like..an ape! His father had eaten crust and he was on his way to becoming an ape! Toby was quite sure.

He pushed the green stuff off his plate and nudged it over the edge of the table. Merlin instantly raised his large shaggy head and moved just enough to gobble the stray food. He never even raised from his laying position. Toby giggled at his lazy dog, but this caught his mother's watchful eye.

"Toby!" she exclaimed.

She marched over to the dog and the bits of broccoli that were still left scattered about the linoleum floor. Toby sunk into his chair and fiddled with he bit of crust. She was upset. She was going to force him to eat the horrible green stuff while she watched him. Toby nearly gagged at the thought.

She stood up with the dirty vegetables in her hands and looked at Toby. She looked entirely disappointed in him. Toby simply chewed his lower lip, a habit that he had picked up from Sarah. She let out an exasperated sigh and threw the food into the trash. She then sat down by Toby.

"I don't wanna eat it," Toby moaned.

"It's good for you, honey. You'll just have to eat more vegetables at dinner time," she explained.

Toby let out a whine and then scooted a bit further away from his mother. She watched for a few more moments and then went back to her cleaning. Toby looked over to his father, but he was reading the newspaper intently. It was a prefect time to sneak out of the kitchen and its vegetable smells.

Toby climbed out of the chair and rushed into the living room. No one had noticed. He was free to explore Sarah's room in privacy. Toby started up the stairs, but paused when a strange noise floated towards his ears. It sounded like music. It sounded like magical music!

Toby rushed up the steps and threw open the door to Sarah's room. He looked inside anxiously, expecting to see the infamous Goblin King. The only thing to greet him was the scent of flowers and magic. The room was bright and friendly once again. Toby could not even sense a trace of the man's voice he had heard earlier. It slightly brought down his good spirits. His mother had interrupted his game long enough to force the magical Goblin King back to the Underground. It wasn't fair!

Toby sat in Sarah's chair and slouched down. His lower lip pursed out in a pout. He was used to getting what he wanted. In that sense, this day had been horrible. He hadn't gotten the book, his mom had nearly forced him to eat broccoli and now the Goblin King had left. It was very depressing.

Toby looked into the mirror and an idea instantly flashed into his vivid imagination. He knew the story nearly by heart. He knew how people had called upon the Goblin King to take something away. Perhaps he could convince the magical man to come to him. It sounded promising. After all, Sarah's room was magical. There was no better place to try the magic words and see if they really worked.

He took in a deep breath and summoning all of his courage, forced the words to come from his mouth. Toby stuttered for a brief time and then collected his thoughts. This was one line that he had had memorized for a long time.

"I wish that the goblins would come and take me away...right now!"

The light instantly faded from the room and soon it was bathed in darkness.