Karen traversed the Labyrinth. Maybe not quite as nimbly as her stepdaughter did years ago, but not too shabby for a person of her age in heels, which she took off halfway through the initial section. She only discovered that the wall wasn't there by trying to lean against it and nearly falling flat on her ass. She could have sworn she heard someone say "don't go that way" but she did anyway. She figured she couldn't take anything for granted, not even instructions coming from what she assumed was her imagination.
Soon she was in a section with a completely different layout. Rather than a stone maze, she found herself in a forested area. Carefully, she made her way through the trees, always with the feeling that something was watching her. She checked her watch to see how much time she had left, only to find it stopped working, the second hand remained still.
"Checking the time will waste it away," came the Goblin King's voice from overhead. The King himself was not there, it was just his voice echoing through the trees.
Karen stamped her foot, a motherly retort ready, if it wasn't for the fact that there was a pebble right where she stamped, and it pricked and embedded itself into her foot. Angrily, she removed it, forgetting what she was going to say in the process, and continued down her chosen path. She could have sworn she heard chuckling, but she decided to ignore it.
This time she took off down the path running.
"Don't worry, honey," she said, certain that Sarah was frightened by now. "I'm on my way."
